Media International Australia

The city afternoon daily newspaper is an endangered species, already extinct in some major cities. Among more recent media, its significant, obvious and flourishing market predator is commercial television. Given this scenario, the Sydney market is unique in that it supports two of these big-budget dinosaurs — the Daily Mirror and The Sun.

In Australia discussion concerning the quality of children's television continues unabated. Over the years lobby groups have been successful in persuading the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (ABT) to bring in Regulations requiring commercial TV stations to produce programs specifically for children and to broadcast them at certain times. While lobbyists have referred to a research base when it has suited their purposes, the points of view of the child audience have not always been consulted. The goal of this study is to attempt to redress the imbalance.

In recent years the Australian Journalists Association (AJA), like many other while collar organisations, has undergone a significant change in character. This has been manifest in disruptions to the industrial status quo in terms of the relationship between the AJA and the employers and between the AJA leadership and membership. Two significant periods of AJA history — 1972–73 and 1980–81 — are analysed to highlight the economic and industrial determinants of the change. These general and more decisive determinants of change provide the underlying context for evaluating the impact of technology and the 1980 national journalists’ strike.