Govt flags regional media rescue package

A relief package for the regional media could be announced as soon as next week, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has said.

The government was looking at potential relief on spectrum and licence fees.

Reports suggest Prime, WIN and Southern Cross are running out of cash and planning to stop producing news bulletins within weeks, while regional newspapers have also been shutting down print.

“We’ll look at what we can do for the television networks,” McCormack told WIN News yesterday.

“And of course they need to know that they are going to have a future. They need to know that out of the other end of COVID-19, that there is going to be a future.”

McCormack also acknowledged that some media laws that were set for regional networks were outdated.

“We want regional journalism. We need regional journalism: local journalists talking about local issues and addressing them for local people,” he added.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald