Four of Australia’s regional television networks are urging viewers to campaign for changes to Australian media ownership laws which restrict their market penetration and dominance but they won’t come clean with audiences on what the changes could mean. The networks — Prime, WIN, Imparja and Southern Cross Austereo — feel imperiled by new media players including streaming apps from […]
Tag: media
New York City has always been a shimmering mirage of television, cinema, radio and newsprint. It only ever existed in ribbons of Seinfeld, Friends, The Simpsons, 30 Rock, Elf, and news coverage like that of September 11, 2001. Though this is an account of my personal mediascape, millions of others would have a similar view. […]
It’s been some time since I’ve written about my PhD – I’ve been far to busy actually writing it instead (and teaching). In that time, the whole concept has shifted quite a bit – somewhat under its own weight and somewhat due to my own interests. This is a ‘catch-up’ post, partly to keep me […]
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Fit for Bodily Surveillance
The description of new media technologies as being screen-based is increasingly problematic as bodily tracking devices like fitness trackers become more common. And yet, it is hard to think of these devices as anything but media objects. While they are rather obviously reliant on mobile phones, they also mediate (ie, get in the middle) our […]
In 2003, Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa bought a local newspaper, Grocott’s Mail. The Uni set it up as an experiential training centre for students and plough any profits back into student bursaries. It reports your average local news stories; on the website front page today are two articles about the local council, Makana Muncipality.
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Starting a PhD
Following completion of my honours year in 2012, I applied for and received admission to a PhD program at the University of Wollongong, and an Australian Postgraduate Award. I’m looking forward to beginning work on the project, but at this stage it is still in the very early developmental phase so I’m finding it hard […]
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If Fairfax Falls, What of Rural Papers?
The extraordinary developments at Fairfax have been well-covered throughout the Australian media and blogosphere. In particular, the Jonathan Green on The Drum, Andrew Jaspan in The Conversation and Eric Beecher in Crikey are very good articles, full of insight and context. But, if Fairfax falls, what will become of rural and regional papers? Or, perhaps […]
In his seminal work Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson wrote of the ways nations are constructed – of the common symbols and artefacts that define peoples within national borders. Equally potent are the symbols used to define others within those borders, or to signify they are outsiders. It is the symbols used in The Simpsons to […]
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The Simpsons, Episode 1
UPDATE: If you’ve come to this post looking for information about content analysis, you might be better served looking here, where I’ve written up a more detailed and logical post. This blog is about to have a new regular topic because I agreed on my thesis focus topic with my supervisor today and I’m keen […]
Do video games (and other digital media) influence society or does society influence them? Or is it a bit from Column A and a bit from Column B? There are some strong arguments that repeated exposure to violence desensitizes people and, in the case of violent video games, even spurs/trains them to commit violent acts. […]