Eric Beecher, publisher of Aussie online phenomenon Crikey, and a former editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, has views on the decline of what he calls ‘public trust’ journalism:

I believe Australian politicians and policy makers should at least contemplate a world devoid of large-scale commercial quality journalism. Which is not to advocate the concept of government-owned newspapers or the creation of a government fund to pay for commercial journalism or anything like those things.

But the looming prospect of greatly diminished quality journalism in Australia, and the consequences of that prospect on the virility of the democratic debate in Australia, is in my view a discussion about market failure that is, at least, a subject worthy of debate rather than derision.

He tiptoes up to the door of govt-funded journalism, rings the bell and runs away (thank goodness I never do things like that). As one of his commenters notes:

If you think it’s market failure, if you think there’s a genuine externality that requires correction from a government actor, then go ahead and say it, and be prepared to defend it…

There’s no problem with government-funded journalism. Governments fund radical, establishment-challenging art, plays, music, operas – you name it. But that funding comes at a price. And the price is irrelevance.

That’s the real problem, and – as I’ve said before – it’s a not problem for journalism, it’s a problem for the societies in which we live. It has at its root the obsolescence of our public institutions and governance. I don’t say decline because I grew up loathing many of them (well, I did want to be a journalist) – but there is no debate about the politics of the post-public world, and little acknowledgement that it is the world in which we live.