Defining a news outlet under the Framework
For indicator 3, ‘news outlet’ refers to how a media brand distributes its core news, including via:
- a website/app outlet
- a radio outlet
- a newspaper outlet
- an email newsletter outlet
- a TV outlet
- a magazine outlet
- any other outlet.
A separate news outlet distributes some core news that is not distributed by any other news outlets of the same media brand. Where a media brand distributes identical core news via multiple access points, these are classed as one outlet to avoid double counting. For example, the AM, FM or DAB+ broadcast channel and a website hosting a livestream of a radio station would both be counted as a single radio outlet.
Podcast and social media outlets have been temporarily excluded from our reporting until more comprehensive data is obtained for these outlet types. Online intermediaries, such as news aggregators and social media platforms, are not counted as separate news outlets.
‘Media brand’ refers to a name used to publicly identify related core news and other content distributed via one or more news outlets.
Sometimes a single name is used to identify related core news and other content (for example, media brands The Australian, The Courier Mail and The Sydney Morning Herald). In other instances, several related names are used for this purpose (for example, media brands 9 Adelaide, 9 Perth, 9 Sydney and 9 Melbourne).
Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between media brands and news outlets.
Figure 1: Hierarchy of terms using defined terms
As shown in Figure 2 below, we consider The Sydney Morning Herald to be a ‘media brand’ and its newspaper, email newsletter and website/app to be its ‘news outlets’.
Figure 2: Hierarchy of terms using example
See the glossary for definitions of individual news outlet types and other relevant terms.
Professional news outlet requirements
We have developed 5 requirements to define what constitutes a ‘professional news outlet’ for the purpose of reporting against the Framework.
Each professional news outlet must:
- be subject to at least one relevant professional standard
- be editorially independent from the subjects of its news coverage
- make its news content publicly available to anyone who wishes to access it
- meet both parts of the Australian operation and audience requirement:
- maintain substantial editorial operations in Australia
- operate with a material purpose of serving Australian audiences
- distribute core news.
These requirements have been informed by the:
- News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code (the Bargaining Code)
- Public Interest Journalism Initiative’s (PIJI) Australian News Data Project
- Australian Government’s News Media Assistance Program Policy Framework.
Assessment approach
We assess, and periodically reassess, news outlets against the professional news outlet requirements for inclusion under indicator 3.
Some ACMA and third-party data sources use requirements that closely align with the Framework’s professional news outlet requirements, such as the Bargaining Code’s eligibility tests.
News outlets on the ACMA’s (Bargaining Code) register of eligible news businesses and in other data sources with substantially similar requirements are therefore generally counted as professional news outlets on the basis of this alignment.
Requirement 1: professional standard
Each news outlet must be subject to at least one relevant professional standard.
A news outlet is generally considered to be ‘subject to’ a professional standard if all of the below apply:
- it is covered by the remit of the professional standard
- a copy of the professional standard is publicly available
- it is a member of the body that administers the professional standard (if applicable).
We do not assess news outlet content to confirm adherence to a standard or the efficacy of individual professional standards for this purpose.
Relevant professional standards
Relevant professional standards are:
- the Australian Press Council Standards of Practice
- the Independent Media Council Code of Conduct
- a broadcasting industry code of practice
- the Local & Independent News Association Editorial Standards
- the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance Journalist Code of Ethics
- an internal standard analogous to a standard identified above in relation to the provision of quality journalism.
Analogous internal standards
An analogous internal standard can also be considered a relevant professional standard. Analogous internal standards are characterised by both:
- commitments to professional and ethical reporting in news and current affairs
- the provision of a complaints-handling process for the Australian public.
Requirement 2: editorial independence
Each news outlet must be editorially independent from the subjects of its news coverage. A news outlet is generally considered editorially independent if it is not owned or controlled by:
- a political or advocacy organisation (such as a political party, lobby group or union)
- an elected official or body (for example, a local council or councillor)
- a party that has a commercial interest in its coverage (for example, a publication that covers renewable energy projects that is owned by an energy company).
This requirement is not intended to exclude a news outlet that:
- occasionally:
- reports on itself or a related business, or an issue affecting itself or a related business
- engages in political advocacy
- operates in a commercial context, provided it has internal structures to separate editorial and commercial interests (for example, a Charter of Editorial Independence).
Requirement 3: public availability
Each news outlet must make its news content publicly available to anyone who wishes to access it.
A news outlet’s news content is generally considered publicly available if a person is not required to be a member of a particular group, such as an industry association or other organisation, to access it.
This requirement is not intended to exclude a news outlet:
- that charges a subscription or other fee to access its news content
- that requires a person to create a user account to access its news content
- that requires special equipment (for example, a set-top box) to access its news content
- whose news content is only practically available to people located in a specific area (for example, a printed newspaper that is only distributed in a certain town).
Requirement 4: Australian operation and audience
Each news outlet must both:
- maintain substantial editorial operations in Australia
- operate with a material purpose of serving Australian audiences.
Australian operation
Editorial operations can include a news outlet’s employees or volunteers who are involved in producing and/or distributing news to Australian audiences and the news bureaus, newsrooms or studios where those employees or volunteers are typically based.
Australian audiences
Australian audiences refer to people who are located in Australia. However, a news outlet that has a large Australian audience would not automatically meet this requirement unless it also has a material purpose of serving those audiences with news that is relevant to them.
This requirement is not intended to exclude a news outlet whose news:
- does not directly relate to Australian current affairs (for example, an Australian news outlet that distributes news about foreign affairs in an Australian context or through an Australian lens, mostly to people located in Australia, could meet this requirement)
- is in a language other than English.
Requirement 5: core news
Each news outlet must distribute core news.
There are no minimum requirements in relation to the frequency, prominence or amount of core news a news outlet must distribute.
This means, for example, that natural fluctuations in core news output due to peak/non-peak news periods (for example, election cycles and holiday periods) are not intended to prevent a news outlet from meeting this requirement.
Definition of core news
Core news is content that reports, investigates or explains either:
- issues or events that are relevant in engaging Australians in public debate and in informing democratic decision-making issues
- current issues or events of public significance for Australians at a local, regional or national level.
The definition of core news has been adopted from the Bargaining Code.
Meaning and scope of core news
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bargaining Code notes core news can relate directly to matters of public policy and government decision-making at any level of government, as well as other matters of public significance. These generally include reporting on:
- law and order
- health
- education
- environmental issues
- science
- industrial relations
- business
- coverage of current issues or events of public significance at a local, regional or national level.
Under the Framework, ‘public significance’ is assessed in the context of the individual news outlet and its primary audience. For example, readers of a local newspaper and readers of a national news website are likely to find different current issues or events publicly significant.
Matters that are principally private or special interest are generally not considered core news.
Pure opinion or commentary on news content is also generally not considered core news. However, opinion-based or editorial content that plays a significant role in reporting, investigating or explaining issues that are relevant in engaging Australians in public debate and in informing democratic decision-making can be considered core news.
Under the Framework, news analysis can be considered core news. Satire or comedy, polemics or political advocacy and advertising are generally not considered core news.
As with the Australian audience requirement, the core news requirement is not intended to exclude news content that does not directly relate to Australian current affairs or that is distributed in a language other than English, provided it meets the definition of core news.
Production of core news
The concept of core news is focused on the nature of news content itself, as opposed to how that content was produced. This means, for example, that there is no requirement that core news be produced by a journalist.
News that is not produced by the news outlet that distributes it (for example, commissioned, syndicated or obtained from a news wire service) can also meet the definition of core news.