This article contextualises the rise of political spin in Australian politics and discusses its meaning and implications. It examines the largely unmediated relationship between political leaders and journalists that existed until the 1970s. It locates the foundational period in the growth of professionalised public relations in the Fraser and Hawke governments and suggests that an assertive new style of journalism played a role in its birth. It debates some of the literature on spin, and suggests that spin is a permanent fixture and that journalists need to devise creative responses to it rather than simply denounce it.
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