Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend business of the Senate notice of motion No. 1 standing in my name by changing the reporting date.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the following matter be referred to the Environment and Communications References Committee for inquiry and report by 31 March 2021:

The state of media diversity, independence and reliability in Australia and the impact that this has on public interest journalism and democracy, including:

(a) the current state of public interest journalism in Australia and any barriers to Australian voters' ability to access reliable, accurate and independent news;

(b) the effect of media concentration on democracy in Australia;

(c) the impact of Australia's media ownership laws on media concentration in Australia;

(d) the impact of significant changes to media business models since the advent of online news and the barriers to viability and profitability of public interest news services;

(e) the impact of online global platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter on the media industry and sharing of news in Australia;

(f) the barriers faced by small, independent and community news outlets in Australia;

(g) the role that a newswire service plays in supporting diverse public interest journalism in Australia;

(h) the state of local, regional and rural media outlets in Australia;

(i) the role of government in supporting a viable and diverse public interest journalism sector in Australia; and

(j) any other related matters.

Question agreed to.