Via The Australian:
Billionaire philanthropist Judith Neilson will donate at least $100 million to create a journalism institute based in Sydney.
The institute to be called the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism & Ideas, will distribute grants and host events to encourage quality journalism.
“Journalism doesn’t just need critics, it needs champions — people and institutions with the resources to help educate, encourage and connect journalists and their audience in pursuit of excellence,” Ms Neilson said.
Bravo. Far be it for me to rain on such a generous gift. But I can’t help feeling that the grass roots of journalistic training is not the issue. The problem is broken journalism business models where quality journalism can be domiciled. There are a bunch of great journos right now languishing in backwater pools because they’ve been flushed out by dying businesses. Witness the fragmentation that has led to the death of the centre:
- a totalitarian right-wing Murdoch press;
- a totalitarian left-wing Guardian press, and
- a realty whore Fairfax press plus a few hangers-on.
Free-to-air TV is dead man walking. The ABC is dead man walking. Pay TV is in trouble. Radio is limited.
The internet is the only future. $100m stuck in a fund to establish Australia’s next great online news and analysis service would boost the future of centrist journalism far more than an institute with graduates that have nowhere to go.
Perhaps it will provide such as well. I hope so.
