Network Insight Institute

Moya Dodd

Moya Dodd, Managing Director, Content & Finance, f2

The emergence of the Internet and other global media, with few access boundaries between countries, creates opportunities as well as challenges. I think that it is helpful to keep in mind those opportunities that we have, in some cases to emerge as world leaders in particular genres. We have one site called rugbyheaven.com which, for the rugger-buggers in the audience, combines the best of British, South African, New Zealand and Australian rugby coverage. It is very hard to get world figures, but it is certainly the most popular rugby site here and we think it has a very big international reach. There is an opportunity there to take a position of world leadership in a sport that plenty of, if not all, nations are interested in. Those opportunities do present themselves to Australian content players and publishers. Alongside feeling perplexed about the challenges of how we survive and flourish in a big world as a relatively small country with a weak dollar, we also need to keep in mind the export opportunities that can assist us. On the demand side, then, I would say that there is a huge demand for local content from Australians and, in particular circumstances, from international audiences.

On the supply side, the barriers to entry in this business have in many ways fallen dramatically with increasing availability of low cost equipment. The advent of digital video cameras and the ability to do editing on any reasonable high-end computer mean that anyone with a few thousand dollars can start creating content. That doesn't mean the content is watchable or that they necessarily have the skills to produce something that would interest anyone beyond their immediate family. …

On the supply side, then, in theory it should be getting easier and cheaper than ever to produce content. Certainly at Fairfax there is a small but scaleable video production capability. The AIM studios in Sydney and Melbourne are functional and we have digital video cameras on the road in case there is something worth covering in video. We have a virtual set in a studio in Darling Park. We use that capacity on a daily basis to produce content for the websites. That production is now, at a relatively low cost, of sufficient quality to migrate onto other platforms. On both the demand and the supply side, you'd have to have some cause for cheer when you look at the Australian content landscape.

The importance of local components should not be overlooked. People talk a lot about globalisation and the Internet and suggest that we are all going to buy our books from Amazon and that local bookshops will all go broke. That just isn't true. Certainly, there are niches, such as rare stamps, where you might go to a global auction site to buy something that is easy to post to Australia. However, many practical, everyday business transactions cannot easily be done on a global basis. If you want to buy a motorbike or do your grocery shopping online or get a haircut, you'll use the Internet to find a local business. When you look at the usage patterns and content demands of local users, they are still very much local, but it does vary by genre.

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