On March 12, 2021, MEAA addressed a public hearing of the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee’s inquiry into media diversity in Australia. MEAA Chief Executive Paul Murphy delivered this opening statement:
Thank you Chair and Committee members.
This inquiry is important. It is important because:
– media reforms over the past five years have worsened the state of media diversity
Greater diversity is needed in Australian media ownership to allow for a wider variety of voices to be heard and to better serve our communities
Journalists employed by digital publications will be entitled to penalty rates, overtime and other key conditions from tomorrow as landmark changes to the benchmark Journalists Published Media Award come into effect.
Media companies negotiating commercial deals with Facebook and Google for the payment of news content must ensure that the monies generated are allocated to journalism.
The Federal Government must act urgently to support small Australian news outlets that could be shut out of commercial deals with Facebook and Google under its News Media Bargaining Code, says the union for Australia’s journalists.
