It’s time to tell it like it is.
Today Crawford Media begins, a weekly newsletter covering news about news in Australia and New Zealand.
For me, the newsletter is long overdue, but for the media environment we’re now in it couldn’t be more timely. In New Zealand, the first round of the Public Interest Journalism Fund has opened and NZ On Air is preparing to disburse $55M NZD over three years. Australia has strong-armed Facebook and Google into direct payments to news publishers. There are a crop of ANZ startups that aim to change the structure of how local news works. Not to mention the global developments like the Hollywood mega-mergers and the launch of Substack local newsletters. Governments are getting into news – in the UK, Canada and other places – as commercial players continue to cut.
It’s a swirling, chaotic mass of media possibility.
So here’s the approach I’ll be taking.
Crawford Media will be coming out once a week. I’m aiming for midweek publication, but I acknowledge this may vary according to other work and deadlines. Anything in the newsletters will also be posted on this site.
The newsletter will be a mix of commentary, information, and links. I don’t intend that the newsletter covers the past week in media news. It’s not a digest or a summary. The intention is instead to look at selected stories of particular interest.
The content categories mapped out so far are:
- News About News
Information about the news business. May springboard off reporting I have been doing for other publications. - Academy
Information of interest to those studying journalism, including applications of data journalism. - First Person
Personal accounts that shed light on media, or not, as the case may be. First Person is a way to lighten the newsletter with experience.
Crawford Media isn’t about pushing my consulting business: it’s about the pursuit of a healthier news ecosystem.
Please sign up using the form below – and if you like, let other people know about it!
Hal