Anyway, if you've got this far, read the thing: www.publicmediaalliance.org/resources/kn...

They also propose an Australian Local News Proximity Index, which could be used to target government funding on the basis of geographic, cultural and social proximity.

I'm always interested in contributions to this conversation... but I also wish governments would actually deliver some funding!

Broadly, the researchers suggest:
🤝 Meaningful public-private sector collaboration is "essential"
📏 So is measuring its impact on democracy, social cohesion, sector sustainability etc
📍 We need clear ideas about what "local" news is
➕ Value-adding is better than straight syndication

There are some really interesting examples, like Norsk Rikskringkasting's collaboration desk, RNZ's version of the UK's Local Democracy Reporting scheme, even the CBC's local news directory for a low-intensity initiative....

"Labor considers that govt intervention to support public interest journalism should be done within a principles-based and evidence-informed framework. It is unacceptable that the LNP govt has distributed tens of millions in grants without a clear plan."

Plan came out last December, but no $$$ yet.