Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Broadcasting – Australia'

As a means to engage with others, television offers the viewer a great deal. In Australia commercial TV is particularly popular, and many turn daily to this cultural arena which graphically portrays our shared concerns and values. Viewers are kept informed and entertained, advertisements display the luxuries and necessities that direct lifestyle choices,and local and global stories are presented for mutual consideration. Audiences are connected not only with products,personalities and newsmakers, but also with fellow viewers who are sharing the experience. Retired people take particular advantage of this multi-faceted link with the outside world, when additional leisure time and reduced social and physical mobility create spaces that can be filled with the narratives and 'para-social' connections of a medium that transports the world to the viewer. Yet one definitive statement that can be made about popular television is that older people are rarely acknowledged and often ridiculed. An easily accessible and valuable communications medium marginalises those most dependent upon it - for information and entertainment, but also, I would argue, dependent upon it to help facilitate key recommendations of the 'successful ageing' formula. Authoritative prescriptions for ageing well emphasise the benefits of social engagement, with television helping to facilitate this by involving the viewer with local concerns and wider accounts of human enterprise. Yet the popular media often presume that older people are no longer viable consumers or citizens, thus alienating them from mediated stories and populations. 'Success', according to commercial media sensibilities, is equated with youthfulness and economic means - twin attributes rarely associated with retired people. As a result, advertising is directed primarily at young, middle-class audiences, and the TV programmes to hook their attention are often typecast with similarly youthful protagonists. Older viewers are taken for granted and rarely acknowledged, and more disconcertingly, stereotyped and ridiculed to empower younger viewers. This dissertation seeks to explore these issues from a sociological perspective, primarily within the Australian context. Research strategies include a detailed analysis of the role of television in older people's lives and how they are portrayed, with results aligned with 'successful ageing' guidelines. Included in this approach is a study of how older people are portrayed on commercial TV in Australia, and a discussion of findings. The final section includes a chapter which consists of an examination of negative media portrayals from a political and human rights perspective, and the final chapter which asks how the oldest and frailest may by impacted by the cultural devaluation of old age.

As a means to engage with others, television offers the viewer a great deal. In Australia commercial TV is particularly popular, and many turn daily to this cultural arena which graphically portrays our shared concerns and values. Viewers are kept informed and entertained, advertisements display the luxuries and necessities that direct lifestyle choices,and local and global stories are presented for mutual consideration. Audiences are connected not only with products,personalities and newsmakers, but also with fellow viewers who are sharing the experience. Retired people take particular advantage of this multi-faceted link with the outside world, when additional leisure time and reduced social and physical mobility create spaces that can be filled with the narratives and 'para-social' connections of a medium that transports the world to the viewer. Yet one definitive statement that can be made about popular television is that older people are rarely acknowledged and often ridiculed. An easily accessible and valuable communications medium marginalises those most dependent upon it - for information and entertainment, but also, I would argue, dependent upon it to help facilitate key recommendations of the 'successful ageing' formula. Authoritative prescriptions for ageing well emphasise the benefits of social engagement, with television helping to facilitate this by involving the viewer with local concerns and wider accounts of human enterprise. Yet the popular media often presume that older people are no longer viable consumers or citizens, thus alienating them from mediated stories and populations. 'Success', according to commercial media sensibilities, is equated with youthfulness and economic means - twin attributes rarely associated with retired people. As a result, advertising is directed primarily at young, middle-class audiences, and the TV programmes to hook their attention are often typecast with similarly youthful protagonists. Older viewers are taken for granted and rarely acknowledged, and more disconcertingly, stereotyped and ridiculed to empower younger viewers. This dissertation seeks to explore these issues from a sociological perspective, primarily within the Australian context. Research strategies include a detailed analysis of the role of television in older people's lives and how they are portrayed, with results aligned with 'successful ageing' guidelines. Included in this approach is a study of how older people are portrayed on commercial TV in Australia, and a discussion of findings. The final section includes a chapter which consists of an examination of negative media portrayals from a political and human rights perspective, and the final chapter which asks how the oldest and frailest may by impacted by the cultural devaluation of old age.

The issue of pay television has generated a plethora of reports and submissions from politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists for a decade. That the issue is not yet resolved is the result of many factors, all of which serve to highlight the structural complexities of the Australian electronic media system. At the political level, social policy is in a state of transition and broadcasting policy has reflected this. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) have been forced to reappraise their roles as public broadcasters. The commercial networks have seen their reserves and their profitability deteriorate drastically in an environment of poor management, fluctuating government policy and a depressed national economy. The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT), the federal regulator of commercial broadcasting, is struggling to adapt to these new circumstances, and is confronted by new challenges to its powers and responsibilities. Ideally, a discussion on the introduction of pay television would be conducted within the context of a comprehensive and established federal broadcasting policy. Basic to this thesis is the perception that no such policy exists. It is left to the analyst to speculate as to the intentions evident in Government initiatives, suggest the potential impact of pay television in that light, and offer constructive criticism accordingly. This thesis recognises that pay television seems inevitable as both major political parties are committed, in principle at least, to its introduction. This thesis sets itself the following objectives: to identify the salient components that serve to define pay television; to develop and employ a methodology to extract lessons from the experiences of others with pay television, whilst remaining sensitive to historical and structural context; to apply those lessons to the Australia condition; and to make recommendations on the introduction of pay television, based on both the definitional and comparative work of this thesis, within the context of contemporary Government deliberations, as evident in the Report from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport, Communications and Infrastructure of November 1989.

This thesis examines community radio in Western Australia and its relationship to "the public sphere". The public sphere is that field in which private. persons interact with other private. persons and in so doing construct a 11public". Public opinion is formed through this interaction in the public sphere. The media provide a major part of that interaction. Moreover, the media determine which voices are privileged within the communicative sphere. Drawing from Jurgen Habennas I explore theories of the public sphere arguing that community radio constructs a new form of public sphere in contemporary culture. I explore notions of democratic radio following the theories of Harold Innis to explore how elites have attempted to control communication. I argue that community radio provides a participatory medium which democratises the medium and allows for a more comprehensive formation of public opinion through the creation of informed rational discussion in the public sphere. This thesis provides an overview of broadcasting and the public in Western Australia with background on the history and development of community radio. It examines the notion of the public as a site of struggle and examines how community radio seeks to challenge the status quo in Western Australian culture. as well as seeking to facilitate- ideas on the role of radio as a democratic medium.

This study investigates the relationship between media and democracy with a particular focus on Australian community broadcasting. I put forward the thesis that the value and purpose of community broadcasting are located in its community development function, rather than in its ability to transmit alternative information. This suggests that an analysis should emphasise community rather than media. Community development promotes the empowerment of ordinary people so that they can confidently participate in management and decision-making - that is, the procedures and norms that underpin democratic practices. In the case of community media, the relationship between democracy and media is located primarily in its volunteers. To understand this relationship, I link together concepts of the public sphere and social capital. The public sphere is understood as multiple and diverse and linked to other publics via the web of relationships forged among people with shared interests and norms. I argue that a community public sphere should be understood as a cultural resource and managed as a common property. The public sphere is thus conceived to have a more or less porous boundary that serves to regulate membership. Understood as a bounded domain, the public sphere can be analysed in terms of its ideological structure, its management practices and its alliances with other publics. This approach also allows for a comparison with other similar public spheres. The study identifies two main ideological constellations that have shaped the development of Australian community broadcasting - professionalism and community development, with the former gaining prominence as the sector expands into rural and regional communities. The ascendancy of professional and quasi-commercial practices is of concern as it can undermine the community development potential of community broadcasting, a function that appears to be little understood and one which has attracted little research. The study presents a case study of three regional and remote rural community radio stations and compares them from a social capital perspective. Social capital is a framework for understanding the relationship between the individual and the community and explores this relationship in terms of participation in networks, reciprocal benefits among groups and individuals and the nature of active participation. Demographic and organisational structures of the three stations are also compared. By taking this approach, each station's capacity for community development and empowerment is addressed. The results of the fieldwork reveal that the success of a community radio station is related to 'community spirit' and demographic structure. They reveal that the community radio station in the smallest community with the lowest per capita income was best able to meet the needs of its community and its volunteers.

The main proposition of this thesis is that the news media serve as public connectors in sustaining and stabilizing national citizens’ transnational public connection to the global public sphere. The term transnational public connection refers to civic orientation to affairs beyond national borders. This approach builds on Couldry et al.’s (2006, 2007)’s notion of nationally based “public connection”. This thesis contends that in order to fulfill such a role, the news media need to provide international news with a transnational outlook, which interprets and describes international events and affairs in relation to different countries, the region and ultimately the globe.
Considering different factors affecting international news reporting, this thesis posits that news content carried by international broadcasters would generally have a broader outlook than national news media. Hence it focused its effort on examining one type of international broadcaster: government-funded shortwave radio. This thesis argues that shortwave radio broadcasting is still relevant in today’s multimedia environment. This thesis contends that shortwave radio broadcasting functions as a crucial supplementary “external public connector” in connecting publics located in the world’s less developed regions and/or under repressive regimes to the global public sphere. Therefore it is important for them to incorporate transnational news outlook in their news reporting.
This thesis argues that shortwave radio broadcasters’ core mission of carrying out government public diplomacy does not necessarily act as an impediment to their incorporating a transnational outlook in their news reporting. It proposes that the changing notion of public diplomacy is theoretically intertwined with the concept of transnational public connection; hence it is potentially an impetus for news with transnational outlook to emerge. But for such potential to be fully realized, this thesis argues that the broadcasting stations needs to have certain levels of editorial independence and be able to balance the interests of its home country and target region in its news coverage.
Using Australia’s international shortwave broadcaster, ABC Radio Australia as a case study, this research attempts to discover whether international news with a transnational outlook could be found and to try to define the parameters of such a type of news. Operationalizing a three dimensions approach proposed by Berglez (2008) in a quantitative content analysis, this study examined news content broadcast by Radio Australia’s flagship news program Connect Asia over a period of nine weeks. It found that news with a transnational outlook does exist in Connect Asia’s news coverage and the emergence of this type of news is closely linked with news topics. This type of news is more likely to emerge in news topics such as environment and health. It also found that news with a transnational outlook comprises a very small proportion of the totality of Connect Asia’s news coverage. The frequency of such news is limited by Connect Asia’s overwhelming focus on the news topic of politics. This thesis discusses several contributory factors which resulted in Connect Asia’s overall emphasis on politics and contends that government-funded international broadcasters, as well as other international broadcasters might need to de-politicize and broaden the scope of their news coverage in order to further incorporate a transnational outlook.

This dissertation profiles the children's television industry in Australia; examines the relationship between government cultural policy objectives and television industry production practices; and explores the complexities of regulating and producing cultural content for child audiences. The research conducted between 1997 and 2002 confirms that children's television is a highly competitive business dependent on government regulatory mechanisms and support for its existence. For example, the Australian Broadcasting Authority's retaining of mandatory program standards for children's programs to date, is evidence of the government's continued recognition of the conflict between broadcasters' commercial imperatives and the public-interest. As a consequence, the industry is on the one hand insistent on the government continuing to play a role in ensuring and sustaining CTV - however, on the other hand, CTV producers resent the restrictions on creativity and innovation they believe result from the use of regulatory instruments such as the Children's Television Standards (CTS). In fact, as this dissertation details, the ABA's intended policy outcomes are inevitably coupled with unintended outcomes and little new or innovative policy development has occurred. The dissertation begins with an investigation into the social, cultural and ideological construction of childhood within an historical and institutional context. I do this in order to explore how children have been defined, constructed and managed as a cultural group and television audience. From this investigation, I then map the development of children television policy and provide examples of how 'the child' is a consistent and controversial site of tension within policy debate. I then introduce and analyse a selection of established, establishing and aspiring CTV production companies and producers. Drawing on interviews conducted, production companies profiled and policy documents analysed, I conclude by identit~'ing ten key issues that have impacted, and continue to impact, on the production of children's television programming in Australia. In addressing issues of industry development, the question this dissertation confronts is not whether to continue to regulate or not, but rather, how best to regulate. That is, it explores the complexities of supporting, sustaining and developing the CTV industry in ways which also allows innovative and creative programming. This exploration is done within the context of a broadcasting industry currently in transition from analogue to digital. As communications and broadcasting technologies converge, instruments of regulation - such as quotas designed around the characteristics of analogue systems of broadcasting - are being compromised. The ways in which children use television, and the ways in which the CTV producers create content, are being transformed. The ten key issues identified in this dissertation, I propose, are crucial to industry development and policy debate about the future of children's television in Australia. In integrating the study of policy with the study of production, I have given prominence to the opinions and experiences of those working in the industry. In doing so, this dissertation contributes to the growing body of work in Australia which incorporates industry with cultural analysis, and which includes the voices of the content providers.

Cultural diversity is a central issue of our times, although with different emphases in the European and Australian context. Media and communication studies have begun to draw on work in translation studies to understand how diversity is experienced across hybrid cultures. Translation is required both for multilingual (multicultural) societies such as Australia and for trans-national entities such as the European Union. Translation is also of increasing importance politically and even emotionally as individual nations and regions face the challenge of globalisation, migration, and the Americanisation of media content. The thesis draws on cultural and media policy analysis. Programming strategies are reviewed and 'conversational' interviews conducted with broadcasting managers and staff at SBS Australia and across multilingual public broadcasters in the EU (BBC WS, Deutsche Welle, ARTE, Radio Multikulti Berlin, Barcelona Televisió). These are used to investigate the issues, challenges, and uses of the multilingual broadcasting logic for Australia's and Europe's cultural realities. This thesis uses the concept of 'translation' as a key metaphor for bridging differences and establishing connections among multicultural citizens in the context of the European Union and Australia. It is proposed that of the two versions of translation - institutional in the EU and mediated in Australia respectively - the mediated version has achieved higher success in engaging ordinary citizens in more affective, informal and everyday forms of cross-cultural communication. Specifically, the experience of the Special Broadcasting Service (Australia's multilingual and multicultural public broadcaster) serves as a model to illuminate the cultural consequences of the failure of the EU to develop translation practices beyond the level of official, institutional and political communication. The main finding is the identification of a need for more mediated interlingual exchange; that is a translation of language policy in Europe into media experience for ordinary citizen-consumers, at both institutional and textual levels.

Cultural diversity is a central issue of our times, although with different emphases in the European and Australian context. Media and communication studies have begun to draw on work in translation studies to understand how diversity is experienced across hybrid cultures. Translation is required both for multilingual (multicultural) societies such as Australia and for trans-national entities such as the European Union. Translation is also of increasing importance politically and even emotionally as individual nations and regions face the challenge of globalisation, migration, and the Americanisation of media content. The thesis draws on cultural and media policy analysis. Programming strategies are reviewed and 'conversational' interviews conducted with broadcasting managers and staff at SBS Australia and across multilingual public broadcasters in the EU (BBC WS, Deutsche Welle, ARTE, Radio Multikulti Berlin, Barcelona Televisió). These are used to investigate the issues, challenges, and uses of the multilingual broadcasting logic for Australia's and Europe's cultural realities. This thesis uses the concept of 'translation' as a key metaphor for bridging differences and establishing connections among multicultural citizens in the context of the European Union and Australia. It is proposed that of the two versions of translation - institutional in the EU and mediated in Australia respectively - the mediated version has achieved higher success in engaging ordinary citizens in more affective, informal and everyday forms of cross-cultural communication. Specifically, the experience of the Special Broadcasting Service (Australia's multilingual and multicultural public broadcaster) serves as a model to illuminate the cultural consequences of the failure of the EU to develop translation practices beyond the level of official, institutional and political communication. The main finding is the identification of a need for more mediated interlingual exchange; that is a translation of language policy in Europe into media experience for ordinary citizen-consumers, at both institutional and textual levels.

This thesis combines histories of the implementation of ABC Online (the website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia's largest national Public Service Broadcaster) with the political philosophies of Foucault, and of Deleuze and Guattari. Following the Deleuzian argument that institutions of enclosure are in crisis because they exist in between diagrams of the disciplinary and control societies, the thesis tests each of the Foucauldian diagrams of discipline, governmentality and control against the ABC as Public Service Broadcaster. It explores issues such as which ABC strategies belong to which diagram, and the ways in which changes in communications technologies altered governing rationales of these diagrams at the ABC. The thesis uses the implementation of ABC Online to explore the idea of the ABC in the late 1990s as operating in between social diagrams. One way of examining this 'in between-ness' is to use the Public Service Broadcasting idea as an instance of arboreal thinking and the internet idea as rhizomic. The thesis employs that model to argue that Public Service Broadcasting as it is practised is not merely an arboreal assemblage, and that actual implementations of the internet are more than merely rhizomic assemblages. The thesis details some of the earliest relations between broadcasting and the internet at the ABC, and describes the relations between rhizomic and arboreal images of the ABC at particular sites and in various discourses. This examination concludes that both ways of imagining the ABC - the arboreal and the rhizomic - have been essential to the success of ABC Online. While the position of the ABC in between social diagrams caused a sense of crisis, ABC Online was in fact successful largely because of its position in between social diagrams. Not only was ABC Online remarkably successful in its first five years, but it was successful in ways which could not be accommodated in such documents as the ABC Charter. The public silences of ABC Online both allowed it to thrive, and conversely supported arboreal stratified ways of defending the ABC. Defences of the ABC that used arboreal thinking as a rhetorical strategy continued to dominate public discussion of the ABC, despite the successes of contrary examples in practice. One such example was the successful implementation of Radio Australia Online at a time when the Mansfield Review sought to limit the scope of the ABC to domestic free-to-air broadcasting. When some ABC Online practices were publicised in relation to the proposed Telstra deal, the resultant controversy concentrated on the non-commercial/commercial boundary at the ABC. The controversy also highlighted fears that the Online environment may alter the ethical relations between the ABC and its publics. In particular, the ethical goals of independence and integrity were perceived as being under threat in the World Wide Web environment. These goals were further problematised within the organisation by the demands of interactive subsites. These subsites demonstrated an altered ethical relation between the ABC and its user in the online environment of the control society.

As a biographical documentary concept develops, its intention and its form are impacted and may be transformed by market demands. The documentary idea about the life of Xavier Herbert has been in development through a number of iterations within the shifting landscape of the Australian documentary industry from the mid- 1990s to 2009. This study is, on the one hand, an endeavour to find a workable way to express and practise the multi-layered complexity of creative work, a long-form documentary script on Herbert, an Australian literary icon. On the other hand, this thesis represents a cumulative research exercise, whereby my own experiences in the documentary industry in Queensland, Australia and overseas are analysed in an effort to enlighten the broader documentary community about such a complex, even labyrinthine, process.

During the early 1980s the Warlpiri at Yuendemu, a remote Aboriginal community in Central Australia, began their own experiments in local television and radio production. This was prior to the launch of the AUSSAT satellite in 1985 which brought broadcast television and radio to remote Australia for the first time. There was concern amongst remote Aboriginal communities, as well as policy makers, that the imposition of mass media without consultation could result in permanent damage to Aboriginal culture and language. As a result, a policy review 'Out of the Silent Land' was published in 1985 and from that developed the Broadcasting in Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme (BRACS) which allowed communities to receive radio and television from the satellite. BRACS also provided the option to turn off mainstream media and insert locally produced material. This study of the Warlpiri at Yuendemu has found that, since the original experiments, they have enthusiastically used modern communication technology including radio, video making, locally produced television, and, more recently, on-line services. The Warlpiri have adapted rather than adopted the new technology. That is they have used modern communications technology within existing cultural patterns to strengthen their language and culture rather than to replace traditional practices and social structures. The Warlpiri Media Association has inspired other remote broadcasters and is now one of eight remote media networks that link to form a national network via the National Indigenous Media Association of Australia. The Warlpiri have actively adapted modern communication technology because it is to their advantage. The new technology has been used to preserve culture and language, to restore, and possibly improve, traditional communications and to provide employment and other opportunities for earning income. It appeals to all age groups, especially the elders who have retained control over broadcasts and it also provides entertainment.

This study focuses on the organisation and operation of the Australian Government’s Department of Information that operated from 1939 to 1950. Equal weighting is given to the wartime and peacetime halves of the Department’s existence, allowing a balanced assessment of the Department’s role and development from its creation through to its abolition. The central issue that the Department had to address was: what was an appropriate and acceptable role for a government information organisation in Australia’s democratic political system? The issue was not primarily one of formal restrictions on the government’s power but rather of the accepted conception of the role of government. No societal consensus had been established before the Department was thrust into dealing with this issue on a practical basis. While the application of the Department’s censorship function attracted considerable comment, the procedures were clear and accepted. Practices laid down in World War I were revived and followed, while arguments were over degree rather than kind. It was mainly in the context of its expressive functions that the Department had to confront the fundamental issue of its role. This study shows that the development of the Department was driven less by sweeping ministerial pronouncements than through a series of pragmatic incremental responses to circumstances as they arose. This Departmental approach was reinforced by its organisational weakness. The Department’s options in its relations with media organisations and other government agencies were, broadly, competition, compulsion and cooperation. Competition was never widely pursued and the limits of compulsion in regard to its expressive functions were rapidly reached and withdrawn from. Particularly through to 1943 the Department struggled when it sought to assert its position against the claims of other government agencies and commercial organisations. Notwithstanding some high profile conflicts, this study shows that the Department primarily adopted a cooperative stance, seeking to supplement rather than supplant the work of other organisations. Following the 1943 Federal elections the Department was strengthened by stable and focused leadership as well as the development of its own distribution channels and outlets whose audience was primarily overseas. While some elements, such as the film unit, remained reasonably politically neutral, the Department as a whole was increasingly employed to promote the message of the Government of the day. This led to a close identification of the Department with the Labor Party, encouraging the Department’s abolition following the Coalition parties’ victory in the 1949 Federal elections. Nevertheless in developing its role the Department had remained within the mainstream of administrative practice in Australia. While some of its staff assumed a greater public profile than had been the practice for prewar public servants, this was not unusual or exceptional at that time. Partly through the efforts of the Department, the accepted conception of the role of government had expanded sufficiently by 1950 that despite the abolition of the Department most of its functions continued within the Australian public sector.

While much has been written on the Australian film and television industry, little has been presented by actual producers, filmmakers and technicians of their time and experiences within that same industry. Similarly, with historical documentaries, it has been academics rather than filmmakers who have led the debate. This thesis addresses this shortcoming and bridges the gap between practitioner experience and intellectual discussion, synthesising the debate and providing an important contribution from a filmmaker-academic, in its own way unique and insightful. The thesis is presented in two voices. First, my voice, the voice of memoir and recollected experience of my screen adventures over 38 years within the Australian industry, mainly producing historical documentaries for the ABC and the SBS. This is represented in italics. The second half and the alternate chapters provide the industry framework in which I worked with particular emphasis on documentaries and how this evolved and developed over a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2010. Within these two voices are three layers against which this history is reviewed and presented. Forming the base of the pyramid is the broad Australian film industry made up of feature films, documentary, television drama, animation and other types and styles of production. Above this is the genre documentary within this broad industry, and making up the small top tip of the pyramid, the sub-genre of historical documentary. These form the vertical structure within which industry issues are discussed. Threading through it are the duel determinants of production: ‘the market’ and ‘funding’. Underpinning the industry is the involvement of government, both state and federal, forming the three dimensional matrix for the thesis. For over 100 years the Australian film industry has depended on government support through subsidy, funding mechanisms, development assistance, broadcast policy and legislative provisions. This thesis aims to weave together these industry layers, binding them with the determinants of the market and funding, and immersing them beneath layers of government legislation and policy to present a new view of the Australian film industry.

Thesis (MA)--Macquarie University (Division of Society, Culture, Media & Philosophy, Dept. of Media and Communications), 2006.
Bibliography: leaves 176-188.
Precursors -- An imperfect war -- Interregnum -- The perfect war -- Conclusions.
This thesis explores how war reporting on Australian television has been dramatically reshaped over the last 40 years, particularly by new technologies. Specifically, it seeks to answer these questions: 1. How did differing cultural, social, political and professional contexts, available technology and battlefield experience affect the attitudes, editorial content and narrative forms of two generations of television correspondents - in Vietnam and Iraq respectively? 2. How did technological and other industry changes over the 30 years between Vietnam and Iraq reshape the power relationship between the war correspondent in the field and his news producers and managers? What impact did these changes have on the resulting screened coverage? What are the longer-term implications for journalism and for audiences?
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
192 leaves ill. (some col.)

Since their inception in the early 1960s, Australian content requirements for commercial television have been subjected to considerable scrutiny through a series of formal inquiries. Over the last ten years this process has intensified. In recent years there have been a number of academic criticisms regarding the state of debate about the regulation of Australian content on commercial television and the capacity of the debate to generate genuine criticism and embrace change. This thesis examines the dynamics of debate about Australian content. It focuses on the ABT's Inquiry into Australian Content on Commercial Television (ACI) which ran from 1983 to 1989. It takes as its basic point of reference Jurgen Habermas' concept of the 'public sphere'. This concept refers to a realm of social life, separate from the state and private spheres, in which 'public opinion' can be formed. Habermas has argued that, with the refeudalisation of the public sphere, the state and private interests have increasingly collaborated to close off the public sphere. The thesis concludes that in many respects Habermas' concept of a refeudalised 'public sphere' is a useful explanatory tool for understanding the dynamics of the ACI and the limited degree of criticism generated by it. However, Habermas' model is limited in so far as it fails to accord adequate recognition to the complexities and significance of the mediation of the 'public interest' by key participants in the inquiry and the strategic role of rhetoric for these participants. Habermas concludes that with the refeudalisation of the public sphere and the disappearance of the historical conditions which supported its operation, the public sphere must now be reconstructed on a case by case basis. Attempts to achieve this, have tended to focus on the facilitation of citizen participation in public policy debate. However, as this analysis of the ACI demonstrates, the dynamics of the debate itself appear to limit I the degree to which 'public opinion' can be elevated above 'private interest'. This thesis demonstrates that the mediation of the 'public interest' assumed a central role in the rhetoric and strategy of the ACI. Each of the key players represented distinct interests and were largely unaccountable to the 'public' they claimed to serve. This thesis concludes that in order to gain a more detailed understanding of how communication works in such a context, and in order to conceive of alternative participatory forms, we need to focus on those aspects of public discourse which Habermas neglects: the rhetoric and the strategic nature of public representation. It suggests that fruitful avenues for further study may lie with Bantz's notion of communicative structures or Luhmann's systems approach to communication.

The objective of this thesis work is to establish the legal regulations of Internet service providers and establish that there is in fact a body of regulations in existence now for their regulation. While at this time there is feeling in the marketplace that there is insufficient legal regulation of Internet service providers, this thesis has uncovered an existing statutory regime of regulations and obligations. In addition to this existing statutory regime there is further emerging regulations and obligations currently in progress and it can be expected that it will continue to emerge with the industry emergency. Form a commercial perspective it has been shown that the telecommunications, information technology, communications and entertainment industries are converging with the Internet as a mutual channel for delivery of their existing services. This emergence of a merged industry places the Internet service provider in an interesting position from a regulatory perspective. The Internet service provider is in fact regulated not only by a number of legislative pieces, but also by a number oflegislative bodies. The term Internet service provider is not an easily defined term. The legal definition is found in the legislation based upon the commercial decisions that the Internet service provider makes, and the term itself is only used in the Broadcasting Services Act. The definition from a layperson point of view is less defined and in many instances does not contain significant correlation with the laypersons expectation of the definition of the term. The life span of the term Internet service provider is questionable. It is difficult to ascertain how long the term will be in common use with the rapid emergence of technology, and if it is still in common usage, if it will have the same meaning as it does at the time of this thesis.

This thesis is a theoretical and empirical examination of the adaptation of broadcast journalism, its methods, skills, and principles, to the Queensland operations of the Broadcasting for Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme, known as BRACS. It is both a theoretical examination of perspectives on the establishment and development of the Scheme, the development and implementation of relevant policy, and an empirical analysis, through a case study, of the constraints on BRACS operators functioning as broadcast journalists.

This thesis sheds light on the ways in which audiences are made through the relationships between organisational policy and news production practice. It explores the relationships between news practitioners� perceptions and definitions of audiences, production, and organisational policies, using the radio news service of the Australian national public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In so doing, the thesis demonstrates that production, in its institutional context, is a crucial site for the creation of audiences in the study of news journalism. In the process, it illuminates the role of public service broadcasting, in a world of digital media The conceptual framework utilises a new approach to framing analysis. Framing has been used to examine the news "agenda" and to identify the salient aspects of news events. This thesis demonstrates ways in which framing can be used to research important processes in news production at different levels, from policy level to that of professional culture, and generate insights to the relationship between them. The accumulated evidence of the bulletin analysis - using structural and rhetorical frames of news - field observation and interviews, shows that a specific and coherent audience can be constructed as a result of newsroom work practices in combination with organisational policies. The thesis has increased knowledge and understanding both of how news workers create images of their audiences and what the institutional factors are that influence the manufacture of audiences as they appear in the text of news bulletins.

Community radio in Australia was established to empower ordinary citizens. However, people with disability are less heard than others in community radio, as with mainstream media. Listening to experiences of community radio staff and volunteers with disability can provide the foundation for plans to increase participation, agency and voice. Using semi-structured interviews, this practice-led research asked people with disability in the sector what empowers them, and how policy change, training and awareness-raising might increase their participation. It's The People's Radio, an accompanying 4 part radio documentary, tells the stories of community radio participants with disability in their own voices.

In this thesis I address the research question: 'How has the Internet delivered pluralism by promoting structural diversity and/or content diversity in Australia's newspaper industry?' Structural diversity is defined here as diversity in newspaper ownership and content diversity as the diversity of views published by individual newspapers. Central to the thesis is the notion of pluralism, the belief that the news media should provide a range of views and opinions, contradictory as well as complementary, to allow informed citizens to effectively take part in the democratic process. The newspaper industry in this country, however, is controlled by a powerful press oligopoly across a range of markets, a situation believed to greatly limit pluralism. A review of newspaper ownership and circulation from 1986 to 2002 shows that, as at 2002, four newspaper owners are the sole occupants of Australia's national and capital city newspaper market. Seven owners are predominant in Australia's regional daily newspaper market, although just three owners controlled 69 per cent of the market's circulation in 2002. Two owners controlled 69 per cent of Australia's suburban newspaper market in 2002. Similar trends were seen in the country's Saturday newspaper and Sunday newspaper markets. In all markets except the regional daily newspaper market, News Limited is the dominant newspaper owner. Australian Provincial News and Media is the dominant owner in the regional daily newspaper market with a 27 per cent share of circulation in 2002. Australia's concentrated newspaper ownership structure has led to a number of formal inquiries into diversity in the industry since 1980. In this thesis I review two of these inquiries, the 1991-92 House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media (the Print Media Inquiry) and the 2000 Productivity Commission Inquiry into Broadcasting, to determine (among other things) the nature of and the relationship between structural and content diversity as they apply to Australia's newspapers. (By virtue of major media groups' involvement in the Productivity Commission's inquiry - particularly News Limited, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and, to a lesser extent, Rural Press - this inquiry, although broadcast-oriented, considered Australia's newspaper industry at length.) This review shows both inquiries were clear on how they saw this relationship - structural diversity is necessary for content diversity. However, the Print Media Inquiry suggested it was almost impossible to guarantee structural diversity in the nation's newspaper industry. The Productivity Commission, meanwhile, said that while it accepted content diversity was not inconsistent with media ownership concentration, it was more likely to be achieved where there was diverse ownership. With the relationship between structural and content diversity in mind, and the Print Media Inquiry's and the Productivity Commission's beliefs that new entrants in the newspaper industry were unlikely in the short term, I examine the suggestion that the Internet has the potential to increase structural diversity in Australia's newspaper industry by allowing new players to efficiently enter the industry via the World Wide Web. The extent to which this might occur is determined by a study of 18 Australian newspaper websites with one argument being that if established newspapers find the transition online relatively easy, then independent online-only news sites might be similarly established. Mings and White's four online news business models - a subscription model, advertising model, e commerce-based transactional model and partnership-based model - are used as a framework to examine the study's results. The study shows Australia's experience mirrors international experience in terms of the growth of newspapers online and in terms of their lack of profitability. It shows that 28 per cent of the newspapers surveyed maintained their circulation while offering free online news content, while a further 33 per cent registered circulation increases. Advertising revenue increased for seven of the nine newspaper websites containing advertising, suggesting that, for some Australian newspapers at least, gaining online advertising (as opposed to gaining overall profitability) has proved successful. And while the survey shows little evidence of Australian newspapers using the transactional model in any real sense, it does show that Australian newspapers are forming local online partnerships with other media and non-media businesses to facilitate their online activities. The study's key finding is that of the 18 newspapers surveyed, just two websites were profitable. This finding is consistent with literature that highlights a lack of commercially viable independent online news ventures both in Australia and internationally. While considerable hopes were held that the Internet would introduce more structural diversity into Australia's newspaper industry, I argue that the Internet's commercial imperatives, as they apply to newspapers, have to a large extent precluded it from adding structural diversity in the industry. In these circumstances, it may be that the only viable way of increasing content diversity in the nation's newspaper industry is to increase the availability of diverse information sources to journalists. I propose that one way to do this is via the Internet. The extent to which this is occurring is determined by a survey of Australian journalists' Internet use, the survey results showing that 97.4 per cent of the journalists who responded now use the Internet regularly, including 97.5 per cent of newspaper journalists. But most journalists who responded use the Internet as a preliminary research tool and as a way to check facts rather than as a means of accessing diverse news sources. The respondents' top five Internet uses, for example, are to e-mail work colleagues, to undertake preliminary research, to access media releases from websites, to verify facts and to search other news organisations' websites. They access major news organisation websites most frequently, followed by government websites, university/research institution websites and corporate/company websites. The least frequently accessed websites are those that could conceivably provide the alternate views demanded by pluralism: online news and current affairs discussion groups and websites set up by private individuals. The survey shows the types of websites Australian journalists most frequently access are linked to the credibility they give to information contained on those websites. Major news organisation websites are seen as providing the most credible information, followed by university/research institution websites and government websites. Websites perceived as providing the least credible information were those that host online news and current affairs discussion groups and websites set up by private individuals. The survey also shows Australian journalists have not embraced online reader interaction to any extent, lessening the likelihood that readers will be able to provide journalists with more diverse news sources. Less than 20 per cent of journalists interact with readers via the Internet and less than 10 per cent use this interaction to create or follow up news stories. The survey does provide results that support source diversity, however. It shows that almost a third of Australian journalists have obtained additional news sources via the Internet. The Internet has also allowed more than 40 per cent of journalists to access individuals or groups that they would not otherwise have accessed. The survey also shows that journalists who have had experience working in the online media environment consistently use the Internet more productively, in terms of diversity, than other journalists. It is these journalists that interact online with readers more, that participate in online discussion groups more and that appear more willing to seek online information from non-traditional sources such as independent news websites and the websites of private individuals or groups. Journalists with online media experience also represent the group that has most sought training in online journalism and online media practice and that most believes the Internet will play an increasingly important role for journalists and news consumers in the future. At present, the survey suggests, journalists with this online media experience comprise just 19 per cent of Australian journalists. But as the number of journalists with online media experience increases in the workforce, these journalists' greater acceptance of the Internet may then assist in greater source diversity leading to greater content diversity in Australia's news media. The studies of newspaper websites and journalists' Internet use suggest and support differing diversity models. In this thesis I propose two models for diversity, the first drawn from views espoused by the Print Media Inquiry and the Productivity Commission's Inquiry into Broadcasting. This model (below) sees a one-to-one correspondence between structural and content diversity and assumes that to increase the diversity of views available to the public, the number of media outlets must similarly be increased. The argument that the Internet can provide media pluralism by permitting new players to enter the media market relatively easily, an argument tested by my study of Australian newspaper websites, is commensurate with this model. The second model is based on my inquiries into journalists' Internet use and proposes a method of increasing content diversity within a fixed media ownership structure. This model (below) acknowledges that journalists produce content mostly via traditional news sources, but proposes this content can be increased and/or changed, with an emphasis on more diverse information, via non-traditional news sources obtained via the Internet. The success of this model, however, is predicated on journalists' acceptance of online information as a viable news source. The implication for journalism is that established journalistic norms and practices, which can limit online-supported content diversity, need to be overcome. Overall, the results of my inquiries suggest the answer to the research question is that the Internet has so far delivered little in terms of structural and content diversity in Australia's newspaper industry. However, the Internet's potential to do so remains, particularly if independent online-based media ventures find ways to become commercially viable and if journalists adopt the technology as a means of finding more diverse news sources.

In this thesis I address the research question: 'How has the Internet delivered pluralism by promoting structural diversity and/or content diversity in Australia's newspaper industry?' Structural diversity is defined here as diversity in newspaper ownership and content diversity as the diversity of views published by individual newspapers. Central to the thesis is the notion of pluralism, the belief that the news media should provide a range of views and opinions, contradictory as well as complementary, to allow informed citizens to effectively take part in the democratic process. The newspaper industry in this country, however, is controlled by a powerful press oligopoly across a range of markets, a situation believed to greatly limit pluralism. A review of newspaper ownership and circulation from 1986 to 2002 shows that, as at 2002, four newspaper owners are the sole occupants of Australia's national and capital city newspaper market. Seven owners are predominant in Australia's regional daily newspaper market, although just three owners controlled 69 per cent of the market's circulation in 2002. Two owners controlled 69 per cent of Australia's suburban newspaper market in 2002. Similar trends were seen in the country's Saturday newspaper and Sunday newspaper markets. In all markets except the regional daily newspaper market, News Limited is the dominant newspaper owner. Australian Provincial News and Media is the dominant owner in the regional daily newspaper market with a 27 per cent share of circulation in 2002. Australia's concentrated newspaper ownership structure has led to a number of formal inquiries into diversity in the industry since 1980. In this thesis I review two of these inquiries, the 1991-92 House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media (the Print Media Inquiry) and the 2000 Productivity Commission Inquiry into Broadcasting, to determine (among other things) the nature of and the relationship between structural and content diversity as they apply to Australia's newspapers. (By virtue of major media groups' involvement in the Productivity Commission's inquiry - particularly News Limited, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and, to a lesser extent, Rural Press - this inquiry, although broadcast-oriented, considered Australia's newspaper industry at length.) This review shows both inquiries were clear on how they saw this relationship - structural diversity is necessary for content diversity. However, the Print Media Inquiry suggested it was almost impossible to guarantee structural diversity in the nation's newspaper industry. The Productivity Commission, meanwhile, said that while it accepted content diversity was not inconsistent with media ownership concentration, it was more likely to be achieved where there was diverse ownership. With the relationship between structural and content diversity in mind, and the Print Media Inquiry's and the Productivity Commission's beliefs that new entrants in the newspaper industry were unlikely in the short term, I examine the suggestion that the Internet has the potential to increase structural diversity in Australia's newspaper industry by allowing new players to efficiently enter the industry via the World Wide Web. The extent to which this might occur is determined by a study of 18 Australian newspaper websites with one argument being that if established newspapers find the transition online relatively easy, then independent online-only news sites might be similarly established. Mings and White's four online news business models - a subscription model, advertising model, e commerce-based transactional model and partnership-based model - are used as a framework to examine the study's results. The study shows Australia's experience mirrors international experience in terms of the growth of newspapers online and in terms of their lack of profitability. It shows that 28 per cent of the newspapers surveyed maintained their circulation while offering free online news content, while a further 33 per cent registered circulation increases. Advertising revenue increased for seven of the nine newspaper websites containing advertising, suggesting that, for some Australian newspapers at least, gaining online advertising (as opposed to gaining overall profitability) has proved successful. And while the survey shows little evidence of Australian newspapers using the transactional model in any real sense, it does show that Australian newspapers are forming local online partnerships with other media and non-media businesses to facilitate their online activities. The study's key finding is that of the 18 newspapers surveyed, just two websites were profitable. This finding is consistent with literature that highlights a lack of commercially viable independent online news ventures both in Australia and internationally. While considerable hopes were held that the Internet would introduce more structural diversity into Australia's newspaper industry, I argue that the Internet's commercial imperatives, as they apply to newspapers, have to a large extent precluded it from adding structural diversity in the industry. In these circumstances, it may be that the only viable way of increasing content diversity in the nation's newspaper industry is to increase the availability of diverse information sources to journalists. I propose that one way to do this is via the Internet. The extent to which this is occurring is determined by a survey of Australian journalists' Internet use, the survey results showing that 97.4 per cent of the journalists who responded now use the Internet regularly, including 97.5 per cent of newspaper journalists. But most journalists who responded use the Internet as a preliminary research tool and as a way to check facts rather than as a means of accessing diverse news sources. The respondents' top five Internet uses, for example, are to e-mail work colleagues, to undertake preliminary research, to access media releases from websites, to verify facts and to search other news organisations' websites. They access major news organisation websites most frequently, followed by government websites, university/research institution websites and corporate/company websites. The least frequently accessed websites are those that could conceivably provide the alternate views demanded by pluralism: online news and current affairs discussion groups and websites set up by private individuals. The survey shows the types of websites Australian journalists most frequently access are linked to the credibility they give to information contained on those websites. Major news organisation websites are seen as providing the most credible information, followed by university/research institution websites and government websites. Websites perceived as providing the least credible information were those that host online news and current affairs discussion groups and websites set up by private individuals. The survey also shows Australian journalists have not embraced online reader interaction to any extent, lessening the likelihood that readers will be able to provide journalists with more diverse news sources. Less than 20 per cent of journalists interact with readers via the Internet and less than 10 per cent use this interaction to create or follow up news stories. The survey does provide results that support source diversity, however. It shows that almost a third of Australian journalists have obtained additional news sources via the Internet. The Internet has also allowed more than 40 per cent of journalists to access individuals or groups that they would not otherwise have accessed. The survey also shows that journalists who have had experience working in the online media environment consistently use the Internet more productively, in terms of diversity, than other journalists. It is these journalists that interact online with readers more, that participate in online discussion groups more and that appear more willing to seek online information from non-traditional sources such as independent news websites and the websites of private individuals or groups. Journalists with online media experience also represent the group that has most sought training in online journalism and online media practice and that most believes the Internet will play an increasingly important role for journalists and news consumers in the future. At present, the survey suggests, journalists with this online media experience comprise just 19 per cent of Australian journalists. But as the number of journalists with online media experience increases in the workforce, these journalists' greater acceptance of the Internet may then assist in greater source diversity leading to greater content diversity in Australia's news media. The studies of newspaper websites and journalists' Internet use suggest and support differing diversity models. In this thesis I propose two models for diversity, the first drawn from views espoused by the Print Media Inquiry and the Productivity Commission's Inquiry into Broadcasting. This model (below) sees a one-to-one correspondence between structural and content diversity and assumes that to increase the diversity of views available to the public, the number of media outlets must similarly be increased. The argument that the Internet can provide media pluralism by permitting new players to enter the media market relatively easily, an argument tested by my study of Australian newspaper websites, is commensurate with this model. The second model is based on my inquiries into journalists' Internet use and proposes a method of increasing content diversity within a fixed media ownership structure. This model (below) acknowledges that journalists produce content mostly via traditional news sources, but proposes this content can be increased and/or changed, with an emphasis on more diverse information, via non-traditional news sources obtained via the Internet. The success of this model, however, is predicated on journalists' acceptance of online information as a viable news source. The implication for journalism is that established journalistic norms and practices, which can limit online-supported content diversity, need to be overcome. Overall, the results of my inquiries suggest the answer to the research question is that the Internet has so far delivered little in terms of structural and content diversity in Australia's newspaper industry. However, the Internet's potential to do so remains, particularly if independent online-based media ventures find ways to become commercially viable and if journalists adopt the technology as a means of finding more diverse news sources.

This research presents an insider's account of rage, Australia's longest-running music video program. The research's significance is that there has been scarce scholarly analysis of this idiosyncratic ABC program, despite its longevity and uniqueness. The thesis takes a reflective and reflexive narrative journey across rage's decades, presenting the accounts of the program makers, aided by the perspective of an embedded researcher, the program's former Series Producer. This work addresses the rage research gap and contributes to the scholarly discussion on music video and its contexts, the ABC, public service broadcasting, creative labour, and the cultural sense-making of television producers.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Television is the favoured news source for most Australians and is regarded as having the potential to influence public opinion. From its inception however, television has been regarded as ill-suited to cover economic and business issues because of a perceived reliance on visual material and an inability to deal with complex issues. This tyranny of vision has been mitigated by technological developments such as electronic news gathering (ENG) and satellites that provide large amounts of varied material as well as improvements in production tools that assist the visual presentation of abstract concepts. The presentation of complex issues has also been enhanced by the increased skills and knowledge among newsworkers. Economic and business news has become a staple in television news programs and has evolved from ritualised reporting of data such as market indices and exchange rates to a genre that shares broader news values such as consequence, conflict, proximity, human interest, novelty, prominence, political controversy and scandal. Economic and business news also shares the normal imperatives of television such as a strong reliance on scheduled occasions and reliable and prolific sources. In between occasions of economic, business and political controversy or scandal, these programs are able to rely on a steady supply of economic, business and investment information. Dedicated economic and business segments and programs and now even whole channels meet two sets of demands. One is those of niche audiences seeking news and information on economic and business conditions, economic debate and policy making, the activities of economic and business leaders and an opportunity to hear and observe economic and business leaders. The other is from broadcasters seeking to maximise their profits by attracting viewers in the AB demographic (those with the greatest disposal income) to otherwise poorly-performing time slots, by broadcasters seeking an inexpensive and dependable supply of programming material and by broadcasters seeking to promote their institutional role and specific programs through presenting material that is followed up by other media. Economic and business reports however, continue to portray issues in a limited way that neglects business’s interaction with workers and the larger social environment. Economic events are often framed as political competition. These reports present a hierarchy of sources and privilege political and business elites. Television news favours debate that is presented by individuals as contrasting causal narratives. Political and economic sources have become adept at presenting brief causal narratives in response to the requirements of television. This approach highlights celebrities and favours the promotion of agency over structure. The increase in total economic and business reporting boosts the interdependence of television and political and economic sources. Technological development is continuing and traditional free-to-air television audiences are being eroded by pay television and the internet. Although these are altering the nature of political, economic and business debate their overall influence is difficult to determine.

This thesis is an exploration of the fate which has befallen the regional commercial television industry in North Queensland in the wake of the aggregation policy introduced by the Federal Labor Government in 1990. More specifically, it examines the effectiveness of policy outcomes which stem from the Australian Broadcasting Authority's 2001 inquiry into the adequacy of regional and rural commercial television news and information services. The research is primarily concerned with the quality of local content provided by regional commercial broadcasters in response to the implementation of the Australian Communications and Media Authority's points system for broadcast of matters of local significance. The policy outcomes are balanced against an historical context, which traces the regional commercial television industry in North Queensland back to its very beginning. Regulatory reform has resulted in a basic level of news content being maintained. However the significance of elements of this news content to local viewers is minimal. The reduction in local information content, despite being identified in the earliest stages of the ABA investigation, has not been adequately addressed by the reform process.

This thesis is an exploration of the fate which has befallen the regional commercial television industry in North Queensland in the wake of the aggregation policy introduced by the Federal Labor Government in 1990. More specifically, it examines the effectiveness of policy outcomes which stem from the Australian Broadcasting Authority's 2001 inquiry into the adequacy of regional and rural commercial television news and information services. The research is primarily concerned with the quality of local content provided by regional commercial broadcasters in response to the implementation of the Australian Communications and Media Authority's points system for broadcast of matters of local significance. The policy outcomes are balanced against an historical context, which traces the regional commercial television industry in North Queensland back to its very beginning. Regulatory reform has resulted in a basic level of news content being maintained. However the significance of elements of this news content to local viewers is minimal. The reduction in local information content, despite being identified in the earliest stages of the ABA investigation, has not been adequately addressed by the reform process.

This study explores the development and use of educational resources to accompany Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) television programs and multiplatform program content. Through action research and participant observation methods, this study discusses the growing importance of multiplatform screen content in education, and how and why teachers use educational materials prepared by broadcasters. In doing so, it incorporates social theories of learning, particularly communities of practice theory. It concludes that, to best engage teachers and their students, education and broadcaster communities should collaborate in order to better understand authentic and informal learning.

The thesis examines American teen dramas on Australian television in the period 1992 to 2004. It explores the use of the genre by broadcasters and its uptake by teenagers in an environment where American popular culture has frequently been treated with suspicion and where there are perennial arguments about the Americanisation of youth and their vulnerability to cultural imperialism. The thesis argues concerns about Americanisation and cultural imperialism in relation to youth culture, young people and the media are misplaced. American teen dramas are investigated as an example of the ways imported programs are made to cohere with national logics within the Australian mediasphere (Hartley, 1996). Utilising Yuri Lotman's (1990) theory of cultural 'translation' this thesis argues teen drams are evidence of dynamic change within the system of television and that this change does not result in a system dominated by imported product, but rather a system that situates foreign programming amongst domestic frames of reference.

The thesis examines American teen dramas on Australian television in the period 1992 to 2004. It explores the use of the genre by broadcasters and its uptake by teenagers in an environment where American popular culture has frequently been treated with suspicion and where there are perennial arguments about the Americanisation of youth and their vulnerability to cultural imperialism. The thesis argues concerns about Americanisation and cultural imperialism in relation to youth culture, young people and the media are misplaced. American teen dramas are investigated as an example of the ways imported programs are made to cohere with national logics within the Australian mediasphere (Hartley, 1996). Utilising Yuri Lotman's (1990) theory of cultural 'translation' this thesis argues teen drams are evidence of dynamic change within the system of television and that this change does not result in a system dominated by imported product, but rather a system that situates foreign programming amongst domestic frames of reference.

The Australlan Broadcasting Corporation, created in 1932 and reconstructed in 1983. is a public-fundod national broadcasting organisation. It was estabilshed to provide a oomprehensive, innovative and impartial radio and television service for all Australians. The ABC is a statutory corporation. intended to be accountable to Parliament for it's actions, but independent of the government of the day. Controversy about ABC news and current affairs serv1ces, about whether Corporation programs are obective, impartial, balanced and free from political interference, is a hardy perenial of Australian public life. The ABC'c public credibility depends on its perceived ability to function without government influence over program content. The ABC does not operate in isolation. It must negotiate for finance and resources with a federal bureaucracy 11nd conform to standards of accountability set by Parliament. Corporation claims to independence cannot be assessed in absolute terms, but must be viewed within its setting in a world of complex interaction between Parliament, the government and the Corporation. Within this framework, ABC independence must be viewed in two arenas - the administrative independence of the organisation to control and aliocate Its resources, and function a/ Independence to make program judgements without outside interference. This dissertation examines both dimensions of the contemporary ABC. Through institutional analysis it seeks to determine whether the ABC in practice enjoys the independence which in theory is guaranteed by its legislative form. The thesis opens with a discussion of the theoretlcal assumptions underlylng the ABC and a description of the organisation's environment: the origins of the ABC in the ideology of pubiic service broadcasting, Its place in the Australian broadcasting system and its relationship with governments and the Public Service. It is argued that the precise objectives and aims of the ABC have never been clear. that a lack of agreed goals makes it difficult for the organisation to win public aupport against governmental intervention in ABC administration, and that the structure of the Australian broadcasting system enables commercial media rivals to lobby governments to restrict the ABC to marginal activities. ABC decision-making is then examined: the influence of the ABC's legislative basis, structure, the role of the Board of Directors, ABC management, the internal allocation of resources and the work environment. The focus is on the relative involvemont of directors and managers on ABC output; it is argued that structural impediments limit the influence Directors can exercise over Corporation policy, while confused lines of responsibility, the structure of the organisation and the production process make it difficult for ABC managers to tightly control program output. With the external and internal context established, the production of ABC news and current affairs programs and the political control of ABC resources are examined. The study concludes with an assessment of whether the rhetoric of an independent but accountable ABC is realised, or whether the Corporation is part of the general machinery of government, with its independence a convenient fiction.

Utilizing published and unpublished sources and working with interviews of a number of participants this thesis examines the evolution of the political influences that stimulated the Australian federal government's policy decisions on public broadcasting. The background to the federal government's original involvement in broadcasting in the early years of the twentieth century is investigated to put later developments into a broader perspective. Comparisons are also drawn with progress in other comparable Western countries to highlight the unique nature of the Australian model. Since broadcasting was never an issue, like health and education, which could capture votes from the electorate as a whole, government policy was driven by pressure from particular special interest groups as their influence waxed and waned and calls from individual electorates, when the interest was strong and the seat was marginal. The government decisions that resulted from this situation were ad hoc and expedient and no really coherent policy was ever implemented. This thesis examines the forces that led to the restriction in the expansion of broadcasting services after World War 2 and to the change in the influence of pressure groups in the 1960s which led to the establishment of FM and public broadcasting in the 1970s. A detailed exploration of particular interests, such as the Public Broadcasting Association of Australia, educational broadcasters and ethnic broadcasters shows how the influence of different groups changed over time. Once public broadcasting was established the main concern of both broadcasters and government was to keep the sector economically viable. A detailed analysis is provided of how the funding arrangements altered as the sector grew. There were always some idealists who saw public broadcasting as a vehicle for putting forward their own point of view. But, this thesis concludes that, by the early 1990s, apart from its role as regulator, which was the same for commercial broadcasting, government policy on public broadcasting was largely driven by the fact that minimal funding for the sector enabled government to ensure that essential non-commercially viable broadcasting services that would be far more expensive for the government to provide itself, were able to continue.
PhD Doctorate

Utilizing published and unpublished sources and working with interviews of a number of participants this thesis examines the evolution of the political influences that stimulated the Australian federal government's policy decisions on public broadcasting. The background to the federal government's original involvement in broadcasting in the early years of the twentieth century is investigated to put later developments into a broader perspective. Comparisons are also drawn with progress in other comparable Western countries to highlight the unique nature of the Australian model. Since broadcasting was never an issue, like health and education, which could capture votes from the electorate as a whole, government policy was driven by pressure from particular special interest groups as their influence waxed and waned and calls from individual electorates, when the interest was strong and the seat was marginal. The government decisions that resulted from this situation were ad hoc and expedient and no really coherent policy was ever implemented. This thesis examines the forces that led to the restriction in the expansion of broadcasting services after World War 2 and to the change in the influence of pressure groups in the 1960s which led to the establishment of FM and public broadcasting in the 1970s. A detailed exploration of particular interests, such as the Public Broadcasting Association of Australia, educational broadcasters and ethnic broadcasters shows how the influence of different groups changed over time. Once public broadcasting was established the main concern of both broadcasters and government was to keep the sector economically viable. A detailed analysis is provided of how the funding arrangements altered as the sector grew. There were always some idealists who saw public broadcasting as a vehicle for putting forward their own point of view. But, this thesis concludes that, by the early 1990s, apart from its role as regulator, which was the same for commercial broadcasting, government policy on public broadcasting was largely driven by the fact that minimal funding for the sector enabled government to ensure that essential non-commercially viable broadcasting services that would be far more expensive for the government to provide itself, were able to continue.
PhD Doctorate

The central concern of this study is how media personnel in one area of community based radio, namely Maltese radio broadcasters operating in Melbourne, come to understand their cultural output and their status as "cultural producers"; what is their perception of the role of "ethnic media" in a multiculturalist context and to what degree does their output in Maltese language based radio programs help to create and sustain cultural identity. What role do they think they are playing in implementing this project? In this context, this study will attempt to uncover some of the underlying cultural assumptions of what they put to air and of what they say about their fimction as "ethnic broadcasters". A key question then becomes to what extent are these media personnel serving as cultural producers who are governed by a "philosophy" of "assimilationism", "difference" or what Stuart Hall (1992, 1993) calls "hybridity".

The present study aims to find out more about the function and potential of community based Vietnamese language radio in Melbourne. The research took place in three stages. The first stage explored broad patterns of media consumption among Vietnamese-Australians. The second stage required the profiling of all existing community radio based Vietnamese language programs in Melbourne. The final stage involved an in-depth discussion with members of the Vietnamese community based around a "radio scenario", where a sample of participants were asked to assume the role of radio producer for an imagined three hour Vietnamese language program to be broadcast on a community radio station.

This study focuses on the organisation and operation of the Australian Government’s Department of Information that operated from 1939 to 1950. Equal weighting is given to the wartime and peacetime halves of the Department’s existence, allowing a balanced assessment of the Department’s role and development from its creation through to its abolition. ...

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Sport is part of Australian culture, and for many Australians, participating in this aspect of culture involves watching professional sport live on television. However, the Australian broadcast market has been disrupted over the last 20 years by the arrival of global corporations, emerging broadcast technologies, changing consumption habits, and increasingly outdated regulation. In this context, this research project aims to specifically identify the major tensions that exist inside the broadcasting and digital sectors of an elite sport – the Australian Football League – and to explore how an entrepreneurial mindset might exploit the creative and innovative opportunities that arise from these tensions. Data from 37 participants and more than 70 documents articulated these tensions, which were interpreted through two theoretical frameworks capable of dealing with complex information. Specifically, the systems model of creativity and structuration theory provided a frame to allow the densely packed data to be disentangled, classified, and analysed, revealing the tensions and accordant opportunities. The concept of the ‘intrapreneur’ was also used to demonstrate how opportunities can be identified and exploited within large organisations such as commercial broadcasters and elite sports administrations. In applying these frames and concepts, this research project found the major tensions inside the AFL broadcasting and digital sectors are predominantly the result of conflict in and between public and commercial self-interests. These tensions can be found in and between each of the major choice making agents in the case study: the Australian Football League, their established and emerging broadcast partners, the regulators of the broadcasting sector, and the supporters who consume televised coverage of the game. Exploiting the opportunities in these tensions may involve realising commercial benefits or public benefits in contexts where either outcome is respectively valued. However, this is not an either/or proposition. Opportunities exist where public benefits may be realised in commercial contexts, and vice versa for public interest contexts, while some opportunities can deliver both public and commercial benefits, regardless of context. Identifying and exploiting such opportunities requires agents to develop an awareness of their context and the resources available, to increase the productive capacity of their network, to be resilient and take risks, to reframe constraints as enablers, and to be supported by senior leaders within their institution. These observations apply equally to consumers as they do to industry-based participants.