At the Illawarra Mercury our journalists love where they live and they're committed to keeping our community informed and connected.
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We are here telling your stories through the good and the bad. And we are here to speak up for our region.
But we can only continue to do what we do with your help.
You might have heard that Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is making it harder for readers to find local news on its platforms.
You may have noticed already that it's harder to find posts from the Illawarra Mercury on your Facebook feed. And it's not because we're not writing news or posting to Facebook.
Facebook is deprioritising news content and Meta has removed the dedicated news tab from your Facebook App. Meta says it will withdraw its current funding support for news outlets like ours that share credible local journalism to its users.
If the Albanese government is as good as its word and designates Meta under Australia's News Media Bargaining Code, it's likely that Mark Zuckerberg's $1.7 trillion company will simply block all news content from its apps. It has already blocked news in Canada since August 2023.
If keeping in touch with what's going on in your community is important to you, there are some things you can do to stay informed:
- Sign up to our newsletters to have daily news sent straight to your inbox,
- Download our mobile app,
- Follow us on Tiktok, Whatsapp, LinkedIn and Threads,
- Find us on Google News,
- Become an Illawarra Mercury subscriber.
If you are already a subscriber, thank you. Our team here wouldn't be able to do what we do without you.