A competitive news industry operating in the public interest is vital to the proper functioning of Australian democracy. However, Australia’s news industry is highly concentrated, with 84% of newspaper revenue going to one of four large conglomerates: Nine Entertainment, News Corp, Seven West Media, and Australian Community Media.

Even within this limited market, competition is rare. Of Australia’s 20 largest cities, 18 lack competition between two comparable print media outlets. Ten million Australians, or 39% of the population, live in one of these 18 cities – that includes every capital city except for Sydney and Melbourne.

The situation is also dire outside of the big cities. Over a quarter of Local Government Areas, generally those in regional and rural areas, have no independent local news outlet. Some of have no local news at all. Hundreds of news outlets have shut down in the last five years, with the worst impacts being felt in the regions.

The disappearing newspapers have been diverse, including independent and smaller-conglomerate owned newspapers, but the biggest four owners were not spared. Australian Community Media has gone from publishing 170 outlets before the pandemic to just 62 today.

In 2020, News Corp moved the bulk of its regional outlets to an online-only model. Out of the 119 News Corp titles listed by the Australian Press Council, 86 have been shifted to News Corp’s “digital only” model, their presence reduced to social media pages and a subsection on the website of the daily newspaper in their state’s capital city. Only 19 – less than one in six – are full, separate newspapers with their own websites or print editions. The vast majority of News Corp’s publishing empire has become little more than a social media page and local news subsection.

While some outlets have emerged to replace these gaps, they tend to be less regular and have fewer resources than their predecessors. And there are many towns that have been left with no news outlet since the local paper shut down.

Australia-wide, the newspaper industry is shrinking in its output and diversity. In a growing and diverse country, this may have dire consequences for Australian democracy.