Talkback radio in Australia has primarily been conceptualized as a space where populist meta narratives are constructed and, through repetition, entrenched. However, little attention has been paid to talkback that occurs beyond populist programs. This article focuses on the contributions non-populist talkback programs make to local news and community. It examines commercial and non-commercial talkback programs’ facilitation of the sharing of audiences’ mini-narratives and their provision of hyper-local news. Drawing on data from a study of 12 Australian talkback radio programs, the article identifies that these programs provide one of the few available sources of hyper-local news in an increasingly globalized media market. The article examines the type of hyper-local news the study participants gain from talkback and how they use that information.
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