Letter

In response to In the age of the influencer, does the political backing of News Corp matter any

Legacy media is losing its influence

Thanks to Edward Hurcombe for his clear analysis.

Legacy media have less relevance in affecting the flow of information, and subsequent opinion moulding, than before. Most certainly.

But those who want to play the game of sensationalist click-bait headlines will still get their stories published on Yahoo! news et al, especially if in the Chris Lorax league (“Mad As” Daily Telegraph character).

They still get to the 40-60-year-old bracket of disengaged-from-politics voters who make up their minds based on not very much.

Moreover the weighting of what constitutes “the centre” is heavily influenced by the extremists on SkyTV or The Nightly headlines, even if the ratings don’t make for good advertising dollars.

That would seem to be the point for owners of News Corp and 7West. They spend less than either Clive Palmer or Gina Rinehart, but get good bang for their buck.

— Dave Young from North Queensland