There’s no doubt about it; we live in an attention economy. A digital world inundated with content from all fronts. From election campaigns to controversial denim campaigns, we’ve seen untoward tactics used to capture mindshare in an age where virality is king.
Australia’s fragmented media landscape is in flux. At a recent media conference, Influencing Live, journalists shed light into emerging trends and the challenges and opportunities facing the modern newsroom. Trust in journalism is under strain, digital content and new technologies like AI are reshaping how news is produced and consumed, and regulators are struggling to keep pace with digital platforms and capabilities.
For PR and communication professionals, this means re-thinking how we work with media to build and maintain credibility in a crowded and sceptical landscape.
Australian newsrooms are facing a dilemma. The big question is how to stay relevant in an oversaturated media landscape, and hold onto the credibility that keeps audiences engaged, while also navigating shrinking budgets in one of the world’s most concentrated media markets.
Traditional outlets have had to adapt, producing more snackable video content designed to fit algorithms and feeds. Visibility is no longer decided on the front page, but by algorithms and search results, including AI search engines. SEO, thumbnails and trending tags are crucial to how news stories are circulated but risk prioritising clickbait over context which can reinforce distrust, cynicism and algorithmic echo-chambers.
This year, we saw social media influencers and new media groups flown to the federal budget lock-up in Parliament House and political candidates join popular mainstream podcasts in the lead up to the election. Opportunities once reserved for traditional media outlets have been extended to content creators to engage younger audiences.
More and more Australians report social media as their main source of news over online news websites and apps, highlighting the new rules of digital PR.
At the same time, social media is a hotbed for mis- and disinformation. “Fake news”, propaganda, online radicalisation, increasingly believable deep fakes and harmful content spreads like wildfire on digital platforms.
Australia’s inbound age-verification laws for under 16s and the broader online safety debate will impact how content is distributed by digital platforms. As government move to hold tech giants to account, policymakers must toe the line between protecting young Australians and preserving our privacy and freedoms.
If distrust, fatigue and misuse of technology continue to dominate the narrative, we risk further fragmentation with portions of our population disengaged and misinformed.
But it’s not all gloom and doom – there’s a chance for a news ecosystem that is more accessible and more resilient. Rebuilding trust will require transparency, investment in media literacy, and sustainable business models that reward quality over clicks.
Some newsrooms are adapting to the changing media landscape and differentiating brand identity with commercial, content, and engagement strategies, including:
- Personal branding and perspective-led content to build authenticity and trust with audiences, serving as a key point of difference in an overcrowded landscape
- Leveraging video content to meet audiences where they are
- Adopting AI-driven tools to enhance production workflows and implementing AI search optimisation strategies, in addition to SEO, to extend reach.
- Implementing subscription-based funding models that prioritise a renewed focus on high-quality content, over clicks, in turn building segmented audiences.
For Australian businesses and government organisations looking to stand out, it’s worth asking: do your PR professionals offer more than media relationships? Do they bring credibility, a commitment to responsible storytelling and an understanding of how audiences are consuming news in today’s environment?
Olivia Hammond, Account Manager, Primary Comms Group
