Late and possibly insufficient – that’s the verdict of Australia’s Public Interest Journalism Initiative on the government’s News Media Assistance Programme.

The upside is that applications have finally opened for the first round of funding, almost a year since News MAP was announced.

PIJI says the $67.6 million Journalism Assistance Fund has been broadly welcomed, despite some disappointment over eligibility, with newswires and groups such as the Local & Independent News Association unable to apply.

“The industry now looks forward to learning more about the second round of funding, which PIJI understands is labelled the News Innovation Fund,” it says, reporting that the offer of $31.5 million over two years disappointed some at a design consultation meeting.

A long-awaited consultation paper for the News Bargaining Incentive reveals financial penalties for large digital platforms that fail to make adequate commercial deals with news publishers, “irrespective of whether the digital platforms carry news content”.

There’s no mention of the AI chatbots that “routinely buy or steal news content” – as PIJI puts it – or how the incentive will be enforced.

“Nevertheless, the first step in nudging tech giants back to the bargaining table has now been taken, leaving the Australian news media industry heading into the end of the year on a much-needed positive note.”