For just one week 50 newsrooms across Australia are uniting for a grassroots fundraising and awareness campaign for local and independent news.
The Our News, Your Voice campaign is a timely opportunity to reflect on the role of local and independent media in democracy, supporting informed voters, holding authorities accountable, and bringing communities together in an increasingly polarised society.
The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) is inviting Australians to contribute directly to their local news outlets via unique donation pages. Thanks to generous philanthropic support, the first $20,000 raised was doubled by matched funding, amplifying the impact of each contribution.
Update: at the halfway point of the campaign, newsrooms have raised a collective $70,000 from nearly 1,000 unique community donations and matched funding.
Our News, Your Voice continues through to midnight on Sunday 4th May with newsrooms inviting reader contributions to support public interest journalism services.
LINA is a not-for-profit industry association supporting a movement of local and independent digital news publishers in Australia.
LINA Executive Director Claire Stuchbery described these newsrooms as the “green shoots” of an industry in crisis.
“It’s great to see communities coming out to support their local news providers this week,” said Claire.
“The news industry has been struggling through a period of transition for years now and even small contributions really help independent newsrooms fill gaps in information for local communities. We can see that role playing out in electorates across the country this week as news organisations that are embedded in communities work to address mis and disinformation and provide clear information about candidates from all sides of politics to help voters make informed choices on Saturday.
“Many of these news services were started by community-minded individuals who identified ‘news deserts’ in their local areas, which were lacking timely, verified information during emergencies, accountability from local authorities, and a record of events to bring the community together. However, newsrooms need support to ensure communities are provided high quality, public interest journalism.”
LINA’s membership has grown to include newsrooms in all states and territories across Australia, publishing public interest journalism and meeting high editorial standards for fairness, independence and accountability and other requirements of professional news outlets.
Developing sustainable news business models online requires investment and innovation, which is difficult for newsrooms already pushed to the limits trying to produce quality, public interest journalism in a rapid news cycle.
“Providing quality journalism is a public service—every community needs a news service, just as it needs doctors, teachers and firefighters. But it can be difficult to get people to pay for this,” Claire said.
“It’s fantastic to see this movement of independent newsrooms band together for this campaign, along with support from the philanthropic community, just as they themselves bring their communities together in an increasingly polarised society.”
Find out more about the campaign or choose a newsroom to support.
About us:
The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) is a not-for-profit industry association supporting digital independent and local news publishers. Their mission is to increase the diversity, quality and relevance of news services in communities across Australia by providing newsrooms with capacity and revenue building support.
Contact details:
Nell O’Shea Carré
0468 774 682
