The great playwright Arthur Miller once wrote, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”

Miller was highlighting the important role local papers play in providing a forum for national dialogue. A space where citizens from different backgrounds can connect over national topics of interest. Where ideas and issues can be debated. Where collective thought and culture can emerge. A space where a society can understand itself, what is important to it, and how to shape its future.

Although news publishing has evolved since Mr Miller’s time, his insights remain relevant today, especially in the Australian context.
 

For Australians, by Australians

Australian news publishers tell the story of Australia – who we are, what’s happening to us and where we’re headed. Their stories are written by Australians, for Australians, about Australian passions, events and issues.

This makes our local news publishers incredibly important to Australian society – a sentiment I’m glad the nation’s leading marketers and media executives share.

As Mark Coad, CEO of IPG, Mediabrands Australia, puts it, “We want our local agendas. We want our politicians kept accountable by local media outlets... We've got local newsrooms setting the agenda, knowing what's important to this country.”

Knowing what’s important to this country is a news publisher’s superpower. And this superpower makes news an incredibly important channel for Australian advertisers and media buying agencies.
 

Knowing what connects with Australians

Local news publishers know their readers, what they like to read, and how they want to engage. Their platforms and content are developed with an Australian audience in mind, and their stories are relevant and topical to Australian readers.

As Kim McConnie, Group Executive Marketing, Tourism and Events Queensland says, “it's really hard to leverage other mediums to really be able to tell the richness of the characters, the people, what they do, who they are, in a way which is relevant in that moment, at that time. And I think that is one of the strengths of news… why we keep investing in news as a medium.”

Ultimately, it boils down to audience engagement. News publishers strongly connect with Australian communities, enabling brands to engage deeply and meaningfully too. This leads to greater audience focus, trust, and propensity to act on advertising.

Data supports this with a study by FiftyFive5 finding that 75 per cent of readers are fully engaged when reading written news and that news is 18 per cent more trustworthy relative to all other media.
 

Tapping into a diverse Australia

This rings especially true regarding news publishing’s unique ability to connect with regional and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) audiences. A crucial aim for brands given the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports more than seven million Australians live in regional or rural areas and that there are more than seven million CALD people living in Australia.

Research from the Public Interest Journalism Initiative (PIJI) found that Australian CALD communities rely heavily on local news for information about their communities. Approximately 80 per cent of respondents indicated they consume local news at least weekly.

A study by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) showed that over 60 per cent of people from CALD backgrounds consider local news essential for feeling connected to their local area and wider Australian society.

CALD audiences value authentic representation and are wary of tokenistic approaches. News publishers have invested time, money and energy over many years in ensuring representation and culturally relevant content and environments. They have built a plethora of insights on diverse audiences that can provide advertisers with a solid strategic foundation to craft culturally appropriate and targeted campaigns.

As Claire Butterworth, National Head of Investment at GroupM, says, “In the last few years, from what I've seen, there's been a huge focus from publishers on improving and creating new platforms for minorities. We certainly work with clients closely to be able to authentically partner in those community environments.”
 

A call to action for Australian marketers and agencies

News plays an essential role in our society as both a reflection and guide on subjects we really care about. The power of news publishers to be tellers of the Australian story and to truly understand what matters to Australians ensures diverse audiences continue to flock to their pages every day.

By investing in news media, marketers and agencies can tap into the nation's behaviours, passions, and interests and make meaningful brand connections with Australians from all walks of life.