Tracing The Age's editorial culture from 1966-97: an oral history approach

Abstract

This paper examines oral histories of The Age's editorial culture/identity, conducted with former Age journalists since Graham Perkins editorship. While Australian media research focuses on Murdoch owned newspapers and their editorial positioning, The Age tends to be neglected as a subject for scholarly research. Moreover, as this paper argues, The Age's culture is more nuanced than its mere editorial position. The research is based on a historical approach, consisting of archival research and oral history interviews. It argues that The Age's culture and identity is intrinsic to the ways in which particular editors shape their editorial products. As applied to The Age, editorial culture manifests a fourth estate conception of journalism, an inclusive approach to reporting Melbourne and a commitment to giving The Age a public face. Moreover, this paper illustrates how under successive editors and executives, The Age is perceived to have shifted from an aggressively engaged voice to a much weakened tabloid.