Issue No. 3, July - December 1997
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The Graduate School of Journalism, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
P.Eric Louw and Eric Loo
Contsructing Hansonism: A Study of Pauline Hanson's Persona in Australia Press
This article discerns the extent to which the presence of controversial Australian politican, Pauline Hanson, in the public sphere has been mocked and shaped by the media. Based on a textual analysis of a month's coverage of Hanson in the broadsheet metropolitan dailies, it suggests that the one-dimensionality in which Hanson was reported tells us more about Australian journalists and their practices than about Pauline Hanson herself. Journalists allowed the elements of 'political correctness' to set the parameters of how they dealt with Hanson. It concludes that since journalists are the product of journalism training programs, some self-reflection on the part of journalism educators of their reaction to Hanson is called for.
Shu-Ling C. Berggreen
Locating Chinatown In The Global Village: Cultural Innovation In Taiwan's Multichannel Environment
The availability of media technology in the mid-1980s in Taiwan has forever changed the landscape of its television industry. With the help of cable and satellite technologies, audiences in Taiwan today receive an average of 60 channels, 20 times the number available just a few years ago. Through focus group interviews, this study examines the possible cultural implications of such speedy changes for a society that is in the midst of political, cultural, social and economic transitions. The results indicate that Chinese cultural identity in Taiwan has come to another crossroad and stress the prospect of cultural innovation as a possible outcome in the age of a multichannel environment. The study also advocates further thoughtful consideration over potential media impacts on culture as the world strips itself of distinguishing characteristics on the path toward the global village.
Joyce Y.M. Nip
Shifting Political Power And News Sources: The Case In Hong Kong's Political Transition
Early studies on news sourcesin Hong Kong have shown that news was dominated by government institutions, among which the executive was always the main source. However, recent studies have questioned these findings. This article examines the citation of sources in reports of the progress of a controversial legislative bill in three Chinese-language newspapers. It found that in the final years of Hong Kong's political transition, the legislature was dominant as a news source, not the executive. The finding is explained by source availability and journalistic selection, of which the latter is hypothesized to be influenced by society's aspiration for democracy.
Lilna Beth P. Somera
Logging In: Perceptions Of E-mail Usage By University Students In The Philippines
This study identifies the factors that influence the patterns and perceptions of e-mail usage among students in a Philippine university. The results indicate that the medium appears to be used primarily for social, rather than academic, purposes. The age of e-mail accounts, frequency and length of log-ins were found to be significantly related to students' e-mail use. The analysis of perceptions of media appropriateness for various communication activities indicate some support for the hierarchy suggested by social presence and media richness theories. E-mail was highly ranked for exchanging information and for staying in touch. Novelty, access, and faculty issues related to using e-mail as a tool for discussion and feedback are discussed.
Michael Meadows
Taking A Problem-Based Learning Approach To Journalism Education
Debates over the most appropriate way in which journalism education might be delivered continues unabated in Australian journalism schools. Regular users of the Journalism Education Association's electronic discussion group, JEANET (jeanet@uow.edu.au) will be well aware of the tenor of the debate which has ranged from assertions about the evils of cultural studies &emdash; however it is defined &emdash; to claims as to which array of subjects should be part of every journalism program in Australia. This article describes a problem-based learning approach to journalism education being used over the past two years at Griffith University's Nathan Campus in Brisbane.
Jacqui Ewart
The Scabsuckers: Regional Journalists' Representation Of Indigenous Australians
This article paints a picture of the professional culture of journalists at one regional daily newspaper in Queensland, Australia in relation to their self-described practices in the representation of indigenous Australians. The author suggests that journalists' ideologies and self-described practices tend to conflict. However this conflict tends to be rationalised and justified by the journalists on the basis of the reality of their practices and adherence to conventional news values.
Susan Forde
A Descriptive Look At The Public Role Of Australian Independent Alternative Press
This article presents selected findings of an ongoing study of perceived public role of the alternative press in Australia. Interviews with journalists show an overwhelming perception that they are more inclined to provide context to news already covered in the mainstream press; they motivate readers to take political action or to engage in political discussion; and they provide a forum for minority groups overlooked by the mainstream media. These perceived roles fit neatly within the description of public journalism which represents a general commitment by journalists to foster critical political debate and revive public life.
Stephen Quinn
Learning The 4Rs Of Computer-Assisted Reporting In Australia
Investigative computer-assisted reporting, or deep CAR, has evolved in the United States over the past decade. In that time, the academy and industry have come to recognise it as a valuable tool for journalists. This paper considers the situation in Australia. It used a phone study and an e-mail survey to discover the extent of knowledge about deep CAR in Australia and whether it is being taught in journalism courses.
Shanti Balraj-Ambigapathy
Critical Media Education In Malaysia: A Challenge To Vocational-Orientation
This article examines the pedagogic vacuum in media education in Malaysia where critical inquiry has been made subservient to the acquisition of technical skills. It suggests that vocational oriented communication courses should engage in constructing alternative representations, meaning and values so that what is experienced by the students and the community is a mutual educative process of participatory communication.
Mark Thornton
Passing Reflections Of A Casual Journalism Lecturer
What relevance has journalism to today's graduate student? What will they do with their Master in Journalism? Having never met my class and having only a vague idea of their aspirations and origins, I wanted to make my opening address something that would show them the practical work we would need to get through, yet make it inspiring enough for them actually to want to get out there and cross swords with injustice and stand.
Javed Jabbar
Media In Pakistan
Three Muslim countries that share a strong authoritarian streak in their post-independence history show contrasting attitudes to the medium of radio. Two of them have demonstrated a refreshing liberalism towards popular ownership of the medium whereas one displays an excessively cautious approach. In Indonesia, there are over 700 private radio stations in Indonesia. In Turkey, at last count, there were over 600 private radio stations. In Pakistan, the total number of radio stations is only 25 of which 22 are part of state-owned and government controlled Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Pakistan). The other three are ostensibly separate private FM stations in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad but they are actually owned and controlled by the same single party which was the beneficiary of a secret, non-transparent award during the second government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Datuk Mazlan Nordin
Don't Preach To ASEAN Without Heeding Own Advice
This article is reproduced from a column "Personally Speaking" in New Straits Times (September 5, 1997). It is a commentary by editorial consultant, Mazlan Nordin, on the articles by Australian academics Damien Kingsbury, Philip Bell, and Eric Louw published in APME, Issue No.2, 1997.
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