A few days ago Stephen Conroy announced long-awaited media reforms – and in one sense, all hell has broken loose. One of the reforms that is still undecided is the “75 per cent reach rule” which up until now has meant that one person or company is not permitted to own licenses to broadcast to more than 75 per cent of the Australian population. Rumours of a change prompted more rumours of a big merger in the works – Southern Cross Media and Nine Entertainment Co. So it could be great for business – but it could actually be bad for regional media. I recently spoke to Dr Vincent O’Donnell about this. He is an associate of the School of Media and Communication at RMIT, and says that regional Australian communities could potentially miss out on television content that is relevant to them. You can hear the interview by clicking on the link above.
Lucie Heather Ethel 