If the Labor Party is voted into government in NSW on March 25, Shadow Minister for Customer Service and Digital Yasmin Catley says she will be making sure the $3 million worth of extra government advertising that will begin appearing in regional newspapers "serves the public and is productive".
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"Obviously, we're spending taxpayers dollars so we have to ensure that we're doing the right thing," Ms Catley explained this week.
But whether those additional ad bookings will be enough to keep some struggling local newspapers rolling off the presses remains unclear.
NSW Labor announced this week what it called a "$9million plan to safeguard regional and community media" which includes an increase in state government advertising spending in regional newspapers of about three per cent, or $3 million.
The commitment is responding to a front page plea by the NSW newspapers of publisher ACM, including this masthead, for Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns to follow the lead of Victorian Premier Dan Andrews and guarantee a full page ad in every regional newspaper every week to help sustain local news.
According to Ms Catley, the NSW government allocated just 0.5 per cent of its $91 million advertising budget to regional print media in 2020-21.
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But by Labor's own calculations, its plan to "secure the future" of regional newspapers steers only about $20,000 worth of additional advertising into each regional paper.
"What we've done to land on the amount that we've landed on is look at the number of publications, which I believe there to be 84 across NSW, [the $3 million] will then equate to $20,000 per publication in additional advertising," Ms Catley said.
"We'll work with the sector on this ... to see that that's correct, but from our calculations of the information we've got available to us, that's where we've landed."
Labor was open to reviewing its approach if elected.
"I think that it would be worthy to have a detailed conversation about this in government," Ms Catley said.
"I've tried my best with the resources that we have to come up with something that I think is fair and reasonable to get us through a longer period of time, so that we're able to then sit down as adults around the table and have the conversation around how we ensure that our regional media grows, flourishes and prospers going forward."
Managing director of ACM Tony Kendall said he was "somewhat encouraged" by Labor's show of support for regional newspapers, the journalists who produce them and the audiences who read them.
"This is a reasonable first step and we are grateful that the issues we have raised on behalf of our industry and the communities we serve are being heard," Mr Kendall said.
"Unfortunately, this commitment is not likely to shore up the future of some of the more marginal publications around the state but we will continue doing everything in our power to keep as many newspapers as possible in print."
Mr Kendall said regional publishers would be encouraged to know that Labor was willing to consult further if it wins government.
"We welcome the indication that a future Minns government would be open to further discussions with the industry," he said.
"As the Victorian Labor government is showing, the elegant solution here is a guaranteed full page of advertising that puts essential government messages in front of our highly engaged readers every week and provides meaningful financial certainty for newspapers battling the rising price of newsprint and other challenges."
Asked why NSW Labor would not make the same pledge that Premier Andrews took to November's Victorian election, Ms Catley said "we're not the government, we're the opposition".
"The government have all of the resources at their fingertips," she said. "The Minister has thousands of staff that could be working on a resolution and a conversation with our regional print media. I have three electorate office staff here and we have 11 staff in the leader's office.
"We've obviously come up with this plan to address the concerns in the sector in relation to the ongoing stability and proposition of the industry.
"I think that it would be worthy to have a detailed conversation about this in government. This is a measure to ensure that we get through for a lengthy period of time and then we can sit down and have a real forensic look at what is happening with the sector and how we can work together to make sure that it flourishes and prospers into the future."
ACM's Mr Kendall said Labor's proposal to double the Perrottet government's new $3 million Regional Media Fund, taking the program's potential total cost to $6 million, was unlikely to have a significant impact on the long-term sustainability of regional newspapers.
"Some critics of the questions we've raised recently can't seem to grasp that we're not talking about grants and hand-outs because grants aren't going to help sustain local newspapers, advertising is going to sustain local newspapers," Mr Kendall said.
"I'm sure even some of those competitors who have had a crack at us in recent days for asking these questions on behalf of our industry would not say no to a page of government advertising every week."
Ms Catley said Labor would extend the Coalition's Regional Media Fund, which offers country newspapers $20,000 to $60,000 grants for digital innovation projects such as podcasts, into a second round in late 2023 to early 2024. Publishers would be able to apply for grants for up to six projects across the two rounds.
Asked how one-off payments for digital projects would help sustain a regional newspaper, Ms Catley acknowledged that the effectiveness of the grants would need to be assessed.
"We used what was there to be honest with you," she said of the Coalition program. "I believe this will be successful. But if we see ... that it is sort of just a one-off sugar hit and it's not assisting with the longevity then we're open to change it.
"And you have a guarantee we will be transparent and we'll be open and honest with the results of it. So we'll keep a forensic eye on it and watch what works and what doesn't work, and I expect you to do the same - you as an industry - so we can come back and discuss it."
Labor's funding promises this week steered clear of any mention of the call by ACM's NSW newspapers for a reversal of the 2020 changes that allow local councils to put their public notices on their websites instead of in the local paper.
"It's not on the immediate agenda," Ms Catley said. "But everything will be considered to ensure the sustainability of the industry going forward. These are all things we need to be looking at."
Although she's the local MP for Swansea, south of Newcastle, and Labor's Shadow Minister for the Hunter, Ms Catley admits regional media "is not an area that I have intrinsic knowledge of".
"I want to learn that of course because it is important," she said. "I hope that you're supportive of what we've put forward. It's a genuine attempt to ensure that we can ... continue to have a conversation [and] put in a level of stability to ensure the sector is viable while we continue having that conversation."
The Perrottet government responded to the questions put by ACM's papers by issuing a 179-word statement last week that failed to mention newspapers once.
