Television may be the most pervasive medium of mass communication but, unlike the print media, Australian television news and current affairs have largely defied the efforts of researchers to mount comprehensive retrospective research into their form and content. This paper looks at the reasons for the dearth of this research. It considers the technical and the policy issues involved in preserving Australian television and argues that media researchers need to take a greater interest in the preservation of, and access to, archival television.
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