The Public Interest Journalism Initiative (PIJI) is an independent

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

research and

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

institute, established in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 2018. It is a registered

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

charitable organisation that is focused on research into sustainability in the

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and th ...

sector. It was founded by a group of university academics, including members of the

Public Interest Journalism Foundation Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without access t ...

, and news media industry figures. It was established with philanthropic funding from the Susan McKinnon Foundation, Australian Communities Foundation and Hecht Trust.

Research

PIJI research focuses on three main areas: assessing media diversity; measuring public support and value of journalism; and evaluating mechanisms for financial support. In April 2020 PIJI launched the Australian News Mapping Project, an ongoing research project to track changes to the production and availability of news media. The project has attracted significant media attention as a source of independent information about Australian journalism. In 2023, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

funded PIJI to continue this project. Other research projects have proposed a public interest journalism rebate scheme and investigated philanthropic funding for news companies. PIJI also contributed to the development of the

News Media Bargaining Code The News Media Bargaining Code (or News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) is a law designed to have large technology platforms that operate in Australia pay local news publishers for the news content made available or lin ...

Governance

PIJI's Board of Directors is chaired by Professor

Allan Fels Allan Herbert Miller Fels (born 7 February 1942) is an Australian economist, lawyer and public servant. He was most widely known in his role as chairman of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) from its inception in 1995 unt ...

. Its Board includes

Eric Beecher Eric Beecher is an Australian journalist, editor and media proprietor. He was editor of the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' for four years and for three years was editor-in-chief of the Herald and Weekly Times group. Career In 1990, he founded Text ...

, Richard Eccles, Leslie Falkiner-Rose,

Virginia Haussegger Virginia Haussegger, (born 21 March 1964), is an Australian journalist, academic advocate for gender equity, media commentator and television presenter. Haussegger presented ''ABC News (Australia), ABC News'' on ABC Canberra (TV station), ABC ...

Anita Jacoby Anita Jacoby, is an Australian television producer and journalist. Life Jacoby was born in Sydney, Australia, the daughter of political refugees displaced through the Second World War. Her father was born in Heinrichswalde, Germany, and h ...

and Mette Schepers. Past members of the Board include Professor

Glyn Davis Glyn Conrad Davis AC (born 25 July 1959) is an Australian academic who is the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, appointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on 30 May 2022, and commenced on 6 June 2022. Davis was pre ...

, Adam Ferrier, Karen Mahlab, Dr Sophie Oh, Grant Rule, Dr

Margaret Simons Margaret Simons (born 1960) is an Australian academic, freelance journalist and author. She has written numerous articles and essays as well as many books, including a biography of Senate leader of the Australian Labor Party Penny Wong. Her essa ...

, and Professor

Marilyn Warren Marilyn Louise Warren (born 1951) is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria, Australia. Early life Warren grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Sandringham, and was educated at the Kilbr ...

. Its research programme is overseen by a panel of academic experts including Professor Derek Wilding (Chair), Associate Professor Jason Bosland, Professor Axel Bruns, Associate Professor Andrea Carson, Associate Professor Andrew Dodd, Professor Kristy Hess, Professor Sora Park, Dr Margaret Simons and Professor

Glenn Withers Glenn Alexander Withers is an Australian economist, policy adviser, and academic. He is an Honorary Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Australian National University and Visiting Professorial Fellow at University of New South Wales Can ...

. PIJI has a partnership agreement with the University of Melbourne. It has previously been partnered with the newDemocracy Foundation.

References

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External links

Official website
Think tanks based in Australia Organisations based in Melbourne