Sometimes I miss the United States! The ways that our country is different and similar to Australia can be fascinating but hard to fully understand. Where this is most jarring to me is what I know most about-- Journalism. Back home in Chapel Hill, I am a journalism major. One of my favorite spots on campus is in Carroll Hall, where the library for Charles Kuralt is-- it's very inspiring how he was able to illuminate so many on the flight of our nations least fortunate.
Here in Australia, Journalism functions through the same mediums as the US, but operates under very different guiding principles. Of course there are the standard ways people get their information: newspapers, nightly TV, the internet. I hear the first newspaper in Australia, the Sydney Gazette, got lots of news by putting out a "slip box," where regular people could suggest stories by walking by or mailing them in. Australia is so huge, though, and people are so spread across it that news might be months late when printed. This was especially true of the news ships brought with them across the ocean! Imagine finding out who the new Queen of England was so long after happened! Of course, back then markets and families were much more local and so there was a less pressing need to know anything about the far-off world.
99% of Australians have at least one TV-- the American stereotype of isolated cowboys in the Outback is far from correct! The Australian Government owns the two largest media providers, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Special Broadcasting Service. Sometimes I have to remind myself that ABC nightly news isn't the impartial show I might see at home!
Australia's journalism establishment has the same basic infrastructure as America's (and has been equally slow in responding to the technological change that challenges them), but with different laws at the base and therefore very different content. One of the core tenants of American journalism is the First Amendment, which guarantees the freedom of the press to report with relative ease. Australia's Constitution, however, does not have any such guarantees as found in our Bill of Rights. Of course, in most instances this is not a problem: you can report on the local sports without constitutional protection. It makes speaking truth to power much more difficult, which is arguably one of the most important responsibilities of journalism in the modern world.
Australia ranks somewhat amongst developed countries in measures of journalistic freedom because of this lack of protection. Australian journalism has had a huge setback recently in the form of anti-terrorism laws passed in the new millenium, which
include local variations on the US PATRIOT act, and sedition laws suppression orders. Freedom of Information requests (similar to the Freedom of Information Act in the US) allows independent journalists, e.g. bloggers, to access information and report it with less of an agenda and less fear of government editorial restriction.
This all said, there are tons of opportunities for journalists here. Ads like this one play ALL THE TIME on TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PawFTKESzQ4
It is exciting to know that since I love it here so much I could stay and continue my education or return here and get a job. At least 20 Universities here offer Journalism or Communication degrees comparable to what I will graduate with, and the work force essentially requires you to have a degree to get a job in this field, which I think is great because it assures a strong and vibrant future for the field and therefore an informed public.
There are two big daily newspapers I could work for: the Australian and the Australian Financial Review. The former is a bit more prestigious, but both are very reputable and fairly conservative, comparable to our Wall Street Journal. These are both national papers, and there are tons of papers that are specific to each city and province, just like back home in the US. What has been most surprising to me is the number of foreign language papers printed regularly. There are eleven that are just Indian!! There are also many Chinese papers, but the whole world's press can be found at any newstand.
ATUA Project Team, University of Melbourne Archives. “Australian Journalists Association (i) - Australian Trade Union Archives Trade Union entry.” Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Nicolle, Ron. “Pig Bites Baby!: Stories from Australia's First Newspaper.” Sydney Morning Herald. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Snell, Rick. Would a Bill of Rights improve the quality of Australian journalism?, On-Line Opinion, 15 November 2000. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=1127&page=0
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