Keystone media:The Australianand Indigenous affairs

Abstract

This article conceptualises The Australian as the nation’s ‘keystone media’ on Indigenous affairs. Nielsen’s term ‘keystone media’ captures the critical importance of particular news outlets that play what he terms an outsize role in defining the state and structure of wider media and political environments. The article analyses the factors at play in The Australian’s sponsorship of a particular political agenda for this complex field of social policy. The argument is illustrated through an examination of Indigenous health coverage from 1988 to 2008, textual analysis of 137 columns written by Noel Pearson, and research interviews with key actors in the Indigenous policy realm, including journalists, public servants and Indigenous commentators. Through this examination of its reporting and collaboration with Pearson, we contend The Australian has advanced a range of neoliberal and interventionist policies to government and the public.