Australian Journalism Review - Current Issue

This article examines how Malaysian journalists discursively construct identities for older people through the manipulation of language, reporting styles and the prioritization of certain news actors and their voices over others. Based on a critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles published between 2011 and 2021, this study reveals the social, cultural, journalistic and economic forces that affect how the media construct ‘older’ people. We demonstrate that newspapers in Malaysia construct identities through familial discourses, which indicates that the dependence of older people on family plays a significant role in the way they are perceived and constructed by the media. Journalists construct and propagate narratives that place the responsibility for caring for elderly Malaysians on family members. These narratives appear to absolve the government of responsibility for this role.

Sport remains a key component of the Australian newspaper industry despite the decline of print in a digital-dominated environment. The production of sports stories consumes significant staffing time and organizational resources, and it is therefore important to examine how newsrooms have altered their approaches to publishing over the past decade. This longitudinal study focusing on three Australian newspapers is part of the global International Sports Press Survey, which was first undertaken in 2011, and replicated in 2021. The Australian, the Herald Sun and The West Australian formed the sample of 1274 articles in 2011, and 1121 in 2021. The results highlight shifts in newspaper content, with many of the changes guided by organizational and social-institutional level gatekeeping influences. The findings provide further evidence of widespread changes to the industry, which include more homogenous content and a decline in total story numbers, depth, diversity and quality.

Graduates’ failure to pause, reflect and draw on their learning to predict the legal consequences of their publishing can result in fines, damages and even jail terms. This article reports upon a survey of more than one hundred media law students in courses at an Australian university over two years where mindfulness-based cognitive reflections were used as a teaching tool. The author and colleague developed a conceptual map to explain the potentialities of mindfulness-based meditation in journalism education. In this action research project, mindfulness-based reflections were offered regularly during a media law course, with a strong emphasis upon emotional and situational analysis of media law dilemmas, as a complement to a traditional style of teaching media law cases, legislation and topics. Basic mindfulness meditation practices can equip students with a toolkit of techniques for inward reflection which they can use to assess their thought processes, emotional states, workplace situations, legal dilemmas, ethics and learning. The approach is in accord with the research on metacognition in psychology and education. The study reports a variety of student responses to the mindfulness reflection experience, ranging from some who objected to its use or who reported it to be of no value to their media law studies through to others who found it invaluable for their learning and lives. Students responded to a series of both Likert and open-ended questions covering their previous meditation exposure, frequency of participation, perceived benefits and shortcomings, extent of assisting learning and suggestions for improvements in the technique.

An increased focus on audience engagement in newsrooms means that journalists are expected to have an understanding of appropriate contemporary reporting practices, more so by marginalized communities. Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a widespread pedagogical approach within journalism education. This article discusses the development of ‘Purpose WIL’: a service learning approach to WIL in journalism education that encourages student journalists to engage with social issues in an ethical, responsible way while still gaining the practical experience necessary for employment. An Australian case study of Purpose WIL, ‘Project Open Doors’ focused on addressing the ways people with disability are represented and treated by the media. Students worked closely with people with lived experience, community and industry partners to produce a significant body of appropriate reporting and ethical journalism about issues important to people with disability, as well as providing a community and media resource. All stakeholders reported positive outcomes, with students appreciating the opportunity to learn more about community engagement and how to work with vulnerable groups and industry partners benefitting from collaboration with the university and the resources produced. Purpose WIL represents a scalable, replicable model of journalism education that teaches students are able to engage responsibly with all members of their audiences.

Australian journalists suffer time poverty in under-resourced workplaces, with most indicating that they skip reporting practices to save time. This article argues that convergence of factors including the industry’s biggest workforce cut in history, global technological changes, economic losses during the 2012–20 period and unforeseen COVID-19 workforce stressors have caused chronic journalist time stresses, which in turn often undermine ethical practice. Study of 288 surveys and interviews of Australian journalists contributes a small body of valuable research on the commonality of time poverty experienced by professional journalists, and the tactics used by sufferers when there is not enough time to do all ideal work-time tasks. Analysis of collected qualitative data informs critical discussion of how time poverty can undermine journalism method. In conclusion, this article finds an overworked, underpaid and insufficiently resourced labour force remains an under-recognized legacy of journalism’s mass job-cuts era.

Review of: International Broadcasting and its Contested Role in Australian Statecraft: Middle Power, Smart Power, Geoff Heriot (2023)

London and New York: Anthem Press, 292 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-83998-504-1, h/bk, AUD 125.00

ISBN 978-1-83998-506-5, e-book, GBP 25.00

Review of: Entertainment, Journalism, and Advocacy: Competing Motivations in the True Crime Podcast Ecosystem, Lindsey A. Sherrill (2023)

Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Lexington Books, 230 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-66690-601-1, h/bk, USD 100.00

ISBN 978-1-66690-602-8, e-book, USD 45.00

Review of: Seeking Truth in International TV News: China, CGTN and the BBC, Vivien Marsh (2023)

Abingdon: Routledge, 232 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-36755-852-9, h/bk, USD 226.80

ISBN 978-1-00309-543-9, e-book, USD 63.90

Review of: American Deadline: Reporting from Four News-Starved Towns in the Trump Era, Greg Glassner, Charles Richardson, Sandra Sanchez and Jason Togyer (2023)

New York: Columbia University Press, 320 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-23120-841-3, p/bk, USD 30.00

ISBN 978-0-23120-840-6, h/bk, USD 120.00

ISBN 978-0-23155-741-2, e-book, USD 29.99

Review of: Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia’s Newspaper Empires, Sally Young (2023)

Sydney: UNSW Press, 576 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-74223-570-7, p/bk, AUD 49.99

ISBN 978-1-74223-875-3, e-book, AUD 17.99

Review of: Who Needs the ABC? Why Taking It for Granted Is No Longer an Option (2022), Matthew Ricketson and Patrick Mullins

Brunswick: Scribe Books, 256 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-92231-092-7, p/bk, AUD 29.99

ISBN 978-1-92258-649-0, e-book, AUD 16.43

Review of: The Ten Rules of Reporting, Alan Sunderland (2022)

Cammeray: Simon & Schuster Australia, 160 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-76110-823-5, p/bk, AUD 24.99

ISBN 978-1-76110-824-2, e-book, AUD 14.99