Witnesses to War: Australian War Correspondents from the Boer to the Gulf War. This national project will be the first study to examine the collective history of Australian journalists and photojournalists who have covered major wars and international conflicts from the Boer War to the 'war on terror'. It will be a timely and path breaking contribution to history, offering a new understanding of key issues including the journalists' experiences; the discourses that defined Australian national id ....Witnesses to War: Australian War Correspondents from the Boer to the Gulf War. This national project will be the first study to examine the collective history of Australian journalists and photojournalists who have covered major wars and international conflicts from the Boer War to the 'war on terror'. It will be a timely and path breaking contribution to history, offering a new understanding of key issues including the journalists' experiences; the discourses that defined Australian national identity; truth and mythmaking; war correspondents' influence on public commemoration and how they shaped attitudes to war, allies, enemies and race; how reporting changed; and the role of political and military censorship. Read moreRead less
Investigating Innovative Applications of Digital Media for Participatory Journalism and Citizen Engagement in Australian Public Communication. This project benefits the Australian community by undertaking the first comprehensive audit of collaborative online news production, and linking this to prototypes developed with leading industry partners such as SBS and Cisco Systems, to promote greater citizen participation in news production and public communication. It marks the first sustained applic ....Investigating Innovative Applications of Digital Media for Participatory Journalism and Citizen Engagement in Australian Public Communication. This project benefits the Australian community by undertaking the first comprehensive audit of collaborative online news production, and linking this to prototypes developed with leading industry partners such as SBS and Cisco Systems, to promote greater citizen participation in news production and public communication. It marks the first sustained application of an open source framework to understanding the future of journalism and news media, and public communication in a democratic society, through the development of user-generated content derived from online user communities and peer-to-peer interaction. It promotes smart innovation use through collaboration and user-led innovation in digitally networked online environments. Read moreRead less
New media, new narratives: Beyond broadcasting. This project investigates the cultural and social implications of the tension between new and traditional media, in a collaborative project with ABC News. It uses a new model of training journalism cadets- often the groundbreakers for the organisational cultural change needed in a world of convergent media-and demonstrates how media organisations can innovate in what they produce, how they produce it, and in their audience relations.The project wi ....New media, new narratives: Beyond broadcasting. This project investigates the cultural and social implications of the tension between new and traditional media, in a collaborative project with ABC News. It uses a new model of training journalism cadets- often the groundbreakers for the organisational cultural change needed in a world of convergent media-and demonstrates how media organisations can innovate in what they produce, how they produce it, and in their audience relations.The project will also demonstrate the important role of public broadcasting in new media innovation and in building new relationships with audiences.Read moreRead less
Media Change. Political Change - Developments in Australian Newspapers' Political Reporting in the Age of Television. It is frequently asserted that the role of the press has changed since the advent of television, but there is a curious lack of data documenting the changes. This project will provide extensive, systematic and analytically-informed information about trends in newspapers' political coverage. Through an innovative combination of quantitative and qualitative research designs, it w ....Media Change. Political Change - Developments in Australian Newspapers' Political Reporting in the Age of Television. It is frequently asserted that the role of the press has changed since the advent of television, but there is a curious lack of data documenting the changes. This project will provide extensive, systematic and analytically-informed information about trends in newspapers' political coverage. Through an innovative combination of quantitative and qualitative research designs, it will chart the extent and timing of changes, and illuminate the external and internal forces driving them. The press remains central to the quality of Australian democracy and public discourse, and so there is a strong public interest in making debates about its changing performance more empirically grounded and analytically penetrating. Read moreRead less
Global Youth & Media - Notions of Cosmopolitanism in the Global Public Space. As Australia repositions itself in the globalized world of the 21st century, an understanding of new global communication spheres is increasingly important. Our research into the mediated experience and expectations of globalization among 14-17 year olds in 12 countries is explicitly concerned with the possibilities of future world citizenship among the most highly networked generation to date. Its findings will be of ....Global Youth & Media - Notions of Cosmopolitanism in the Global Public Space. As Australia repositions itself in the globalized world of the 21st century, an understanding of new global communication spheres is increasingly important. Our research into the mediated experience and expectations of globalization among 14-17 year olds in 12 countries is explicitly concerned with the possibilities of future world citizenship among the most highly networked generation to date. Its findings will be of value to education, media and cultural policy makers in Australia. Through the data and analysis it will provide insights into the changing forms of national and global citizenship, national and global public space, and the integration of both into regional identities and communications. Read moreRead less
Political reporting of Australian election campaigns. Up to 40% of Australian voters decide their vote during an election campaign but most never have any direct contact with candidates and rely instead on information from newspapers, radio, television and the Internet. According to democratic theory, these media should act as a site for political information and debate to enable voters to make an informed choice. If they are not performing this role well, then as a community, Australians are mi ....Political reporting of Australian election campaigns. Up to 40% of Australian voters decide their vote during an election campaign but most never have any direct contact with candidates and rely instead on information from newspapers, radio, television and the Internet. According to democratic theory, these media should act as a site for political information and debate to enable voters to make an informed choice. If they are not performing this role well, then as a community, Australians are missing out. This project assesses the quality of election reporting to find out how well or badly we are served by those who report and comment on politics.Read moreRead less
Vulnerability and the news media: Investigating print media coverage of groups deemed to be vulnerable in Australian society, and the media's understanding of their status. The media plays a major role informing society about itself. Today, there are considerable divisions within society, sometimes based upon misunderstanding, sometimes ignorance. This project seeks to break down those divisions by helping to train journalists to report knowledgeably on vulnerable groups. By developing protocols ....Vulnerability and the news media: Investigating print media coverage of groups deemed to be vulnerable in Australian society, and the media's understanding of their status. The media plays a major role informing society about itself. Today, there are considerable divisions within society, sometimes based upon misunderstanding, sometimes ignorance. This project seeks to break down those divisions by helping to train journalists to report knowledgeably on vulnerable groups. By developing protocols which journalists can adopt when reporting on vulnerable groups, the project will add to greater understanding within society about the positive contributions these groups make to the development of Australia and even to international relations. Read moreRead less
A study of the ABC in Asia and its role in cultural exchange. Technological and cultural exchange with Asia through the Australian Broadcasting Commission/Corporation has been critical in building cross-cultural awareness in both Australia and Asia. Recording and assessing the breadth and character of this exchange will assist Australia's capacity to interpret itself to the world. Analysing the interaction of a liberal-democratic broadcasting model with social organisation in Asia will enhance o ....A study of the ABC in Asia and its role in cultural exchange. Technological and cultural exchange with Asia through the Australian Broadcasting Commission/Corporation has been critical in building cross-cultural awareness in both Australia and Asia. Recording and assessing the breadth and character of this exchange will assist Australia's capacity to interpret itself to the world. Analysing the interaction of a liberal-democratic broadcasting model with social organisation in Asia will enhance our capacity to engage with a changing regional media environment. A critical assessment of the ABC's international role will contribute to debates on the value of public broadcasting. The outcomes (book, database, oral histories) provide a permanent resource for researching media and Australia-Asian relations.Read moreRead less
Television Journalism and Deliberative Democracy: A Comparative International Study of Communicative Architecture and Democratic Deepening. Television journalism today mediates major conflicts to wider publics. This research, for the first time, analyses how established and emergent forms of television journalism provide differing spaces for the public elaboration, engagement and expression of contending voices and values in situations of conflict. A systematic and comparative examination of the ....Television Journalism and Deliberative Democracy: A Comparative International Study of Communicative Architecture and Democratic Deepening. Television journalism today mediates major conflicts to wider publics. This research, for the first time, analyses how established and emergent forms of television journalism provide differing spaces for the public elaboration, engagement and expression of contending voices and values in situations of conflict. A systematic and comparative examination of the communicative architecture and production practices of television journalism across five different countries (Australia, USA, UK, India and Singapore) is undertaken. This project will document, through qualitative and quantitative data, how these different television journalism forms contribute to processes of public deliberation and their potential to do so in the future.Read moreRead less
Empire and Antipodes: Australian-New Zealand involvement in the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970). This project will investigate the role and changing significance of the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970) focussing on its regular international conferences and the communication issues raised by the Australian-New Zealand delegations which attended. Drawing on the work of Harold Innis on the history of communication across empires and using the E./C.P.U as a case study, the pr ....Empire and Antipodes: Australian-New Zealand involvement in the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970). This project will investigate the role and changing significance of the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970) focussing on its regular international conferences and the communication issues raised by the Australian-New Zealand delegations which attended. Drawing on the work of Harold Innis on the history of communication across empires and using the E./C.P.U as a case study, the project seeks to investigate the ascendancy and decline of British imperial communications in terms of old/new media and British/antipodean communications. Key debates and concerns of the A/NZ press delegations, including press freedom, cable technology and the advent of broadcast media, will be examined within the shifting contexts of private/public monopoly and imperial/national loyalty with reference to parallel developments in India.Read moreRead less