At a time when the traditional media have been reshaped by digital technologies and audiences have fragmented, people are using mediated forms of communication to manage all aspects of their daily lives as well as for news and entertainment. The Media and Communications in Australia offers a systematic introduction to this dynamic field. Fully updated and expanded, this fifth edition outlines the key media industries – from print, sound and television to film, gaming and public relations – and explains how communications technologies have changed the ways in which they now operate. It offers an overview of the key approaches to the field, including a consideration of Indigenous communication, and features a ‘hot topics’ section with contributions on issues including diversity, misinformation, algorithms, COVID-19, web series and national security. With chapters from Australia’s leading researchers and teachers in the field, The Media and Communications in Australia remains the most comprehensive and reliable introduction to media and communications from an Australian perspective. It is an ideal student text and a key resource for teachers, lecturers, media practitioners and anyone interested in understanding these influential industries.

Traditional media are under assault from digital technologies. Online advertising is eroding the financial basis of newspapers and television, demarcations between different forms of media are fading, and audiences are fragmenting. We can podcast our favourite radio show, data accompanies television programs, and we catch up with newspaper stories on our laptops. Yet mainstream media remain enormously powerful. The Media and Communications in Australia offers a systematic introduction to this dynamic field. Fully updated and revised to take account of recent developments, this third edition outlines the key media industries and explains how communications technologies are impacting on them. It provides a thorough overview of the main approaches taken in studying the media, and includes new chapters on social media, gaming, telecommunications, sport and cultural diversity. With contributions from some of Australia's best researchers and teachers in the field, The Media and Communications in Australia is the most comprehensive and reliable introduction to media and communications available. It is an ideal student text, and a reference for teachers of media and anyone interested in this influential industry.

In Australia, as in many comparable democracies, the role of the media in the political process is high on the public agenda. There is a perception of widespread disillusionment with and disengagement from politics amongst voters, and criticism of the media for failing to fulfil their democratic responsibilities adequately. This book evaluates public perceptions of the performance of the political media in the context of the declared aims and objectives of media producers. From there the authors present findings for improving the capacity of political media to engage and inform their audiences in ways which enhance the quality and popular legitimacy of the democratic process. These conclusions are of import not only to Australians, but to observers of mediated politics in the UK, the US and other countries where similar debates around the ‘crisis of public communication’ are on-going.

This book sheds light on how the public engage with, make sense of, and discursively evaluate news media constructions of people from asylum seeking backgrounds. As a case study, the author discusses her recent research combining Critical Discourse Analysis with a cultural studies Audience Reception framework to examine the perspectives of 24 Western Australians who took part in semi-structured interviews. During their interviews, participants were asked open-ended questions about: their general views on people seeking asylum, including Australia’s policy responses, their media engagement habits and preferences, and their views concerning how the Australian media represents people seeking asylum. The author compares and contrasts this research with broader interdisciplinary discussion, and the book will therefore appeal to students and scholars of migration, political communication, sociology, audience reception, critical media studies and sociolinguistics.

A diverse range of experts provide a comprehensive introduction to current theories, debates and research in Australian political science.

This book examines the influence of the mobile media technology in the lives of young people in East and North Asia, South East Asia and Australia, addressing important questions of social identity, well-being, participation and exclusion.

This book examines journalism’s ability to promote and foster cohesive and collective action while critically examining its place in the intensifying battle to maintain a society’s social order. From chapters discussing the challenges journalists face in covering populism and Donald Trump, to chapters about issues of race in the news, intersections of journalism and nationalism, and increased mobilities of audiences and communicators in a digital age, Reimagining Journalism and Social Order in a Fragmented Media World focuses on the pitfalls and promises of journalism in moments of social contestation. Rich with perspectives from across the globe, this book connects journalism studies to critical scholarship on social order and social control, nationalism, social media, geography, and the function of news as a social sphere. In a fragmented media world and in times of social contestation, Reimagining Journalism and Social Order in a Fragmented Media World provides readers with insights as to how journalism operates in order to highlight—and enhance—elements and actions that bring about order. This book was originally published as a special issue of Journalism Studies and a special issue of Journalism Practice.

Combining theoretical and practical information, this book presents a holistic overview of refugee settlement in Australia. It focuses on numerous critical aspects of refugee settlement which play a vital role in refugee integration into Australia. Starting with an overview of immigration history in Australia, the book then places an emphasis on 21st-century settlement of refugees. The chapters explore a gamut of topics including how culture is transmitted in refugee families, how media portrays refugees, and how to work with refugee communities in various contexts, without focusing on one specific refugee cohort/country group. This interdisciplinary angle is presented via the inclusion of voices from interviews with key refugee settlement providers, educators, former refugees, researchers, and second-generation youth from refugee backgrounds. It covers current Australia political debate and politicisation of refugees, digital technologies, the role of language in enabling successful settlement, education trajectories, social cohesion, the fractured diasporic family, and the impact of media coverage, which underpin the settlement of refugees in Australia. This is an ideal resource for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars of refugee settlement in the disciplines of communication, media, politics and international relations, social work, education, and demographic studies, as well as government entities, policy makers, service providers, and NGOs looking to gain an understanding of the factors impacting refugee settlement in Australia.

Digital media are a key part of everyday social life for international migrants. However, we don’t know enough about how these migrants critically understand and cope with the cultures and infrastructures of ubiquitous connectivity while on the move. Social Media in the Lives of Young Connected Migrants explores and theorises what it means for young migrants to live in a digital age. Presenting a richly detailed analysis of Chinese international students’ everyday social media practices, the book unravels the meanings of digital connectivity in general and how contemporary mobile young generations respond to such changes. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data, this book highlights the enabling aspects of connective media in migration journeys and shows how and why young Chinese migrants manage or even resist being connected. With close attention to diasporic, intercultural, family, and professional migrant identities and relationships, the author provides a nuanced account of living with digital media in everyday settings. Focusing on the boundary practices associated with social media, the book offers a unique analytical framework through which to capture the complex intersections of digital communication technologies and migrant social life. This volume will appeal to students and scholars interested in researching Chinese diasporas, digital migration, and youth cultures.