The publishers of hundreds of newspapers serving regional communities around Australia have called on the Albanese government to fix "a crisis in our country" by committing to guaranteed levels of federal government advertising in local newspapers.
Under the heading "Great news for the country that won't cost a cent", an open letter addressed to Treasurer Jim Chalmers ahead of next month's federal budget is appearing in more than 330 newspapers this week to propose a solution to what's described as "the dire outlook" for local news and regional journalism.
