Chapter 18: Knowing the world: The Australian media

In the light of claims that Australia has become an ‘information society’ in a globalising world, we address some questions about the role of the mass media in Australia. We begin by asking what the media are. We focus first on the way the media defi ne our relation with the world by adding to our face-to-face social relationships and interactions, and then on their role as a major part of a modern corporate economy. Second, we ask about the kinds of effects the media have and consider some arguments about the positive and negative effects. We then present a short case study on the relation of press reporting to political processes, addressing the serious issue of heroin use.

Further reading

The Media, Politics & Public Life
by Geoffrey Craig
(Click on the title for more information)
Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2004, pp192-207
Download excerpt (PDF)

Racism, Ethnicity and the Media
by A. Jakubowicz, H. Goodall, J. Martin, T. Mitchell, L. Randall & K. Seneviratne
(Click on the title for more information)
Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994, pp. 3-31.
Download excerpt (PDF)

Framing Technology
edited by Lelia Green & Roger Guinery
(Click on the title for more information)
Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994, pp. 145-60.
http://www.allenandunwin.com/academic/Framng11.pdf

Useful links

The Australian Centre for Independent Journalism
http://www.acij.uts.edu.au/

Oceania Indymedia
http://oceania.indymedia.org/