Financial Wellbeing Reporting in the Australian Media

A landmark study of news articles on the Dow Jones Factiva database has uncovered concerning trends about the media’s coverage of people’s financial wellbeing.

In a project coordinated by RMIT’s Innovation Catalyst, data scientists teamed with economists, other academics and community groups to examine the media’s ability to provide information to help people manage day-to-day expenses, and to live full and comfortable lives, free from financial stress, have resilience to cope with life’s unexpected events, and have security for the future. 

Together with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand and The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership we examine a data set of text media articles with the labels “personal finance” or “family finance” going back to 1990.

We unearthed new insights on how Australian media coverage leaves behind key groups – particularly women and those struggling financially – when covering society’s big issues.

The research and writing for this project were undertaken by:

• The RMIT Innovation Catalyst: Campbell McNolty, Sai Ram Gitte, Mondo Kad and Dr Brad Crammond
• RMIT Journalism Program: Associate Professor Alexandra Wake
• Infoxchange: Dr Kristen Moeller-Saxone
• Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand: Professor Roslyn Russell and Dr Jozica Kutin
• The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership: Dr Gosia Mikolajczak and Dr Morgan Weaving