The main political backers in support of the investigation into the future of journalism are no longer involved with the Senate committee, leading to a mass reshuffle of members and uncertainty about the future of the inquiry.
When the inquiry launched in May, to examine the structure of media organisations, tax arrangements and the increase of fake news, it was heavily backed by an alliance of senators - Scott Ludlam, Nick Xenophon, Sam Dastyari and Jacqui Lambie.
This alliance has now come apart.
Two months after the launch of the Senate committee, deputy chair Mr Ludlam resigned after finding he was ineligible to hold office after failing to renounce his New Zealand citizenship. Ms Lambie resigned later in the year after finding she was entitled to UK citizenship.
In October, member Mr Xenophon announced he would leave federal politics to head back to state politics in South Australia.
And in December, Mr Dastyari lost his role as chair of the committee after reports he gave counter-surveillance advice to Chinese Communist Party-linked political donor Huang Xiangmo.
This has left the re-shuffled committee with four new senators and has experts concerned about whether there will be meaningful change for the struggling media industry.
University of Sydney associate professor Tim Dwyer said the senators who originally set up the committee were "highly motivated by the importance of public interest journalism and the need for genuine reforms for Australian media".
There were 74 submissions before the closing date in June from many industry participants, including Google, the ABC, SBS, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and Facebook.
Dr Dwyer was among those who made a submission, and he didn't doubt there would be "strong recommendations" from the reshuffled committee.
And while the basic functions of the committee are likely to be fulfilled, with a report due in early-2018, how seriously these claims will be taken is unknown.
"The inquiry is well positioned to deliver some robust and clear recommendations, but whether they will be taken up is another question," he said.
ABC head of corporate affairs Michael Millett also questioned whether public journalism was top of the government's agenda.
"It's not going to go anywhere. They'll put a report out in February and that will be the end of it," Mr Millett said.
"It always was a bit of a vanity project," he said.
The committee was initially intending to present a final report in December 2017, this was changed mid-year to February 2018.???
Newly appointed chair of the committee, Labor senator Catryna Bilyk, is not concerned about the upheaval, saying membership on committees change "quite frequently".
"It is not unusual for Senators to come and go on any particular committee," she said.
"The issues covered by the committee's terms of reference go to the heart of something that is fundamental to a strong, functioning democracy."
Along with the recommendations from this senate committee, a report is expected in 2018 from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after its inquiry into the advertising practices of tech giants Facebook and Google.
