Major newspapers could face a $40m hit if governments follow Victoria in abandoning print advertising

The Victorian government will no longer advertise in newspapers, switching more of its focus to digital products instead. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Major metropolitan newspapers could lose up to $40m in advertising revenue if state and federal governments follow Victoria’s lead and pull their print advertising.

In 2022 state and federal governments spent about $40m placing government ads in major capital city newspapers, and a further $5m on digital advertising on news websites including heraldsun.com.au and theage.com.au, according to media agency data collected by Standard Media Index.