Kiama council votes for clarity on Bugle newspaper ownership

At Tuesday night's council meeting Cr Mark Croxford moved a motion that called on Chantelle Farah, the trustee of the Regional Media Unit Trust - which owns the newspaper, to meet with CEO Jane Stroud and councillors.

It also delegated Ms Stroud to write to Ms Farah to understand whether the beneficiaries of that trust "include persons or entities with interests in property developers or construction companies owning land and property in the Kiama Local Government Area".

In speaking to the motion Cr Croxford said it was important to know The Bugle's ownership structure.

"It's troubling that we don't know who benefits from the Regional Media Unit Trust as beneficiaries," Cr Croxford said.

"The lack of clarity, along with The Bugle's slanted coverage, favouring development and housing hints at hidden financial interests that could be shaping their stories.

"This lack of transparency might mislead our community on important issues, especially if those hidden beneficiaries stand to gain from council decisions about development and planning."

Cr Croxford also asked Mayor Neil Reilly why he had stopped contributing a mayoral column to the newspaper.

"At the time, some months ago, it was very uncertain as to who owned The Bugle," Cr Reilly said.

"And I felt that if council was going to contribute, particularly in the manner of a mayoral column on a monthly basis, that if it would turn out that there was some, let's say, shady practices with regard to the management of that company, it would be a very, very poor look for council indeed.

"So I didn't want to bring council into disrepute by supporting a publication whose ownership was unclear to me."

The only other speaker on Cr Croxford's motion was Cr Imogen Draisma, who felt it was important for any candidates for the upcoming council election to "know just who they are funding if they were to take out an advertisement" in The Bugle.

"We are also very cognisant of the fact that media ownership does matters and it impacts the quality of information that we're providing, it impacts the integrity of our own leadership," Cr Draisma said.

"And I think it's very important that we do get some answers to the questions outlined in Cr Croxford's notice of motion."

In a right of reply Cr Croxford said transparency was more than just "a buzzword for council debates".

"It's vital that any media outlet like The Bugle operates with complete integrity and transparency," Cr Croxford said.

"When there's a chance that a newspaper is acting on behalf of undisclosed parties, especially those that might benefit from local projects, we need to step up."

Cr Croxford's motion was passed unanimously with no-one speaking against it.