The media and information industries have lost some 60,000 jobs in Australia over the last 15 years. With almost half of those jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows active policy supports are urgently needed to stabilise and protect the ‘public good’ function of journalism.
Key findings:
- The broader information, media, and telecommunications industry lost over 30,000 jobs between 2007 and 2019
- Publishing was the worst-affected sub-sector, losing over half of its jobs. Almost 30,000 more jobs have been lost in this sector since the start of COVID-19
- New jobs in digital activities are not offsetting the loss of work in conventional media
- Real wages are falling in the media industry, despite a dramatic increase in labour productivity
- Real value-added per employee in media industries has been growing at 4% per year since 2012, but real labour compensation has been falling
“Quality journalism is a public good, with the distribution of reliable information to citizens the key to a well-functioning modern democracy,” said Dr Jim Stanford, director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work.