Dr. Dawn Wheatley:

I want to touch on several issues. The Senator asked about the Digital Services Act.

Other colleagues might be in a better position to talk about that and may have considered what happens if that does not work out as intended. The Senator mentioned the concern about people not having access. That is absolutely a concern of mine. I mentioned in my address that I understand why news outlets have those paywalls, as is their commercial right, but that any journalism funded through these new State supports should not be paywalled. The Future of Media Commission's report states that content funded under the scheme should be available at the point of consumption and archived. I reiterate that that has already been thought about and is a concern.

This is not just about access. There is a sense of disconnection. People are avoiding the news, which is challenging for us and many journalists to accept. I mentioned the digital news report in Ireland last year. When asked, between 30% and 40% of people said they actively avoided the news. This is not just a question of whether information is provided and accessible, or paywalled or not, but about the engagement audiences have and whether they feel it is relevant. People of all ages are in a high-choice media environment where they can turn off the depressing news and spend time on Netflix, scroll through TikTok or do whatever else. That is also a challenge, since this is not just about the paywall infrastructure, but also making the public feel that the news is valuable. There is no easy solution to any of this but beyond just the financial structures, there is a question of making sure the public see value in this.