Murdoch and Costello's "recycled press releases by government spin doctors being passed-off as journalism or entertainment clickbait pinched from elsewhere and dressed up as original news content, isn’t going to cut it"

The Northern Rivers Times, 10 September 2020:

If there was ever an indicator that the media is not a one-size-fits-all model, it’s happening right now in Australia. 

And given the monopoly one media organisation has in this country, it’s a pretty reasonable assumption (on the author’s part at least, having been part of said organisation up until a couple of months ago), that they are driving the campaign to make online giants Google and Facebook pay to use Australian news on their platforms. 

But who exactly will benefit from charging Facebook and Google? All Australian media, or just those luddites struggling to implement their particular business model in today’s online media climate. 

Despite what the Federal Government, or more aptly their friend Newscorp, might be proposing to challenge the Facebook and Google news sharing platforms, not all news being shared is created equal..... 

While the media industry preaches that paying for journalism is a must to ensure quality and accountability remains at its bedrock, it’s no guarantee you are going to get either if you do. 

Recycled press releases by government spin doctors being passed-off as journalism or entertainment clickbait pinched from elsewhere and dressed up as original news content, isn’t going to cut it. 

Expecting people to pay for what they can read for free elsewhere isn’t going to cut it. Demanding trust rather than delivering it, isn’t going to cut it. 

Original, well-researched, unbiased, investigative journalism might. And if it doesn’t, well what’s left hardly constitutes journalism does it....

Read the full article here at Page 5.