Journalism Assistance Fund grant will help Murray Bridge News keep publishing
Times are tough for independent media, but the federal government is chipping in to help a bit.
A federal government grant will help Murray Bridge News keep publishing for the next three years.
Your locally owned news service was successful last month in winning a grant under the federal Journalism Assistance Fund, a program intended to prop up Australia’s news and media sector in the face of ongoing financial challenges.
Murray Bridge News will receive a modest amount of funding in each of the next three years – not enough to replace the journalist we lost at the end of 2025, but enough to help a bit.
In announcing the program last year, federal Communications Minister Anika Wells said it was important for regional and diverse communities to have access to news that mattered to them.
“Quality, relevant news is essential for keeping Australians informed and connected – that’s why our government is investing $67 million into the Journalism Assistance Fund,” she said.
“We need Australians telling Australian stories, and that can’t happen without backing Australian journalists in diverse communities.”
Murray Bridge News has chosen to disclose the funding in the interests of transparency and accountability.
SA Today, publishers of The Murray Valley Standard and 15 other newspapers around the state, also received funding under the program.
The grant comes against a backdrop of significant, long-term challenges for the news industry, and for local news in particular.
Major challenges in the Murraylands have included:
- declining advertising revenue as businesses choose to spend with Google and Facebook instead of local media
- a lack of support for independently owned publications by governments and major corporations
- difficult economic conditions for both advertisers and subscribers, fuelled by COVID-19, the 2022-23 flood and the current drought
Independent publishers from around Australia will gather in Murray Bridge this March to try and solve some of those challenges at the 2026 summit of the Local and Independent News Association, co-hosted by Murray Bridge News.
Despite it all, public interest in local news is higher than ever, according to the University of Canberra’s Digital News Report 2025.
There is a real clash between our communities’ interest in and need for local news, and people’s willingness to help pay for it through advertising and subscriptions.
How you can help
If you want to support independent local news in the Murraylands, you can:
- become a paying subscriber for just $8 a month: click here
- advertise with us and reach an audience of tens of thousands of local people for a price lower than what you’ll pay in print or on the radio: click here
- if you’re not in a position to contribute financially, like and share our content on social media or click here to become a free email subscriber
Without your support, Murray Bridge News may not make it through 2026.
As noted above, we’ve already lost a journalist, increasing the workload on our two remaining staff members, but we’re determined to hang in there.
Supporting us doesn’t just keep us in jobs – it connects, uplifts and empowers local people by giving our whole community access to reliable, local information.
Most of that information is free to read online, by email, on social media and on the 15 Murray Bridge News Network screens around our region.
Without shared stories, we wouldn’t have a community at all – just a bunch of people who live and work near each other.
So please support our communities if you can, by supporting independent local news.
- Subscribe to Murray Bridge News: www.murraybridge.news.
- More information: Visit www.murraybridge.news/about or www.murraybridge.news/advertise.
