Content, consolidation and clout: how will regional Australia be affected by media ownership changes?

The government has released its proposed media law reforms, and its regional Australia that stands to lose the most. Tim Dwyer, Derek Wilding, Helen Wilson and Simon Curtis examine four regional locations ? Wollongong, Townsville, Launceston and Toowoomba ? and find that residents have few sources of local news, and many are angry at the poor quality and lack of coverage of major events. Yet the government?s proposed media diversity test would allow further and significant consolidation in all four locations. This report also reviews media ownership and local content in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK. A detailed summary is available online