In a monumental step to confront the looming challenges of misinformation and underfunded journalism, Medianet and 360info are excited to reveal their strategic partnership. Leveraging Medianet’s robust pitching and distribution platform along with NewsHub, the alliance aims to notify journalists immediately when high-caliber news packages become available.
The news content, meticulously crafted by an international team of journalists, integrates academic research and expert commentary. The content is distributed under a Creative Commons license, enabling newsrooms to freely adapt or publish the content at no cost.
A Brainchild with Global Reach and Local Impact
Founded in 2022 by media veteran Andrew Jaspan AM—who also founded The Conversation and previously edited The Age and The Big Issue—360info has garnered financial backing from Monash University and has since collaborated with hundreds of universities across the globe.
Remarkably, Jaspan highlights that the platform has shown the most significant impact on small, local community papers in Australia’s regional and rural areas.
These outlets have often been hit the hardest by digital developments and the collapse of the traditional advertising model of funding. Sometimes struggling to bring out the paper or pay staff to cover stories, they now have free access to a feed of rich, explanatory, corrective or contextual features content to slot straight in or repurpose as they see fit.
Jaspan
Counteracting Threats to Public Interest Journalism
Amrita Sidhu, Managing Director of Medianet, elucidated that the partnership serves to address the grave threats to public interest journalism outlined in the 2023 Australian Media Landscape Report.
An increase in disinformation was identified as a threat to public interest journalism by almost three quarters [71%] of the more than 1,000 Australian journalists we surveyed last year.
Sindhu
Sidhu further asserted that this collaborative endeavor would serve as a potent antidote to issues of misinformation, disinformation, and the insidious spread of ‘fake news.’
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Addressing Resource Constraints and Journalist Burnout
Besides combating misinformation, the partnership also aims to alleviate other pain points afflicting the journalism industry—such as lack of resources, newsroom closures, and journalist burnout.
Supporting the work of journalists and a thriving media industry is one of our key objectives at Medianet, so we’re very happy to support 360info by providing under-resourced newsrooms notification of free quality content and information.
Open Access to Premium Content
The high-quality news content from 360info is now freely accessible through their website and the Medianet Newshub, enabling any media outlet and newsroom to take advantage of this exceptional resource.
In summary, the newly-forged partnership between Medianet and 360info marks a pivotal moment for Australian public interest journalism, creating new avenues for credible news and empowering journalists in the fight against misinformation.
