Published 50 years ago, Henry Mayer's The Press in Australia – still the most comprehensive analysis of Australia's daily papers and their critics – remains a landmark in the study of the Australian press. This article lays out the book's main arguments, recalls the way it was received, and offers an assessment of its impact on teaching in the universities, on academic research and on the newspaper industry.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BakerA.J.1979, Anderson's Social Philosophy: The Social Thought and Political Life of Professor John Anderson, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
2.
CampbellE.WhitmoreH.1966, Freedom in Australia, Sydney University Press, Sydney.
3.
CheshireF.1984, Bookseller Publisher Friend, National Press, Melbourne.
4.
ColemanP. [1962], Obscenity, Blasphemy and Sedition, Jacaranda, Brisbane.
5.
ConnellR.2007, Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Science, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
6.
CoombsA.1996, Sex and Anarchy: The Life and Death of the Sydney Push, Viking, Ringwood.
7.
CryleD.1999, ‘“Old Tales, New Techniques”: Popular Journalism 1860–1930’, in CurthoysA.SchultzJ. (eds), Journalism: Print, Politics and Popular Culture, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, pp. 56–69.
8.
CryleD.2008, Murdoch's Flagship: Twenty-Five Years of the Australian Newspaper, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
9.
CunninghamS.TurnerG. (eds) 1993, The Media in Australia: Industries, Texts, Audiences, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
10.
CurreyJ.2006, ‘Case-study: Lansdowne and Lloyd O'Neill’, in MunroC.Sheahan-BrightR. (eds), Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia 1946–2005, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, pp. 38–41.
11.
DaviesA.F.1964, ‘Henry Mayer's Factory Ship’, Nation, 30 May, p. 23.
12.
FosterR.T.1964, ‘Academic on Press’, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 June.
13.
GibbneyH.J. (comp.) 1975, Labor in Print: A Guide to the People Who Created a Labor Press in Australia Between 1850 and 1939, ANU Press, Canberra.
14.
GilsonM.ZubrzyckiJ.1967, The Foreign Language Press in Australia, 1848–1964, ANU Press, Canberra.
15.
GootM.1979, ‘Newspaper Circulation in Australia 1932–1977’, Media Centre Papers No. 11, Centre for the Study of Education Communication and Media, La Trobe University, Bundoora.
16.
GootM.1983, ‘The Media and the Campaign’, in PennimanH.R. (ed.), Australia at the Polls: The National Elections of 1980 and 1983, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. 140–215.
17.
GootM.1986, Henry Mayer's ‘Immortal Works’: Scholarly, Semi-Scholarly and Not Very Scholarly at All: A Descriptive Bibliography with Index, 1940–1985, Department of Political Science, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra.
18.
GootM.2009, ‘Political Communication and the Media’, in RhodesR. (ed.), The Australian Study of Politics, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 173–85.
19.
GootM.2011, ‘Stripped Bare: A Short Historiography of the Australian Tabloid’, Australian Journal of Communication, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 1–31.
20.
Griffen-FoleyB. (ed.) 2014, A Companion to the Australian Media, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne.
21.
HillsB.2010, Breaking News: The Golden Age of Graham Perkin, Scribe, Melbourne.
22.
HoldenW.S.1962, Australia Goes to Press, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
23.
HorneD.1964a, ‘Dissecting the Press: Professor [sic] Mayer's Nihilist Reappraisal’, The Bulletin, 20 June, p. 50.
24.
HorneD.1964b, The Lucky Country, Penguin, Ringwood.
25.
InglisK.S.1964, ‘Review Article: The Press in Australia’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 248–54.
26.
InglisK.S.1992, ‘Questions About Newspapers’, Australian Cultural History, no. 11, pp. 120–7.
27.
LumbyC.2002, ‘The Future of Journalism’, in CunninghamS.TurnerG. (eds), The Media and Communications in Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. 320–9.
28.
McQueenH.1977, Australia's Media Monopolies, Widescope, Camberwell.
29.
MayerH.1956, The Popular Press, Department of Tutorial Classes, University of Sydney, Sydney.
30.
MayerH.1964, Bibliographical Notes on the Press in Australia, and Related Subjects, Department of Government and Public Administration, University of Sydney, Sydney.
31.
MayerH.1964/1968, The Press in Australia, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne [1968 edition was a reprint with a new preface].
32.
MorrisonE.2005, Engines of Influence: Newspapers of Country Victoria, 1840–1890, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
33.
OsborneG.LewisG.1995, Communication Traditions in 20th-century Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
34.
OsborneG.LewisG.2001, Communication Traditions in Australia: Packaging the People, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
35.
PicaP. [pseud.] 1964, ‘The Production of Books’, Australian Book Review, June, p. 158.
36.
RevillL.RoderickC. (eds) 1965, The Journalists' Craft: A Guide to Modern Practice, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
37.
RicketsonM.1999, ‘Newspaper Feature Writing in Australia 1956–1996’, in CurthoysA.SchultzJ. (eds), Journalism: Print, Politics and Popular Culture, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, pp. 168–84.
38.
RossW.D. (Chair) 1949, Royal Commission on the Press 1947–1949: Report, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
39.
RydonJ.1985, ‘Henry Mayer and Australian Political Studies’, Politics [subsequently, Australian Journal of Political Science], vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 1–4.
40.
SchultzJ.1994, ‘Media Convergence and the Fourth Estate’, in SchultzJ. (ed.), Not Just Another Business: Journalists, Citizens and the Media, Pluto Press, Sydney, pp. 15–33.
41.
ShawcrossBaron (Chair) 1962, Royal Commission on the Press 1961–1962: Report, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
42.
SinclairJ.2006, ‘The Media and Communications: Theoretical Traditions’, in CunninghamS.TurnerG. (eds), The Media and Communications in Australia, 2nd ed., Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. 13–27.
43.
TempleJ.1975, The Mass Media: A Personal Report, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
44.
ThomsonR.J.1964, ‘Review Article: Liberalism and the Fourth Estate’, Arena, no. 5, pp. 21–4.
45.
TiffenR.2011, ‘Has the Gap Between Qualities and Tabloids Increased? Changes in Australian Newspapers 1956–2006’, Australian Journal of Communication, vol. 38no. 2, pp. 33–52.
46.
TiffenR.2010, ‘Changes in Australian Newspapers, 1956–2006’, Journalism Practice, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 345–59.
47.
TiffenR.2006, ‘Political Economy and News’, in CunninghamS.TurnerG. (eds), The Media and Communications in Australia, 2nd ed., Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. 28–42.
48.
TiffenR.1994, ‘Introduction’, in TiffenR. (ed.), Mayer on the Media: Issues and Arguments, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. viii–xii.
49.
WalkerR.B.1976, The Newspaper Press in New South Wales, 1803–1920, Sydney University Press, Sydney.
50.
WalkerR.R.1967, Communicators: People, Practices, Philosophies in Australian Advertising, Media, and Marketing, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne.
51.
WesternJ.HughesC.A.1971, The Mass Media in Australia: Use and Evaluation, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane.
52.
WindschuttleK.1988, The Media: A New Analysis of the Press, Television, Radio and Advertising in Australia, Penguin, Ringwood.
53.
WithersG.EndreA.M.PerryL.1987, ‘Labour’, in VamplewW. (ed.), Australians: Historical Statistics, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, Sydney, pp. 145–65.
