Standing up for regional and community media
Over 200 regional and community papers have stopped or suspended printing in the space of two months, and further job cuts to regional ABC bureaus have been foreshadowed.
It is clear that without genuine policy intervention, regional media in Australia will not recover. That means more journalists lose work, and our communities lose an essential public service.
Join us in the Our Communities, Our Stories week of action from Monday, June 15, by sharing stories that matter and asking governments to implement media policy that puts our communities front and centre.
How to take part
Take part in the campaign on social media
On Monday, June 15, share a story from the regions that matters and ask people to support the call for regional media policy by emailing their MP. Use the hashtag [#ourstories #ourcommunities]. Challenge your colleagues to participate too.
Here is a template to get you started:
This story from regional Australia matters [link story], join us in asking our MPs to stand up for regional media at meaa.org/our-stories. #ourstories #ourcommunities @withmeaa
Reach out to your community
Local businesses, community events, activist networks, sports clubs and councils have a lot to lose. Reach out to them and ask them to get on board with the campaign by contacting their MP and promoting the stories that matter to them.
Invite your colleagues to your state (and territory) campaign meeting
From Monday, June 15 we will hold state-based campaign meetings on Zoom for all journalists, regional and metro, to keep the momentum going and escalate our campaign. Look out for yours, share it with your colleagues in the industry and ask them to come along and support the campaign.
