Past Programs
Media Industry - 2008
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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.
Leading with the trailer
20/11/2008
What makes for a good cinematic trailer? Can a good trailer save a bad film or will it just leave the movie-going audience feeling cheated when they finally get to see the full length production?
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?
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.
Public broadcasting: Its future and responsibilities
23/10/2008
There's a new review of public broadcasting underway in Australia ahead of next year's triennial funding decision for the ABC and SBS. Meantime in the UK, the media regulator Ofcom has been conducting its own review process into public broadcasting. More specifically, how that county's commercial broadcasters can continue to meet their statutory public service broadcasting requirements, in a changing media environment.
'On the Record' with Sandra Levy
16/10/2008
Sandra Levy is the head of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. The AFTRS has just moved house and revamped its approach. We'll speak with her about future directions and opportunities.
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.
The rise and rise of file-sharing
02/10/2008
From Napster & Kazaa through to Bit Torrent - a look at the history and impact of file-sharing software. IT journalist Patrick Gray explains the history and the issues.
Broadcasters or arts organisations?
18/09/2008
The indigenous community broadcasting sector wants to know why the Rudd government has isolated it from other broadcasters when it comes to funding. While all other community broadcasters come under the control of the communications minister, Indigenous broadcasters are being treated as a special case.
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.
The Blogging Revolution
04/09/2008
Journalist and author Antony Loewenstein has just released his new book, The Blogging Revolution, which examines the power of blogging in six different countries -- Iran, Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt.
Scorched
28/08/2008
In the spirit of highlighting edgy and innovative new media initiatives, let's talk about 'Scorched'. What's interesting about it is that it's actually much more than a simple telemovie, it's a hybrid TV/online initiative.
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?
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.
The ABC's new internet TV service
24/07/2008
The ABC has just launched a new internet television service called iView. The service takes the availability of video on the net to new levels in Australia and judged on overseas experience, iView is likely to have mass appeal. We speak with the head of ABC Television Kim Dalton.
Printcasting
10/07/2008
An interesting new US project called 'printcasting' seeks to apply the web 2.0 approach to traditional print media.
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.
Regulating commercial TV
26/06/2008
A new Senate Committee report has made a series of recommendations for changing the complaints procedures for commercial TV and radio.
Professor Lesley Hitchens is a specialist in this area who works at the University of Technology, Sydney. And she says when it comes to complaints and codes of conduct, the largely self-regulatory nature of our commercial broadcasting sector simply doesn't work.
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.
Canadian copyright changes
19/06/2008
Canada's copyright laws are about to change. The Harper Government has introduced a copyright reform bill into the Canadian lower house and it's got the online community stirred up and angry.
The ticking clock
19/06/2008
Last week, management at the community TV station Access 31 went public with the fact they'd filed a solvency declaration and will close at the end of this month unless they get additional funding and support from the Federal government.
For an update on their progress, we hear from Gerry Gannon, Access 31's Vice President.
'On the record' with David Butorac
19/06/2008
'On the record' with David Butorac, the Managing Director of WIN. The corporation owns Australia's fourth largest commercial TV network and it has plans for expansion.
Networking for good
12/06/2008
In this section: Not-for-profit organisations and how they can use IT technology and social media techniques to expand their donor-base and energise and engage their supporters.
Checking Australia's web 2.0 pulse
12/06/2008
Ross Dawson is a media strategist specialising in online applications and innovations. Next week, he'll be involved in the launch of the second annual list of Australia's top 100 web 2.0 applications, held in collaboration with the finance magazine, BRW.
So without giving the results away, how does he assess the overall health of the Australian dotcom community at the moment?
Online collaboration
22/05/2008
New York University's Clay Shirky on the power and peril of online collaboration. He has a new book out called 'Here Comes Everybody'.
'On the Record' with Deborah Thomas
01/05/2008
The third in our 2008 series of 'On the Record' interviews with key figures in the Australian media industry. This time around, Deborah Thomas, the Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Woman's Weekly.
HULU and new trends in program distribution
24/04/2008
US media analyst James McQuivey tells us about the 2008 National Association of Broadcasters convention and about new online services for program distribution, including the recently launched HULU...
The battle for WAN
24/04/2008
The owner of the Seven Network, Kerry Stokes, has failed in his bid for a seat on the board of West Australian Newspapers—at least for the time being. Finance journalist Stephen Mayne gives us his interpretation of what went wrong for Mr Stokes and what it all means for WAN...
The (non)Communication Minister
17/04/2008
Some in the Australian media are wondering why the communications minister, Stephen Conroy, appears so short on detail and reticent to do interviews.
Recently, The Australian's Mark Day accused the minister of a con job over the release of a digital TV conversion package that looks remarkably like the previous government's effort, except with a new set of clothes.
The minister declined our invitation for an interview (repeatedly). In his place here's Mark Day and Crikey's media writer, Margaret Simons.
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 search engine shuffle
27/03/2008
Google last week announced it's beefing up its presence in Australia with a new headquarters, and it's seeking to grow in a whole range of areas. Meanwhile, in another online universe, Microsoft appears to be still actively stalking the second-tier search engine company Yahoo. What's it all about? Here's communication strategy consultant Ross Dawson.
The State of the Media 2008
20/03/2008
The Project for Excellence in Journalism's 2008 'State of the News Media' report.
'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?
Does digital radio have a future?
06/03/2008
Rolling out digital radio. Just why are Australian radio networks so keen on the introduction of digital radio when the main commercial operator in the UK has been busy scaling back?
'On the Record' with Graeme Samuel
14/02/2008
In the first of our 'On the Record' series of interviews for 2008 we speak to Graeme Samuel, Chairman of the ACCC - the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The Murdoch-Packer deal
14/02/2008
Media and business writer Glenn Dyer updates us on the proposed $3.3 billion media deal between Lachlan Murdoch and James Packer.
Three perspectives on China and the media
24/01/2008
We hear from three academics who've been closely studying areas of the Chinese media. All three of our China watchers were speakers at a 2007 China/East Asia Media Conference organised by the Queensland University of Technology.
(This program was first broadcast on 12 July 2007)
The changing face of advertising
17/01/2008
A look at the way in which the Australian advertising industry is adapting to the challenges of the modern age of communication.
(This program was first broadcast on 11 October 2007)
