Based in Toowoomba Queensland, the Թվ Tribune now provides 24/7 free live coverage of important events and developments in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region leveraging real-time open-source intelligence.
We endeavor to give the local communities greater transparency and access to government information and other developments free from encroaching corporate, ideological or any other interests/influences.
Amid the diminishing trust in mainstream media and alarming media oligopoly in Australia, the need for transparency and public access to accurate real-time information free from encroaching corporate, ideological or any other interests/influences has never been greater.
In addition to providing for transparent information sharing and democratic governance (engaging the community to contribute to policy formulation, assist government regulation, participate in program administration, provide evidence to support decision making and evaluate service delivery performance), a free flow of information between government, business and the community can also stimulate innovation to the economic and social advantage of the nation.
We adhere to the fundamental tenets of ethical journalism including honesty, fairness, independence, diversity, accountability and transparency, as well as being fully committed to meeting both the spirit and the letter of the Freedom of Information Act.
In this era of the internet and globalization, most of us may feel a plethora of information and viewpoints is available. It might seem that the apparent surge in information availability and media choices eventually is leading to better public access to impartial original information. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Media ownership in Australia is one of the most concentrated in the world. Since the trend of consolidation is and has historically been upward, fewer and fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media in our country. According to independent assessment, about 98% of the media sector is held by three conglomerates. This tendency is not only totally unacceptable, but also to a degree frightening. The simple fact is that overwhelming concentration of ownership in the hands of a set of powerful interlocked barons means we can only read, hear and learn what and how they deem appropriate.
Except for Sydney and Melbourne, almost no other large Australian city has more than a single daily newspaper or equally competing media outlets to provide alternative information access.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights unambiguously declares that everyone has the inalienable right “to hold opinions without interference”. However, the current trend of monopolization denies this fundamental right because media misusing public trust influences all – from what you will eat tomorrow to who will win elections.
In order to reinforce the dominance of their own media empires, the media conglomerates stifle the growth of new media start-ups and cut off their reach to consumers. Successive governments from the both sides of politics have failed to address this problem because nobody wants to run head-to-head with the media. An independent inquiry into the media and media regulation in 2012, otherwise known as the Finkelstein report, described the landscape of Australian media as: “too concentrated in ownership, biased, vindictive, sloppy and at times unethical in its coverage of people and events”.
Our goal and mission is to provide free and alternative access to impartial information, fighting media monopolization and adhering to honesty, neutrality, fairness, transparency and independence in collection and dissemination of information, free from encroaching corporate, ideological interests. It is a bumpy road with all sorties of difficulties.
We can only achieve this goal together. Our website is open to any citizen journalists who want to contribute, publish high-quality articles, analyses to improve public access to impartial information. You and we have the right to know, learn, read, hear what and how we deem appropriate.
Unlike many news organizations, we have no sponsors, no corporate or ideological interests. We don’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our citizen journalism, information flow, transparency and availability of information as open as we can.
For any problems using the website, or general questions and feedback, or for contributions, sending media releases, interview and advertising requests, please contact us.
Thank you!