Tips for Staying Ahead of the Curve in the Australian Media Industry
If you’re a news organization looking to grow your business, look no further than Australia. The country has an appetite for quality journalism and is home to some of the world’s most respected media companies.
Here are five ways you can leverage that reputation to attract the best international talent.
Hire Australian journalists first.
Many news organizations look to local journalists for advice before seeking out foreign freelancers for their team. While it’s always better to hire local journalists first, there are advantages to hiring foreign freelancers if your industry is news.
For example, you can integrate more experience with your team and get an understanding of the industry from the get-go.
If you hire a foreign freelancer, you may have to shell out a higher fee, but you also risk getting bad experience and not being able to integrate the right person on your team.
Engage with them intensively before you seek out foreign freelancers.
Journalists work in a variety of industries and specialisations. You’ll almost certainly want to engage with your foreign freelancers in a number of different ways before you start looking for talent in other countries.
For example, before you hire a foreign freelancer, get to know your Australian journalists and find out what their favorite topics are. Then encourage them to write about those topics frequently and to explore new topics that interest you too.
Be open to new ideas and approaches.
There’s no disputing the power of the traditional media in Australia. But the country’s current media landscape is highly decentralized, with many local and regional newspapers, radio stations, and television channels.
It’s important to engage with the media continuously, not just when you’re looking to expand your team. Every time a new story breaks, don’t just focus on the new information — think about what has been said and written about the event previously.
You want your foreign freelancers to be part of your daily media flow, not just receive a single story and be done with it. Building a relationship with your journalists — both local and foreign — is the key to a healthy and productive collaboration.
Be transparent and accountable.
Journalists are human and make mistakes. That’s why it’s important to be transparent with your hiring process and accountable for the hiring decisions you make.
It’s easy to make rash decisions when you’re in a rush to get the job done, but these mistakes occur frequently because you didn’t think things through carefully.
For example, before hiring a foreign freelancer, make sure you have their contact info for future story ideas, especially if you’re looking to expand your reach.
Also, make sure to keep your staff informed and acknowledge any mistakes you’ve made. You want your team to feel confident working on stories because you want them to be accurate, not afraid.
Build strong working relationships with the media industry in Australia.
There are currently three major Australian media organisations: The Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, and The Age. All three outlets have a wide range of specific expertise, including news articles, editorials, and features on a variety of topics.
However, the newspapers have a long way to go before they can be considered world-class news organizations. That said, there are strong working relationships with a number of local news organizations throughout Australia.
If you’re looking for coverage of breaking news and events, you can always depend on the Daily Telegraph to deliver. However, you might want to look for other outlets when you want to test the water and see how your brand’s coverage stacks up to the papers’.
Look beyond traditional print media and embrace online news as well.
Traditional news organizations don’t always see the value in embracing the latest technology and new forms of media. However, there’s a lot of room for improvement in this area and you might consider looking into the future — and embracing the digital future.
Some of the biggest news organisations in Australia are still printed newspapers. However, many big brands are now discovering the power of online news.
The most popular news websites in Australia are still controlled by traditional media, but there are now plenty of options that are openly seeking to please both traditional and new readers.
For example, you can always rely on the Age to deliver traditional news coverage, but you can also try out its lifestyle, technology, and business sections.
Follow evolves from trends and test the water.
Some industries are still struggling to follow the evolution from traditional to digital media.
For example, the automotive sector is still trying to figure out how to integrate all the new technologies and communication options.
However, there is a lot of potential in this sector for brands who want to reach customers on an individual level. For example, if you’re a car company and want to reach customers who aren’t looking for the latest and greatest models, test the water and see how you do with the traditional newspaper format.
Conclusion
There are a lot of challenges and risks involved in growing a news organization in Australia. To succeed, you need to be willing to roll up your sleeves and get down to the nitty-gritty of the task at hand.
You need to engage with the media continuously, not just when you’re looking to expand your team. You want your foreign freelancers to be part of your daily media flow, not just receive a single story and be done with it. And you need to follow evolves from trends and test the water.