This week, the ABC revealed a strange federal budget measure, that favours wealthier media consumers, and metropolitan-based coverage of sport.
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This year's budget includes a $30 million gift to News Corp's Fox Sports to "support the broadcast of underrepresented sports on subscription television, including women's sports, niche sports, and sports with a high level of community involvement and participation".
I have no qualms with the idea of providing underrepresented sports with more extensive coverage.
As a former sports reporter from a country newspaper that prioritised Australian Rules and rugby league coverage over the thriving women’s rugby union and soccer competitions, I accepted our readers yearned for content on the sports they played and loved.
However, I pressed my editors to include women’s sport in the paper, I chased coaches for quotes before I had been told the story would be published. The hope was if I’d done the work, the story would run and the athletes in sports which hardly receive media attention gained recognition.
The problem with this measure is that it creates greater privileges for those who can afford to pay for a sporting channel. Why not fund free to air TV programs that cover underrepresented sports? Include everyone, instead of just the people positioned to pay for TV.
By funding a private broadcasting company in 2017 and making cuts to the ABC’s budget in 2016, you have to wonder, what does this government owe Rupert Murdoch?
It is a win for the wealthy, a win for a Sydney-based company and another blow to sport in regional areas.
If the government is serious about giving underrepresented sports a leg up, why doesn’t it start by funding media groups based in regional areas, that are under-resourced, but still work tirelessly to ensure the local girl who qualified for the Paralympics is celebrated with a back page spread?
In Wagga, we were fortunate; we had three full time sports reporters, where our competitor, Prime, had one. ABC Riverina didn’t have a sports reporter, shame.
More must be done to support companies that provide organic media and battle online giants Facebook and Google for advertising revenue, but this gift to Fox Sports is unfair, not only for other sports media outlets, but for the broader community.
