Pub Date : 2024-03-06DOI: 10.1177/1329878x241236990
Damien John O’Meara, Whitney Monaghan
Over the past few decades, there has been significant industry and scholarly interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion in television. Alongside this, attention has been paid to the politics of queer representation in screen and media contexts. Providing much-needed data on these issues, this article catalogues the representation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary characters in Australian scripted television since 2000. We highlight the inclusion of more queer characters onscreen and situate this in the context of two significant decades of change in the Australian television industry and the broader socio-political context. In teasing out recent trends around gender and sexually diverse representation, we identify shifts toward representing more complex and inclusive queer story worlds on Australian television. We also note significant tensions in these representations, highlighting how Australian television remains quite conservative in depicting queer sex, intersections between sexualities and gender identities, and bisexual identities.
{"title":"Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary representation on Australian scripted television in the 2000s and 2010s","authors":"Damien John O’Meara, Whitney Monaghan","doi":"10.1177/1329878x241236990","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x241236990","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past few decades, there has been significant industry and scholarly interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion in television. Alongside this, attention has been paid to the politics of queer representation in screen and media contexts. Providing much-needed data on these issues, this article catalogues the representation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary characters in Australian scripted television since 2000. We highlight the inclusion of more queer characters onscreen and situate this in the context of two significant decades of change in the Australian television industry and the broader socio-political context. In teasing out recent trends around gender and sexually diverse representation, we identify shifts toward representing more complex and inclusive queer story worlds on Australian television. We also note significant tensions in these representations, highlighting how Australian television remains quite conservative in depicting queer sex, intersections between sexualities and gender identities, and bisexual identities.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140075173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-29DOI: 10.1177/1329878x241232167
Aneta Podkalicka, Danie Nilsson, Simon Troon
Proliferating media content is key to public understanding and discussions about the environment and climate change. While scholarly interest in mediated environmental communication has been ample and multi-directional, the questions around media's impacts remain pressing and largely under-theorised. This paper uses an example of popular environmental media in Australia – i.e. media aimed at attracting wide audiences – to discuss how impact is perceived and pursued in the distinctive Australian context, and what can be inferred from this study about environmental media and its impact more generally. Drawing on 28 interviews with media-makers and practitioners, conducted between 2022 and 2023, we catalogue common creative/narratives strategies used to engage audiences, noting a diversity of views and approaches for creating and measuring impact. The paper contributes to theoretical debates on media impact and encourages active academic research-media industry collaborations as part of initiatives aimed at meeting the challenges of climate change.
{"title":"Popular Environmental Media in Australia: Reflections on Audience Engagement and Impact","authors":"Aneta Podkalicka, Danie Nilsson, Simon Troon","doi":"10.1177/1329878x241232167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x241232167","url":null,"abstract":"Proliferating media content is key to public understanding and discussions about the environment and climate change. While scholarly interest in mediated environmental communication has been ample and multi-directional, the questions around media's impacts remain pressing and largely under-theorised. This paper uses an example of popular environmental media in Australia – i.e. media aimed at attracting wide audiences – to discuss how impact is perceived and pursued in the distinctive Australian context, and what can be inferred from this study about environmental media and its impact more generally. Drawing on 28 interviews with media-makers and practitioners, conducted between 2022 and 2023, we catalogue common creative/narratives strategies used to engage audiences, noting a diversity of views and approaches for creating and measuring impact. The paper contributes to theoretical debates on media impact and encourages active academic research-media industry collaborations as part of initiatives aimed at meeting the challenges of climate change.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140044260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-27DOI: 10.1177/1329878x241234983
Jane B Singer
{"title":"Book Review: Journalism, Technology and Cultural Practice: A History by Martin Conboy","authors":"Jane B Singer","doi":"10.1177/1329878x241234983","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x241234983","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140025257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-12DOI: 10.1177/1329878x241230380
Kristy Hess, Alison McAdam
Digital adaptation is often considered the panacea to the local journalism crisis in Australia. As a result, this digital first agenda has perpetuated ‘death and doom’ narratives about some traditional strategies and practices, especially in regards to the future of printed local newspapers. This paper draws on interviews and focus groups with local news owners, journalists, editors, advertising staff and managers who work for small independently owned titles in rural and regional Australia to suggest there are three key myths which are deeply interwoven and impact perceptions of local news media realities: that print is dead, the traditional advertising model has collapsed and there are no jobs in journalism. We suggest these myths can cloud discussions around the targeted and systemic solutions needed to secure local news futures.
{"title":"‘Everyone keeps telling us it's going to die’: A close examination of ‘myths’ clouding local newspaper futures in Australia","authors":"Kristy Hess, Alison McAdam","doi":"10.1177/1329878x241230380","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x241230380","url":null,"abstract":"Digital adaptation is often considered the panacea to the local journalism crisis in Australia. As a result, this digital first agenda has perpetuated ‘death and doom’ narratives about some traditional strategies and practices, especially in regards to the future of printed local newspapers. This paper draws on interviews and focus groups with local news owners, journalists, editors, advertising staff and managers who work for small independently owned titles in rural and regional Australia to suggest there are three key myths which are deeply interwoven and impact perceptions of local news media realities: that print is dead, the traditional advertising model has collapsed and there are no jobs in journalism. We suggest these myths can cloud discussions around the targeted and systemic solutions needed to secure local news futures.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139844746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-12DOI: 10.1177/1329878x241230380
Kristy Hess, Alison McAdam
Digital adaptation is often considered the panacea to the local journalism crisis in Australia. As a result, this digital first agenda has perpetuated ‘death and doom’ narratives about some traditional strategies and practices, especially in regards to the future of printed local newspapers. This paper draws on interviews and focus groups with local news owners, journalists, editors, advertising staff and managers who work for small independently owned titles in rural and regional Australia to suggest there are three key myths which are deeply interwoven and impact perceptions of local news media realities: that print is dead, the traditional advertising model has collapsed and there are no jobs in journalism. We suggest these myths can cloud discussions around the targeted and systemic solutions needed to secure local news futures.
{"title":"‘Everyone keeps telling us it's going to die’: A close examination of ‘myths’ clouding local newspaper futures in Australia","authors":"Kristy Hess, Alison McAdam","doi":"10.1177/1329878x241230380","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x241230380","url":null,"abstract":"Digital adaptation is often considered the panacea to the local journalism crisis in Australia. As a result, this digital first agenda has perpetuated ‘death and doom’ narratives about some traditional strategies and practices, especially in regards to the future of printed local newspapers. This paper draws on interviews and focus groups with local news owners, journalists, editors, advertising staff and managers who work for small independently owned titles in rural and regional Australia to suggest there are three key myths which are deeply interwoven and impact perceptions of local news media realities: that print is dead, the traditional advertising model has collapsed and there are no jobs in journalism. We suggest these myths can cloud discussions around the targeted and systemic solutions needed to secure local news futures.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139784746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-31DOI: 10.1177/1329878x231226355
Angela Ross
There is increasing evidence fewer people are willing to discuss and debate issues of common concern on social media with their feeds becoming more conflict-laden and toxic. A more nuanced understanding is needed of the motivations and deterrents for individual participation, in different contexts. This article provides a unique perspective from regional Australia by considering the conditions under which a group of social media users in Launceston, Tasmania were more likely to participate in discussion on Facebook and the factors that encouraged participants to present a constructed version of themselves. In doing so, this digital ethnographic case study contributes to evidence about the limitations of Facebook as a place for democratic public debate and may have practical application by helping identify spaces on social media that are more likely to prompt open and honest discussion.
{"title":"Thinking about the ‘silent readers’: a regional digital ethnographic case study exploring motivations and barriers to participation in public debate on Facebook","authors":"Angela Ross","doi":"10.1177/1329878x231226355","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x231226355","url":null,"abstract":"There is increasing evidence fewer people are willing to discuss and debate issues of common concern on social media with their feeds becoming more conflict-laden and toxic. A more nuanced understanding is needed of the motivations and deterrents for individual participation, in different contexts. This article provides a unique perspective from regional Australia by considering the conditions under which a group of social media users in Launceston, Tasmania were more likely to participate in discussion on Facebook and the factors that encouraged participants to present a constructed version of themselves. In doing so, this digital ethnographic case study contributes to evidence about the limitations of Facebook as a place for democratic public debate and may have practical application by helping identify spaces on social media that are more likely to prompt open and honest discussion.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139953591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-31DOI: 10.1177/1329878x231221301
Deborah Wise
{"title":"Book Review: Public Relations and Neoliberalism: The Language Practices of Knowledge Formation by Kristin Demetrious","authors":"Deborah Wise","doi":"10.1177/1329878x231221301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x231221301","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140474607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-31DOI: 10.1177/1329878x241229264
Sebastian F. K. Svegaard
{"title":"Book Review: The Near-Death of the Author: Creativity in the Internet Age by John Potts","authors":"Sebastian F. K. Svegaard","doi":"10.1177/1329878x241229264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x241229264","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140477270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-17DOI: 10.1177/1329878x231225748
Niels ten Oever, Christoph Becker
This article argues that the production and maintenance of “infrastructural insecurity” is an inherent part of the process of the standardization of telecommunication networks. Infrastructural insecurity is the outcome of intentional practices during the production, standardization, and maintenance of communication infrastructures that leave end-users vulnerable to attacks that benefit particular actors. We ground this analysis in the qualitative and quantitative exploration of the responses to the disclosure of three fundamental security vulnerabilities in telecommunications networks. To research the shaping of communication and infrastructure architectures in the face of insecurities, we develop a novel approach to the study of Internet governance and standard-setting processes that leverages web scraping and computer-assisted document set discovery software tools combined with document analysis. This is an important contribution because it problematizes the process of standardization and asks fundamental questions about the adequacy and legitimacy of the process and procedures of standardization, its participants, and its institutions.
{"title":"Infrastructural insecurity: Geopolitics in the standardization of telecommunications networks","authors":"Niels ten Oever, Christoph Becker","doi":"10.1177/1329878x231225748","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x231225748","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that the production and maintenance of “infrastructural insecurity” is an inherent part of the process of the standardization of telecommunication networks. Infrastructural insecurity is the outcome of intentional practices during the production, standardization, and maintenance of communication infrastructures that leave end-users vulnerable to attacks that benefit particular actors. We ground this analysis in the qualitative and quantitative exploration of the responses to the disclosure of three fundamental security vulnerabilities in telecommunications networks. To research the shaping of communication and infrastructure architectures in the face of insecurities, we develop a novel approach to the study of Internet governance and standard-setting processes that leverages web scraping and computer-assisted document set discovery software tools combined with document analysis. This is an important contribution because it problematizes the process of standardization and asks fundamental questions about the adequacy and legitimacy of the process and procedures of standardization, its participants, and its institutions.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139616185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-09DOI: 10.1177/1329878x231225745
Rob Cover, Nicola Henry, Joscelyn Gleave, Sharon Greenfield, Viktor Grechyn, Thuc Bao Huynh
Public figures are subject to higher rates of online abuse than other users in part because many digital platforms have significantly higher thresholds for intervening in cases of public figure abuse. Internationally, this higher rate of abuse has led to substantial impacts on public figures’ wellbeing and withdrawal from public life. This article presents findings from a study of platform policies to understand how platforms and policy stakeholders define public figures. Key findings included (a) public figures are ill-defined in platform policies, (b) policies often collapse distinctions between traditional public figures such as politicians and entertainers, emerging public figures such as influencers, and involuntary public figures such as a celebrity's family members; and (c) policies fail to acknowledge the diverse resources and institutional support enjoyed by different types of public figure. The article draws on applied cultural theory to unpack the challenges and consequences of inadequately defining public figures.
{"title":"Protecting Public Figures Online: How Do Platforms and Regulators Define Public Figures?","authors":"Rob Cover, Nicola Henry, Joscelyn Gleave, Sharon Greenfield, Viktor Grechyn, Thuc Bao Huynh","doi":"10.1177/1329878x231225745","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x231225745","url":null,"abstract":"Public figures are subject to higher rates of online abuse than other users in part because many digital platforms have significantly higher thresholds for intervening in cases of public figure abuse. Internationally, this higher rate of abuse has led to substantial impacts on public figures’ wellbeing and withdrawal from public life. This article presents findings from a study of platform policies to understand how platforms and policy stakeholders define public figures. Key findings included (a) public figures are ill-defined in platform policies, (b) policies often collapse distinctions between traditional public figures such as politicians and entertainers, emerging public figures such as influencers, and involuntary public figures such as a celebrity's family members; and (c) policies fail to acknowledge the diverse resources and institutional support enjoyed by different types of public figure. The article draws on applied cultural theory to unpack the challenges and consequences of inadequately defining public figures.","PeriodicalId":46880,"journal":{"name":"Media International Australia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139443680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}