Australian Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Australian Media - Essay Example The media coverage offered a concrete context for a national response to the question whether Australia should become a republic (O'Shaughnessy, pg 185). The contemporary Australian media has diversified into a more intricate operational structure and digressed from its old way of functioning. In the recent epoch, the unrestrained growth of Australian media has made it an important subject of studying if it is performing the dual job of entertaining and educating or has it streamlined its purpose to offering nothing but entertainment Like many other media industries in the world, Australian media industry is also dominated by a group of multi-billion dollar corporations which forces their will and on the various forms of Australian media like, television, radio, internet and newspaper. Television is among the most influential tools of media which forms a quasi-indispensable part of the daily life of an Australian. The cultural mingling and confluence of different external sources have a collective impact on the integrity and reverence of this audio-visual form of media in the country. Ever since mainstream professional television was launched in 1956, the broadcasters had striven to influence the lifestyle of the people. Since television is a part of the media industry, it cannot escape the general trend of this perennially lucrative industry to attract the customer with their uniqueness and fatten their profit margin. In the pursuit of making a name for itself in the media industry, the television channels try to produce shows and programs without considering much about its educative value and the type of message they are conveying. Australia has currently 6 free-to-air networks which include ABC, Seven Network, Nine Network and SBS. Considering the expanse of Australia, each of these channels covers a large region and thus has the potential to influence a bigger audience. From the people's point of view it is expected that every media industry should aim at distributing information that concerns its audience and entertain them with light-hearted shows. Be it the television or any other form of media, it is their onus to maintain the equilibrium in their content so that they do not get inclined on one aspect overlooking the other completely. ABC network has its number of channels operating all over Australia. These main government-owned TV channels seem to understand their social obligation to educate their audience and enrich them culturally. Starting from showing documentaries to critically acclaimed plays, the channels bring before the people the deeper subjects of the world. This widely broadcasted Australian channel has a proper segmentation of shows which are broadly categorized into children's adventure shows, documentaries, and talk shows with the celebrities and political stalwarts. The channels are also consistent in broadcasting religious shows along with the travelogues and wildlife shows. The edifice of success which ABC has built for itself is not based on the foundation of entertaining motive only. Some of the long running programs in Australia like, Mr Squiggle, Play School, Children's media program Behind the News, A Big Country and Music icons Countdown and rage may have the element of entertainment but they also come with an affirmative educative value. The online version of ABC