Politics and the media in Australia
Nick Economou
8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
Objectives On successful completion of this subject students should have an appreciation of the importance and influence of the media upon political processes generally, and of the processes of the Australian liberal democratic state in particular. Students should appreciate that politics occurs not only between the media and political institutions, but also within media institutions themselves.
Synopsis The media is clearly one of the more important components of any political society, and in a liberal democracy its role, functioning and political economy have profound implications for the conduct of politics and the nature of democracy. The media constitutes a critically important part of the Australian political experience. In this subject, the politics of the media (understood to mean the politics that goes on within `the media' as well as the contribution the media makes to politics) is studied from three broad perspectives. First, the politics of the media is investigated from the perspective of liberal democratic theory in order to understand the role of newspapers, electronic news media, entertainment, popular culture and so on in that which we might consider `the political'. Second, the political economy of the media is investigated with particular emphasis on the structure of media ownership in Australia, how this links with patterns of global media political economy, the link between media workers and media managers, and debates about foreign media ownership and perceptions of `national' identity. Third, the subject undertakes a study of the relationship between the Australian media and Australian politics including studies of the dominant trends and themes in media policy created by the federal government.
Assessment Essay (3000 words): 50%
* Examination (3 hours): 50%
Prescribed texts
Ward I Politics of the media Macmillan, 1995
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