Australian Journalism Review - Current Issue

The crisis facing local journalism is a national and international problem, with more than 200 local newspapers in regional Australia significantly cutting their service or closing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The complex state of the crisis is demonstrated by ‘local’ newspapers that have existed for more than 150 years and have a town’s name in a masthead yet have no physical infrastructure in that place, no newsroom or regularly visiting journalists and rely mostly on generic, duplicated content. At first glance, many towns appear well-served, but detailed analysis reveals a completely different picture. This commentary outlines how the authors have been working to understand how local news providers might be able to collaborate under the auspices of the main public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, to support regional, rural and remote areas lacking access or areas vulnerable to losing access to quality local public interest journalism.

This article explores how newsgames offer meaningful engagement during an era of news avoidance and the declining impact of traditional journalism. It examines the history and evolution of newsgames, such as September 12th and The Uber Game, which blend interactivity with procedural rhetoric to engage audiences with complex issues like global conflicts and social crises. Part 2 of the article focuses on the creation of Ramping Rush: Ambulance Rescue, a newsgame addressing ambulance ramping developed through the University of South Australia’s virtual internship programme. Using a research-led practice methodology, the game integrates real-world data and ethical decision-making to enhance engagement with hyperlocal content. The study highlights how newsgames can bridge gaps in audience engagement, particularly among younger, digital-first users, by combining storytelling with interactive gameplay. Despite challenges such as technological limitations and resource constraints, the article advocates for newsgames as useful tools for contemporary journalism and education.

Cultural competence is crucial in improving health for culturally diverse populations within multicultural contexts, and it is widely recognized as essential for addressing the challenges of cultural diversity in healthcare, education and communication. However, discussions about culture and its associated competencies in journalism remain ambiguously defined. By systematically reviewing scholarship at the intersection of health and journalism, this article proposes a new conceptual framework that integrates enhanced cultural competence into health journalism, recognizing that cultural competence is not a binary state (competent/incompetent) but rather an ongoing journey. This conceptual framework of journalistic cultural competence contributes to the knowledge about health news reporting for populations that use culturally diverse medical practices. Practical implications include the application of this proposed framework to guide the development of educational or training programmes that strengthen the competence of health journalists to effectively engage multicultural medical communities and cover health-related issues that might be culturally sensitive to diverse populations.

In this article, I explore the assigned role of interpreters in journalism training programmes in Vietnam, focusing on two media aid projects funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida): the Local Radio Project and the Further Training of Journalists programme. The study is based on qualitative analyses of project documentation and interviews with former trainers. A theoretical framework encompassing journalistic cultures, contrasting media systems and interpreters’ roles in development work is used to examine the implications of their involvement. Additionally, the concept of ‘development brokers’ is applied to understand interpreters’ contributions. The findings reveal that interpreters’ responsibilities extended beyond language translation to include mediating journalistic culture from Sweden to Vietnam, emphasizing their evolving and essential role in these training initiatives. Moreover, the study highlights how the project design overlooked the potential benefits of incorporating interpreters’ experiences, leaving trainers to discover these contributions organically through collaboration and relationship-building during the training activities. Finally, by applying the development brokers framework, this study demonstrates how trainer–interpreter relationships shaped project outcomes and offers an adaptable model for evaluating future media training initiatives across diverse media systems.

Review of: Australian Newspapers in the Television Age, 1956–2006, Rodney Tiffen (2025)

London: Anthem Press, 174 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-83999-491-3, h/bk, AUD 110

ISBN 978-1-83999-492-0, e-book, AUD 35

ISBN 978-1-83999-493-7, WebPDF, AUD 35

Review of: The Routledge Handbook of Lifestyle Journalism, Folker Hanusch (ed.) (2025)

London: Routledge, 498 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-00339-672-7, e-book, AUD 62.99