Reporting Asia: Courtesy of Australian philanthropy

Abstract

The sudden entrance onto the Australian media scene three years ago of a philanthropist bearing AUD 100 million was an innovative fillip for an embattled industry. The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas (JNI) has since announced some bold initiatives to strengthen reporting, including of international newsgathering in the Asia Pacific region. The JNI has enabled The Australian Financial Review to reopen its Jakarta bureau, Guardian Australia to hire a Pacific editor and develop a network of Pacific journalists, and The Australian to produce features on the Chinese diaspora. COVID-19 has caused significant challenges, but results indicate they have been successful in what they set out to achieve ‐ to carry out more international newsgathering from Asia. Other criteria, such as ‘the impact’ of this reporting, are harder to gauge. This article employs qualitative interviewing and content analysis to examine if these three case studies have been successful, according to the ‘five core principles’ of the JNI.