Survey: news coverage of local governments

The purpose of this survey is to collect information about local news coverage in Australia.

In 2019 the Public Interest Journalism Initiative (PIJI) and Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) conducted a survey of media and communications managers of local governments to gather their views on the amount of news coverage of meetings, decisions and other activities of council, and how that changed over time. The survey provided valuable insight and the results have guided PIJI’s research and policy activities.

PIJI and the ALGA are seeking to repeat this survey to understand how local news coverage may have changed in the years since, a period in which news media businesses have faced both significant challenges and opportunities.

 

This survey is intended for employees and elected officials in local government who have or may reasonably expect to have regular contact with journalists working at news outlets. You will be asked questions about your interactions with local news outlets, about coverage of council activities, and about coverage of council meetings specifically.

This survey contains 15 questions in total, of which 11 are about your experience working in local government and with the news media. It is estimated to take 12 minutes to complete.

 

News outlets means independent newspapers, websites, blogs, radio and/or television stations which regularly publish or broadcast stories about your local government. These outlets may be produced by a small group of volunteers or by very large media companies. They should be independent of council and operate according to professional standards.

 

Your responses will be used in a public report to be released by the Public Interest Journalism Initiative. Please be aware that your local government area will be identified as having participated in the survey, and may be identifed against individual responses. We will not identify you by name for your participation in this survey.

 

For more information about this survey, contact Research and Projects Manager Gary Dickson: gary.dickson@piji.com.au. For more information about PIJI, see https://piji.com.au/.