Hi, thanks for visiting.
If you like what you read,
or,
If you like what you read,
or,
alternatively,
you like supporting independent journalism in Australia's monofocal media landscape, then please take a minute to donate some meagre, tiny-weeny coin
you like supporting independent journalism in Australia's monofocal media landscape, then please take a minute to donate some meagre, tiny-weeny coin
to my Paypal:
NewsLiz@protonmail.com
History
I began blogging in 2005 and back then the Blogosphere was a bit of a subculture. It started as an undergraduate journalism writing exercise, but proved very beneficial for familiarization with different CMS, web traffic analysis(even before it was Google Analytics!), multimedia and digital page layouts. Back then iconic legacy media voices were still trying to aggressively stuff the digital-era genie back in the bottle but a few bloggers broke through that ceiling. Broader workplace acceptance of long-term bloggers is still a bit limited by people's perceptions of mainstream legitimization and editorial constraints, and, a lack of understanding of the medium.
Industry conditions at present
Australia's freelance news market has been in downturn since the 1990s, but more so since the 2008 GFC that prompted the gutting of MSM freelance/stringer/corro news budgets. Additionally, sustainable media diversity hasn't been prioritized by successive governments so that market has continued to break down. Most story-pitching takes place outside of Australia. That doesn't really address people's ongoing needs for a range of news voices here. I am blogging my stories and activating some RGA, Paypal and grants, to keep working within a domestic news-market. Growing partisanship, masthead wars, and inadequate regulation, also add to the reasons for some distance from the local mainstream. Blogging also offers more control over the protection of my sources and my copy
While valiant, lauded, current affairs roosters make so much noise about the poor pays of various workers, what media consumers won't actually hear is that freelance journalists have been left in the cold to cope with nationwide non-compliance of the award system for decades. Freelance journalism rates can be as little as 5% of the legal award rate. It's a tough gig, and getting tougher, so diversifying into a donor-model isn't really an impediment in present industry conditions.
