Australian News Research Articles

The politics of animal rights activism: A frame analysis of the 2019 national direct action

This article analyses news coverage of the 2019 animal rights direct action in Australia. A combination of frame and discourse analysis was applied to 39 news texts published between 1 April 2019 and 25 July 2019 across three news outlets – the ABC, Hobart’s Mercury and The Australian. Our analysis paid particular attention to the inclusion of sources, and we found that elite sources dominated the news coverage, resulting in a replication of the very power imbalance that the activists were struggling against. We also found that language choices resulted in the construction of the direct action as threatening, harmful and ‘un-Australian’. Our study shows that Australian news coverage of animal rights activism often marginalizes activist viewpoints, promoting a sense of division rather than diversity. While it is relatively easy for animal rights activists in Australia to gain mainstream news attention, these activists face powerful ideological barriers when attempting to raise awareness of their cause because the news media tends to obscure rather than open the pathway to a constructive public discussion on the issue of animal welfare.

The Islamophobia Index: Exploring the Challenges in Establishing Reliability for a Content Analysis Instrument Evaluating Islamophobia in Media Texts

In a wide variety of studies over the past two decades, the media has consistently been identified as a significant social institution implicated in normalizing and disseminating anti-Muslim prejudice. Identifying and combating Islamophobic discourses has been a challenging proposition, however, due to difficulties in systematically identifying and evaluating “Islamophobia” within texts. Islamophobia is a complex and contested phenomenon that defies easy classification within the boundaries of terminology which would normally be employed to describe hostility or prejudice based on, for example, race or religion. This article outlines some of the challenges involved in defining and categorizing Islamophobic discourses through an exploration of the process of constructing, evaluating, and applying a unique content analysis instrument, the “Islamophobia Index,” to media texts, using data sets drawn from the Australian news media. We critically reflect upon the methodological limitations of systematic quantitative studies, the importance of qualitative and interpretive approaches that take into account researcher subjectivities, and ultimately reposition and repurpose this project as a mixed-method study. In conclusion, potential applications for the Index, including non-media textual analysis, are considered.

Framing of nutrition policy issues in the Australian news media, 2008‐2018

ObjectiveMedia framing of nutrition policy issues has been said to play a critical role in influencing public and political support for these issues. We examined the coverage of nutrition policy issues in the Australian news media to determine the key frames and expert sources used by the media. MethodsNews articles published in Australia between 2008 and 2018 were retrieved from key media databases. Content analysis was used to identify nutrition policy issues reported and expert sources used. Frames were identified using a theoretical framework. ResultsSeven nutrition policy categories were identified. Expert sources included representatives from public health, food industry and politicians. Six dominant frames were identified: government responsibility, industry responsibility, societal frame, individual responsibility, parental responsibility and nanny state frame. Nutrition experts tended to use thematic frames while government and food industry sources used episodic frames to deflect responsibility onto individuals. ConclusionsDespite high media representation of thematic frames and government responsibility in addressing nutrition policy issues, limited regulatory policy action has occurred in Australia. Implications for public healthFurther research is needed to better understand different frames and their effectiveness in influencing public and political opinion. Greater coherence amongst health advocates would be beneficial to ensure a collective, recognised voice on issues.

Old Media, New Gigs: The Discursive Construction of the Gig Economy in Australian News Media

This article analyses the representation of the gig economy in three Australian newspapers from 2014 to 2019. ‘Gig work’ is defined as short term, contract or freelance employment and is seen by many social institutions as the future of work. Drawing on a corpus of 426 articles, Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory is used to examine the construction of the ‘gig economy’ in the cultural imaginary. Five key elements emerge, including: demographics of workers; working conditions; workers’ rights; resistance and regulation; and change and disruption. Despite multiple competing discourses evident across the newspapers, each constructs the gig economy as an inexorable phase in the evolution of the relationship between capital and the worker. The article critically analyses the construction of the discourse, including the difficulties of regulating gig economy platforms and the narrative of inevitability used to describe changes to work and life brought about by technology.

Careful attunements: the choreographing of care and affective witnessing through media practices during, and after, crisis

This paper takes a design anthropology approach to understanding the learnings, challenges and opportunities Victorians adopted to choreograph practices of care in and through media practice during and after the Australian 2019–2020 bushfire crisis. In doing so, we frame our inquiry from a perspective of how individuals and communities care through media practice. The study weaves together experiences around informal and formal crisis communication media – such as the government’s VicEmergency App, Australian and international news media and social media sharing – to map what we call the careful attunements of choreographing care.

AUSTRALIA’S BIG GAMBLE: THE NEWS MEDIA BARGAINING CODE AND THE RESPONSES FROM GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK

Responding rapidly to extraordinary developments in early 2021, this panel examines the background, development, implementation, and consequences of the latest Australian regulatory intervention in the engagement between content platforms and domestic media organisations: the News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC). The Australian federal government envisioned the NMBC as “a mandatory code of conduct to address bargaining power imbalances between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms, specifically Google and Facebook”; following a period of consultation that saw substantial public relations campaigning from Google, Facebook, and other content platforms to question the aims and effectiveness of the proposed code, the NMBC bill was sent to federal Parliament in December 2020. Google and Facebook both threatened to remove their services from Australia, or remove Australian news content from their platforms, if the NMBC passed in its original form. Such threats were regarded by some of the NMBC’s proponents as blatant attempts at “bullying” the Australian government to water down the Code, and in pushing ahead with the debate of the NMBC bill in the Australian Parliament the government essentially sought to call the platforms’ bluff – yet in the morning of 18 February 2021, Facebook followed through on its threats and both removed all content from the Facebook pages of Australian news outlets (and from those of other actors mistakenly classified as providing news), and banned any domestic or international users from publishing or accessing any posts that contained links to Australian news sites. The ban remained in force until 26 February, when urgent negotiations between Facebook and the Australian federal government produced a preliminary solution to the crisis. The Code finally became law on 2 March 2021. This panel reviews these turbulent developments. In combination, the four papers on this panel present a comprehensive and multifaceted picture of the News Media Bargaining Code, its context, and implications.

Constructive Messages in Australian Domestic Violence Online News Coverage and Guidelines for Improved Coverage

ABSTRACT This article focusses on the Australian online news’ effectiveness to set the agenda for disseminating constructive messages. It explores obstacles reporters and editors encounter when covering a sensitive issue like domestic violence for the online news platform. By drawing on information from 2324 domestic violence articles in three most-accessed Australian online news sites, and interviews with 12 reporters and editors, this article details how these challenges are best overcome. Content analysis and interview results indicate reporters and editors have made efforts to increase constructive coverage, which continues to remain episodic and lacks meaningful context that helps tackle social factors leading to the abuse. Because much of the domestic violence reporting focusses on murders, reporters and editors are restricted by legal guidelines as to how much context and detail they can provide. Through eight specific guidelines, this study provides insights into how the obstacles can be overcome to improve the coverage. It suggests future research areas which could investigate how a more constructive reportage cognisant of victims’ suffering could be achieved.

Key stakeholders’ recommendations for improving Australian news media reporting of people with severe mental illness, violence and crime

ABSTRACT Objective Media portrayals of severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, psychosis and bipolar disorders, are often negative or prominently linked to violence or crime and consequently have a negative influence on public attitudes and behaviours. This study aimed to determine key stakeholders’ recommendations for improving news reporting of severe mental illness in the context of violence and crime. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Australian key stakeholders including people with lived experience of severe mental illness (n = 12), news media professionals (n = 12) and mental health professionals (n = 8) with expertise in media reporting of mental illness. Data were analysed thematically. Results Recommendations for improving news reports of violence and crime were consistent with existing guidance for reporting on mental illness more generally. This covered inclusion of positive stories of the lived experience of severe mental illness, avoiding undue prominence of severe mental illness, and discussing underlying broader social issues. The importance of improving media professionals’ understanding of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, psychosis and bipolar disorder was emphasised. Additional supports and resources were acknowledged as being necessary to facilitate change to media portrayals. Incentives for improving media portrayals barriers and enablers were also discussed. Discussion These findings indicate that it would be useful and feasible to implement guidelines for media reporting on severe mental illness that provide specific and detailed guidance for reporting on violence and crime. Feedback from participants has already informed the development of these guidelines, and the findings of this study will inform their implementation to help ensure widespread dissemination and uptake.

“Hapless Victims” or “Making Trouble”: Audience Responses to Stereotypical Representations of Asylum Seekers in Australian News Discourse

ABSTRACT Despite its long history of resettling refugees, Australia's acceptance of asylum seekers continues to attract considerable debate and division. This is exacerbated by news coverage that constructs people seeking asylum along a “threat” versus “victim” binary. As most Australians lack direct experience with people from asylum seeking backgrounds, media discourse plays a pivotal role in societal understandings of the issue. This paper discusses research combining Critical Discourse Analysis with a cultural studies Audience Reception epistemology to examine how 24 Western Australians respond to news representations of asylum seekers. Participants drew upon their own perspectives when discussing Australian coverage, highlighting the importance of accounting for audiences' ideological positioning when examining their perspectives on news discourse. While some accepted dominant constructions of asylum seekers as a “threat” and argued that the “victim” narrative is emotionally manipulative, others rejected both tropes, positing that the former legitimises asylum seekers' exclusion while the latter portrays them as deficient and agentless. These findings are discussed with consideration of their implications - in both a practice and scholarly context—demonstrating the value of applying critical discourse methods in audience reception research.

Going Dark

Going Dark

Darkness, Datafication, and Provenance as an Illuminating Methodology

Darkness, Datafication, and Provenance as an Illuminating Methodology

The Institutional Impacts of Algorithmic Distribution: Facebook and the Australian News Media

Since changing its algorithm in January 2018 to boost the content of family and friends over other content (including news), Facebook has signaled that it is less interested in news. However, the field is still trying to understand the long-term impacts of this change for news publishers. This is a problem because policymakers and legislators across the world are becoming concerned about the relationship between platforms and publishers. In particular, there are worries that platforms’ ability to make unilateral decisions about how their algorithms operate may harm the economic sustainability of journalism. This article provides some clarity around the relationship between these two parties through a longitudinal study of the Australian news media sector’s relationship with Facebook from 2014 to 2020, with a particular focus on the January 2018 algorithm change. We do this by analyzing Facebook data (2,082,804 posts from CrowdTangle) and external traffic data from 32 major Australian news outlets. These data are contextualized by additional desk research. We identify a range of trends including the decline of news sharing, the collapse in the performance of “social news,” the variable position of social media as a source of referral traffic, and, most critically, the diffused nature of the 2018 algorithm change. Our approach cannot make direct causal inferences. We can only identify trends in on-platform performance and referral traffic, which we then contextualize with industry reportage. However, the data provide vital longitudinal insights into the performance and responses of individual media outlets, news categories, and the Australian media sector as a whole during a critical moment of algorithmic change.

The Impact of COVID-19: A Comparative Study of the Melbourne and Sydney Jewish Communities.

Compared to other parts of the Jewish world, Australia has handled the COVID-19 situation well, going into full lockdown early, with fewer deaths on a population basis. At the same time, there were significant differences in terms of the impact of the second wave of the pandemic in Melbourne and Sydney. This qualitative study examines how these two major Jewish centers, where 84% of the Jews in Australia reside, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It will discuss the policies that were put in place to assist those in need, with a range of different activities, including Jewish schools, going on-line, leading to many more opportunities to access news and participate in learning sessions. This study will highlight the similarities and differences between the two centers in terms of their organizational structures, which developed out of different historical migration patterns, and how these impacted on the current responses to the pandemic. The Sydney Jewish community has a centralized system of fundraising, planning and management in contrast to Melbourne, where the challenging situation created the need for better coordination. This was spearheaded by Jewish Care Victoria, which subsequently argued for a more permanent system of coordinated fundraising, planning and management for Melbourne Jewry. This article, which examines these developments, is based on oral interviews, written communications, community and media commentary, as well as historical material. As the Melbourne-based editor of The Australian Jewish News, Zeddy Lawrence, commented, “the community did not decline but thrived,” indicating its “resourcefulness,” but it remains to be seen if this has any long-term impact on the community structure of Melbourne Jewry.

Enigma of the Dark: Reflections while Researching Journalism and the Claremont Serial Killings

After almost 25 years of mass media coverage on the Claremont Serial Killings, Perth audiences were informed in December 2020 that Bradley Robert Edwards would serve two life sentences for murdering two of the young women. This article draws on interviews with journalists to discuss media practices in the case that shocked Perth while shaping audience understandings of women as victims. The article describes how the term ‘serial killer’ came into use to bolster the importance of Western Australian news; how the status and resources of victim’s family influenced media coverage and, consequently, the police investigation; and, how the position of a journalist as an unbiased observer became untenable in the case.

Expanding Boundaries in Indigenous News: Guardian Australia, 2018–2020

ABSTRACT Guardian Australia has made a strong commitment to covering Indigenous affairs, offering an alternative approach to other mainstream Australian news media since its establishment in 2013. In this article, the concepts of boundary work and boundary-drawing power provide a framework for analysing how Guardian Australia negotiates, extends, and concedes its professional journalistic ground in ways that support more diversity in news-making in the space of Indigenous affairs. In doing so, the article looks beyond Guardian Australia’s award-winning journalism to its “everyday” coverage of Indigenous affairs. Through a content analysis of 1048 items published between March 2018 and February 2020, it identifies and discusses who contributes or produces the content, the types of content and the range of stories that are covered, and how Guardian Australia itself categorises these stories. Our analysis finds that Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs coverage presents more sustained and diverse reporting than previous studies of legacy media have found, and its content expands journalistic boundaries by embracing the affordances of digital networked media and the contributions of diverse First Nations writers.

The Australian News Media Bargaining Code: lessons for the UK, EU and beyond

ABSTRACT In February 2021, following sustained brinkmanship from Google and Facebook, Australia passed into law its world-first 'News Media Bargaining Code' (Code), which seeks to address the bargaining imbalance between digital platforms and news media. Already, some have judged the Code to be a success, with other countries now considering implementing similar policy responses. In this analysis article, we highlight that while the Code is a largely welcome initiative, other jurisdictions need to be mindful of its weaknesses and the difficulties they are likely to encounter when attempting to secure passage of analogous legislation.

'Flawed', 'Cruel' and 'Irresponsible': The Framing of Automated Decision-Making Technologies in the Australian Press

This discussion paper outlines the findings of a qualitative news framing analysis of automated decision-making (ADM) technologies in the mainstream Australian press between 1997 and 2021. All articles including a reference to ADM in these media were identified using the Factiva news monitoring database. These articles, 40 in total, were then analysed for the ways ADM was framed, including paying attention to the headline, the broad and specific topics featured in each article, the news sources, whose interests received attention and the overall tenor of each article. For comparison purposes, I also conducted separate searches for each of the terms ‘artificial intelligence’, ‘algorithm/s, algorithmic’, robot/s/robotic’ and ‘face/facial recognition’. This analysis found a very low level of Australian news outlet reporting using the term ‘automated decision-making’. In some of the news stories, ADM was only briefly mentioned as part of broader discussions about software and big data. By contrast, other related digital technologies have been far more highly reported. The analysis also revealed that two news outlets (The Australian Financial Review and The Australian) and topics have dominated the very small corpus of Australian print news reporting specifically referring to ADM and that therefore, the vast majority of Australian news consumers would not have been exposed to such reports. The broad topics of services were most prevalent in the news reports. For the most part, rather than speculations about the futures of ADM employing techno-utopian or dystopian imaginaries, mundane services offered in the banking, financial, business or legal sectors offered by actually existing or near-future ADM received most attention. These ADM technologies were sometimes promoted positively in terms of benefits such as efficiencies and cost savings they could offer. However, they were far more frequently framed negatively in terms of actual or potential failures, mistakes, scandals or personal data privacy and security harms. Overall, ADM was positioned as untrustworthy and inferior to human decision-making, requiring close oversight by humans to ensure that Australians would not be disadvantaged or exploited by its irresponsible or thoughtless deployment by government or industry.

Mapping national news reports on COVID-19 in Australia: Topics, sources, and imagined audiences

News media across the world have played an important role in contributing to public discourse about the COVID-19 pandemic, including the actions being taken by governments to prevent and contain its spread and the role of citizens in the public health response. In this chapter, we analyse news reporting on the pandemic in The Australian newspaper and ABC News Online in Australia between February and August 2020. Our constructed week sampling approach examined news reports across 24 days with particular attention to the topics and sources included in the coverage and the ways in which audiences were addressed in the stories. Conceptually, we take as our starting point Briggs and Hallin’s framework of ‘biomediatisation’ and three predominant models of ‘biocommunicability’ that they identify in health news: biomedical authority, patient-consumer and public sphere. These models variously position social actors in active or passive roles in relation to the flow of health information. Our analysis explores the presence of these models in news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether or not adaptations or new models are better suited to capture some of the particular characteristics of this profoundly mediatised pandemic.

Australian news media reporting of methamphetamine: an analysis of print media 2014–2016

ObjectivesTo examine the representation and framing in Australian print media of methamphetamine and methamphetamine users from 2014 to 2016 when media attention was heightened around the National Ice Taskforce, including the implications of the coverage and framing in limiting public health responses to the problem. MethodsA quantitative media content analysis examined media portrayals of methamphetamine, including crystalline methamphetamine (also referred to by other names including ‘crystal’ or ‘ice’), in 1,364 Australian print media articles published 2014–2016. ResultsThe largest number of articles about methamphetamine were published in 2015 with a higher proportion of these articles framed as a crisis than in other years. A crisis framing predominated media reporting across all years, with crime and legal consequences a key focus. Users were positioned predominantly as criminals, deviants or addicts. ConclusionsThe coverage of methamphetamine in the Australian print media mostly serves to construct methamphetamine use as an urgent social problem, often framed from a legal perspective and associated with violent, dangerous, deviant and aggressive users. Implications for public healthSuch reporting and stigmatisation of methamphetamine use can undermine public health policy responses and strategies, including early intervention and treatment and focused efforts directed at those most at risk of harm.

Competition and Consumer Watchdog Spurs Australian Privacy Changes

Competition and consumer laws are becoming a major element of data privacy protection in Australia, particularly in relation to digital platforms, often in advance of similar developments in other parts of the world. The country’s competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has been at the centre of these developments for the last three years. This article discusses four related developments: (i) The ACCC is suing Google for misleading conduct in respect of its location data practices, alleging that certain Google account settings made the misleading representation that users had opted out of location data retention. (ii) The ACCC is also suing Google for misleading conduct in respect of its communications to consumers about its aggregation of personal information from its various services (Google search engine, YouTube etc) with data collected via third-party websites, for commercial purposes including advertising. (iii) The ACCC has raised preliminary concerns about Google’s acquisition of Fitbit, because of the potential anticompetitive effects of merging personal information collected by the two businesses. (iv) The Australian government is proposing to enact a raft of reforms to Australia’s out-of-date privacy laws (an Issues Paper has been released), and to consider further reforms, resulting from ACCC recommendations in 2019, reforms which will give the ACCC an ongoing role in regulating privacy and digital platforms. The ACCC is also the key player in another challenge to the predominance of Google and Facebook in the Australian digital landscape, because it is implementing a government-supported mandatory code which will require the platforms to pay for displaying Australian commercial news content on their platforms. (Legislation is now before the Australian Parliament.) What is the potential cumulative effect of these developments on surveillance capitalism in Australia?