- Doctoral Thesis - Pluralism, Australian newspaper diversity and the promise of the Internet by Kieran Lewis MA Student No. 01014684 Creative Industries Research and Applications Centre Queensland University of Technology Course code: IF49 – Doctor of Philosophy Principal Supervisor: Dr Angela Romano Associate Supervisor: Prof Stuart Cunningham July 2004 Keywords • House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media • Print Media Inquiry • Productivity Commission Inquiry into Broadcasting • Australian newspaper circulation • Australian Provincial News and Media • Convergence • Globalism • The Internet • Media diversity • Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance • Murdoch, Rupert • New media • News Limited • Online journalism • Online newspapers • Packer, Kerry • Pluralism • Productivity Commission • Publishing and Broadcasting Limited • Rural Press I affirm that this work is entirely my own except where the words or ideas of other writers are specifically acknowledged. This thesis has not been submitted for any other subject or course at the Queensland University of Technology or any other institution. ___________________ Kieran Lewis 20 July 2004 Acknowledgements My thanks and appreciation are expressed to the following for their assistance with this project: Angela Romano Stuart Cunningham Michael Bromley Stephen Cox Brad Haseman Belinda Glindemann and Kylie Stevenson Terry Flew John Grey Cratis Hippocrates Cathy Jenkins Craig Johnstone and Shelley Lloyd Peter and Christopher Lewis The Queensland Country Press Association Geoff Smith John Warlters Christopher Warren and MEAA staff Whitsunday Printing and Publishing Company and to Ralph Allan for employer support. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My thanks and gratitude are also expressed to staff from QUT’s Creative Industries Research and Applications Centre for financial and administrative assistance. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ For Monique, with love and thanks. (i) Table of contents List of figures ........................................................................................................... (v) List of tables ...........................................................................................................(vii) Author’s note ........................................................................................................... (ix) Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... (xi) Abstract ..................................................................................................................(xii) Chapter 1 Introduction The research question ..........................................................................2 Issues explored in this thesis ...............................................................2 Scope ...................................................................................................8 Theories and methodology ................................................................12 Chapter 2 Pluralism in the Australian newspaper industry Libertarian theory ..............................................................................14 Free press theory ...............................................................................17 Social responsibility theory ...............................................................19 The Australian newspaper oligopoly ................................................20 National and capital city daily newspaper ownership .......................22 Regional daily newspaper ownership ...............................................23 Suburban newspaper ownership ........................................................24 Saturday newspaper ownership .........................................................25 Sunday newspaper ownership ...........................................................26 Interpretation of newspaper ownership data .....................................36 Maintaining the oligopoly .................................................................44 Chapter 3 Deliberating on diversity Australian media inquiries ................................................................48 The Print Media Inquiry ....................................................................48 The Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Broadcasting .............50 Defining convergence and its effects ................................................52 Barriers to entry ................................................................................56 A lack of content diversity ................................................................65 Bias and censorship ...........................................................................71 Recommendations for diversity ........................................................79 The Trade Practices Act ....................................................................82 Cross-media ownership laws ............................................................87 Foreign investment ............................................................................98 The Australian Press Council ..........................................................102 Charters of editorial independence .................................................103 More similarities than differences ...................................................105 Linking structural and content diversity .........................................105 (ii) A difference of opinion ...................................................................106 Regulating for diversity ..................................................................108 Government indifference ................................................................109 Defining diversity ...........................................................................111 Chapter 4 Newspapers online Newspapers online ..........................................................................114 The subscription model ...................................................................117 The advertising model .....................................................................124 The transactional model ..................................................................129 The bundled (or partnerships) model ..............................................130 Other business models ....................................................................135 Conclusions and an hypothesis .......................................................136 Chapter 5 Australian newspaper websites Methodology ...................................................................................138 Information on the sample population ............................................144 Establishment, costs and aims and objectives .................................146 News and advertising online ...........................................................152 Profitability, hit rates and effects on circulation .............................154 Future plans .....................................................................................155 The value of newspaper websites ....................................................156 Other issues .....................................................................................157 Analysis and discussion ..................................................................159 Online subscriptions ........................................................................161 Online advertising ...........................................................................165 Online transactions ..........................................................................168 Online partnerships .........................................................................170 Other business models ....................................................................172 Conclusions: Testing the hypothesis ...............................................173 Chapter 6 The Internet and source diversity Source diversity ...............................................................................178 Established norms and practices .....................................................179 The usability of online information ................................................180 Interactivity .....................................................................................182 Hypertextuality ................................................................................185 Other issues .....................................................................................187 Promoting online source diversity ..................................................189 Mainstream news media use of information obtained from online sources.......................................................................191 The rise of weblogs ..........................................................................192 Online interactivity and hypertextuality ..........................................193 Internet and computer-assisted reporting.........................................193 (iii) The role of online journalism in advancing democracy in developing nations ...............................................................195 Online journalism in journalism education......................................196 Conclusions and an hypothesis .......................................................197 Chapter 7 Australian journalists and the Internet Methodology ...................................................................................199 Information on the respondents .......................................................201