Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reignited the debate on media ownership laws by declaring he is "fairly sympathetic" to the view they be relaxed.
And he says the government is "looking very carefully" at changes, which could include cross media ownership restrictions and the 75 per cent reach rule.
Mr Turnbull, who met with telecommunications and media broadcast chiefs on Friday, said some in the industry had put a "very cogent" argument about the need to overhaul ownership laws.
Speaking rhetorically, Mr Turnbull questioned if restrictions, such as those which prevent television networks reaching more than 75 per cent of the population, were relevant in the internet age.
"Why do we need to have platform-specific ownership rules dealing with newspapers, radio and television?" he asked in an interview on Sky News.
"My view is that the arrival of the internet, and the additional diversity and avenues for competition that it brings, really says we should have less regulation and more freedom."
Mr Turnbull cited the launches of Guardian Australia and the Mail Online as examples of growing media diversity.
"Why not just leave media mergers and ownership issues to the ACCC, to the standard competition monopoly rules that apply?" he asked.
"We're looking at it very carefully. I think (that argument) makes a very powerful point."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government was consulting with the media industry on ownership restrictions.
The coalition had a "deregulationist instinct", he said.
"Our mindset is always to make rules less rather than more onerous but let's wait and see where those consultations go," Mr Abbott told reporters in Adelaide.
Talk of relaxing ownership restrictions comes a year after Labor's failed attempt to toughen regulation of the media.
The former government had wanted to introduce a new public interest test for media mergers and acquisitions, and to establish an advocate to ensure press councils upheld standards and dealt with complaints.
However, it was forced into a humiliating backdown when key independents refused to back the measures.
In the wide ranging interview, Mr Turnbull said he thought the ABC's reputation had been tarnished by the airing of spying allegations involving Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
However, he backed under-fire ABC boss Mark Scott, describing him as an "outstanding chief executive".
Mr Turnbull also rejected suggestions he had been referring to Rupert Murdoch when he took aim at "demented" media plutocrats at the Saturday Paper's recent launch.
"I've known a lot of media moguls - a lot of them," Mr Turnbull said.
"In terms of normality, Rupert is the most normal of the lot."
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