The Press Cable Monopoly 1895— 1909: A Case Study of Australian Media Policy Development

Abstract

In 1909, the Australian Senate conducted a Select Committee of Inquiry on Press Cable Services to Australia in response to claims that a monopoly of such services was in operation and had been organised by a cartel of key Australian newspapers in conjunction with Reuters Telegraph Company. Its report, and the extensive transcripts of evidence that accompany it, provide a detailed insight into arrangements for the receipt and distribution of overseas news in Australia between 1895 and 1909. The Inquiry, in its majority report, declared the arrangements to be ‘a complete monopoly’ in that they ensured that there was only one source of supply in Australia of press cables from the outside world. This paper analyses the findings of the Australian Senate Inquiry and the evidence put before it in terms of the light these shed on Reuters' modus operandi in Australia. It also provides an early case study of Australian government media policy development.

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