Past Programs
Journalism - 2008
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
The Foreign Correspondent
04/12/2008
The role and nature of the foreign correspondent is undergoing a significant change and even the BBC - arguably the world's largest provider of international news content - is rethinking its approach to sending journalists abroad.
Life in the Clickstream
27/11/2008
It's been a rough year for Australian journalism across the board, in terms of both jobs and program and publication cuts. Many of those affected have been members of the MEAA, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.
Yesterday the union held its third 'Future of Journalism' conference in Melbourne. And they released a new report called 'Life in the Clickstream', looking at some of the positives and negatives of our rapidly and seemingly endlessly changing media environment.
Chris Warren is the MEAA's Federal Secretary.
Melbourne Future of Journalism summit
20/11/2008
The MEAA and the Walkley Foundation are holding their latest 'Future of Journalism' summit. Events have already been held this year in Sydney and Brisbane and this time it's Melbourne's turn.
Indigenous jobs, commercial media
13/11/2008
Indigenous voices and faces are a reality on ABC and SBS, but why are there still so few Indigenous Australians working in the mainstream commercial media? How much is the attitude of the Indigenous community to blame?
The Minister and public broadcasting
06/11/2008
We ask the Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy, about the current economic downturn and the impact it might have on the likelihood of the SBS and the ABC getting the sort of funding increases they want and need to properly take them into the digital future. A future the Rudd government has been urging them to embrace.
APN: To sell or not to sell
06/11/2008
Irish press baron Tony O'Reilly is putting up for sale its 39 per cent share in APN News and Media. Now APN of course owns a lot of radio stations and a very large chunk of Australia's regional press. O'Reilly's decision to sell his APN stake is being talked about in financial circles as the likely beginning of a significant realignment in the ownership of Australian media. Our regular commentator on matters financial is Glenn Dyer.
Against the media tide
30/10/2008
Conventional wisdom would tell you it's the wrong time to launch a new magazine title, but the editor of the Australian version of The Week doesn't much care for conventional wisdom. He thinks he's on a winner. We'll find out why.
The New Blue Media
23/10/2008
With the US election looming, we look at what's been termed the 'New Blue Media', a coalition of sorts aimed at ensuring a Republican defeat and bringing internal reform to the Democratic Party.
Local Voices
16/10/2008
A project called Local Voices has been operating for several years now in four developing countries: India, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. And the focus of the project is on training journalists to better cover issues relating to HIV and AIDS. Local Voices is run by the media development agency Internews and the organisation's Resident Journalism Advisor in Ethiopia is Sonya Di Masi.
Wall Street, start-ups and the media
09/10/2008
Has the economic day of reckoning come for online start-ups who prioritise growth above revenue? And how much responsibility should the US business media take for the global financial crisis? Did they lack the access and the ideological neutrality to provide a proper assessment of the system's fragility?
Spinspotter
02/10/2008
Todd Hermann is the Seattle-based developer of a new online application called SpinSpotter which uses an algorithm to detect and highlight examples of 'spin' in online news stories and news sites.
A taxonomy of blogs
25/09/2008
Author and media analyst Margaret Simons takes a stab at defining the different types of blogs that currently exist.
Kids business
11/09/2008
Australian television has two dedicated children's news programs, the ABC's long-running BTN or Behind the News, and The Total News, which is produced by Network Ten. As any parent will know, trying to educate and inform children involves its own challenges and skills.So to give us some insight into how they do it in the news business we speak with Jo Ariel, the Executive Producer of The Total News and Patrick Emmett, her counterpart at BTN.
At the centre of journalism and media
11/09/2008
Professor Catherine Lumby is the Director of a a new media research centre at the University of New South Wales.
Right of reply: David Kirk
04/09/2008
The CEO of Fairfax Media, David Kirk, talks about the upheaval at his Australian newspapers following the decision to restructure operations and cut 550 jobs, including a large number of editorial positions at the company's once mighty flagships, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
The axe falls at Fairfax
28/08/2008
Five hundred and fifty staff at Fairfax are to go in a major restructure. Management said they were largely immune from the global newspaper downturn, but has the reality of falling circulation and advertising income finally caught up? And what power do the organisations staff have to fight the cuts?
Vale 'Sunday'
31/07/2008
This weekend sees the final edition of Channel Nine's Sunday program. When it premiered back in 1981 it was revolutionary. There'd never been anything like it on commercial television. We'll look back with its former Managing Editor, Tom Krause.
Leonard's last post
24/07/2008
Leonard Downie Jr is the executive editor of one of the world's most respected news organisations The Washington Post. During his tenure the Post has won 25 Pulitzer prizes. On the eve of his retirement he talks about the paper's successes and failures.
From reporter to refugee
17/07/2008
Edison and Sonny are journalists. They fled the bloodshed of Sierra Leone to start a new life in Sydney. But the past is always with them—and explaining and documenting it is now the core of their work here in Australia.
Journalists and their sources
17/07/2008
The assumption of confidentiality between a journalist and his or her source is enshrined in the Australian journalists' Code of Ethics. In Perth this past week one News Limited journalist has has his adherence to the code tested. He was threatened with gaol for not disclosing the name of a whistle-blower. Meanwhile, a new editorial policy has come into effect at the ABC which seeks to provide guidance on the way reporters should deal with their sources. But could it cause more harm than good? NOTE: An extended interview with the ABC's Editorial Policies Director, Paul Chadwick, can be found in the 'Audio Feature' box on the right hand side of the Media Report homepage
Pro Publica
10/07/2008
Pro Publica is a non-profit newsroom which aims to fund investigative journalism in the public interest and to make stories available, free of charge, to major news outlets.
Reporting 'The Troubles'
10/07/2008
After a career spent reporting the joys and frustrations of Northern Ireland, BBC journalist Denis Murray has now called it a day, but not before speaking with the Media Report about his experiences.
Media work and media practice
03/07/2008
Three noted thinkers on the changing nature of media and its consumers. Our guests: MIT's Henry Jenkins, Mark Deuze from Leiden University in the Netherlands and Australia's John Hartley, Research Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation.
Reasons to be cheerful
26/06/2008
The uncertainty caused by the rapid growth of online activity seems to have convinced many journalists that the profession isn't just in a state of realignment, it's actually going to hell in a hand-basket. But according to Paul Bradshaw, a senior lecturer in Media at Birmingham City University in the UK, there are many aspects of new media practice that should make today's journos optimistic about the future. He recently published a list of ten reasons why journalists in 2008 should be cheerful.
The BBC's Australian expansion
26/06/2008
The BBC has announced a new initiative with pay-TV operator Foxtel which will see it dramatically expand its presence in the Australian TV market. We speak with Darren Childs, Managing Director of BBC Worldwide Channels.
The size of the spin
12/06/2008
There's lots of anecdotal evidence that we live in a world of spin. But rarely do we get statistical information on the size and scope of the various spin machines that work for those in power. Recently, the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, was asked in parliament to detail the size of her government's media machine. And in the response she gave, she conceded that her administration employs in excess of 360 full-time media and public relations officers.
For his perspective on this, we talk to Bob Burton, the Hobart-based author of a recent study into the public relations game in Australia. It's called 'Inside Spin: The dark underside of the PR industry'.
Media bits and pieces
05/06/2008
1. Charges dismissed against Russia's Manana Aslamazyan; 2. the Former Head of News at the CBC - the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Tony Burman takes up a senior role at Al Jazeera; 3. and the results of an investigation into complaints against the ABC TV programme Lateline.
Tokyo Vice
05/06/2008
Jake Adelstein spent more than a decade covering crime for a major Japanese newspaper. Now a Yakuza boss wants him out of the way. So why is he writing a book about his experiences?
Extending the media leash
29/05/2008
Perth-based academic Wanning Sun on the Chinese media and the unexpected freedom it's been given in covering the Sichuan earthquake disaster.
Survival of media platforms for journalism
08/05/2008
Some of the heavyweights of the Australian media: Campbell Reid, Mark Scott and Max Uechtritz come together with The Guardian's uber-blogger, Roy Greenslade, for a special panel discussion: 'The Survival of Media Platforms for Journalism'.
On the US campaign trail
17/04/2008
Two US journalists on the campaign trail give us their take on the Obama-Clinton stoush and claims of media favouritism. NOTE: due to copyright reasons the clip of Jon Stewart's Daily Show does not appear in the podcast version of this program.
The Centre for Media History
03/04/2008
Sydney's Macquarie University recently opened what they describe as 'Australia's first centre dedicated to conducting and fostering research on the interactions between media and history.'
It's called, aptly enough, The Centre for Media History, and its director is Associate Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley.
The Wire
03/04/2008
The cult TV series The Wire has just re-commenced on Australian TV. The Media Report's Andrew Davies talks with US-based critic David Bianculli about the program and why it has such a dedicated following
Redefining the journalist as a news marketer
27/03/2008
SEO, Search Engine Optimisation, and what it means for the media. It's already quietly changing the way news is presented online and it's redefining the journalist as a marketer.
Mad crocs and Englishmen
20/03/2008
The British media and its hunger for weird aussie animal stories. We're joined by three UK correspondents Downunder.
'On the Record' with Mark Scott
13/03/2008
The ABC's managing director, Mark Scott, is holding his annual leadership conference for senior managers. He has big plans for the organisation's expansion, but how realistic are they given there's no sign the budgetary situation is about to change?
Troubles in the West
28/02/2008
Western Australia's main newspaper and its government are at war -- we examine why.
The Dart Center
21/02/2008
For the past decade the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma has offered an annual Ochberg Fellowship to about 10 media representatives from around the world. The Fellowship offers a week of intense discussion and the opportunity to attend the international conference for traumatic stress studies in the US. The ABC's Lisa Millar was among the latest intake.
Lights! Camera! Open government!
21/02/2008
Just how open are Australian parliaments? We take a look at the restrictions placed on the filming of parliaments around the country.
Journalists and their information
21/02/2008
A closer look at journalists and the information they gather... where they get it... who tries to stop them getting it... and how some can be shaped by what they see and experience. First up an interview with the Guardian's Nick Davies, who has a new book called 'Flat Earth News'.
The voice of Papua
07/02/2008
Journalist and former Media Report presenter Andrew Dodd takes us to Indonesian-controlled Papua. There's no shortage of media outlets on offer, but do ordinary Papuans have a voice?
Scoop
31/01/2008
Scoop is an organisation based in Denmark which provides a support structure for journalists doing work in Eastern and South-eastern Europe.
One of the co-ordinators of Scoop is Copenhagen-based journalist and broadcaster Anne Haubek, who was recently in Australia.
A conversation with Jim Lehrer
10/01/2008
Today, we revisit one of our most popular programs of the past twelve months, a frank and revealing interview with one of the icons of American media, Jim Lehrer from the PBS News Hour.
(This program was first broadcast on 10 May 2007)
Reporting Indigenous issues
03/01/2008
We hear from two journalists who've spent a career covering Indigenous issues. Tony Koch is an award-winning senior reporter for The Australian and Kirstie Parker is the editor of the Koori Mail, arguably Australia's only truly national Indigenous newspaper.
(The interviews in this program were first broadcast on 5 April and 2 August 2007)
