The Turnbull government is engaged in a media reform process that is all about the sideshow – not forward-thinking policy with the public interest in mind.
The Nine Network’s Here Come The Habibs is one of very few Australian TV programs not dominated by Anglo-Australian faces.
AAP/Nine Network
A generation on from revelations about the lack of diversity in the Australian media at the dawn of the digital era, what is pushing this concern now? And what’s changed since then?
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the government would establish stronger local content obligations for regional commercial TV.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Mitch Fifield has announced a shake-up of Australia’s media ownership laws. What rules are being scrapped? And what effect might their axing have on Australia’s media sector?
Nine’s new online streaming service means it can reach beyond its metro boundaries, and regional broadcasters are not happy.
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The rise on live streaming of television programs is breaking down the protected geographical barriers on what you can watch, and the regional broadcasters are not happy.
Communications minister Malcolm Turnbull has floated the idea of reforming media laws, but Australia media terrain has changed.
AAP/Penny Bradfield
Netflix will launch in Australia and New Zealand in March next year. Expectations are this is just the start of an influx of new streaming options in Australia. The internet and television are increasingly…
Social and digital media perform a function that is humanising by connecting people and allowing freedom of expression.
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Is social media really delivering on its promise of democratising communication? Or have we just replaced one model that privileges those with power for another? Dr Andrea Carson speaks with Professor…
Just doing the same thing he does every night.
EPA
Rupert Murdoch’s latest bid for empire expansion has fallen on deaf ears. His offer to buy Time Warner for US$80 billion was resoundingly rejected by the owners of CNN, HBO and Warner Brothers. But despite…
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is developing proposals for changing the rules governing Australia’s media.
AAP/Gary Schafer
Major media players continue to dominate online news, current affairs and analysis, despite a proliferation of online news content sources, a government report has found. The internet has given established…
Australia’s established media groups have used the internet to extend their domination of news.
AAP/Dean Lewins
That media ownership rules have been progressively relaxed in many democracies is certainly not news. But that Australia, with one of the most concentrated media markets in the world, is thinking of further…
Consumers have never had more choice, but does that mean more local content?
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Communication minister Malcolm Turnbull’s proposal for changes to cross-media ownership laws has reignited calls for the government to protect local content. On the surface, it appears reasonable to expect…
Jeremy Hunt: enthralling evidence at Leveson inquiry.
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
After News Corp’s failed bid to purchase 100% of BSkyB in 2011 the question of who makes the decisions about media ownership – and how we can ensure there remains a strong and vibrant plurality of competing…
Blogging is in favour in New Zealand, with the major players taking on the mainstream media.
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Blogs are thriving in New Zealand thanks to threats to media freedom, an increasingly commercialised media environment, and shifts in media ownership. The financial ownership of the major media companies…
Good circulation: newspapers are in better health than expected.
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At first glance, the British news industry looks to be in trouble. With editors in the dock, a fraught new system of regulation, and declining newspaper circulation, it’s easy to panic about the trajectory…
A new study finds a third of Australian newspaper articles reject climate science.
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Australia has the most concentrated press ownership in the world. What does that mean for significant issues such as climate change? In 2011 and 2012 we at the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism…
We take a closer look at the claim the prime minister has made on the Murdoch press in Australia.
“Mr Murdoch is entitled to his own view… he owns 70% of the newspapers in this country.” – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, press conference, 6 August. One of the more spirited discussions of the first week…
Rupert Murdoch’s Australian newspapers have already come out swinging against the current government in the early stages of the election campaign.
AAP/Paul Miller
In 2007, journalist Ken Auletta spent a great deal of time with Rupert Murdoch while writing a magazine profile of him. Auletta observed that Murdoch was frequently on the phone to his editors and this…