DOCSLIB.ORG

Policing Media: Controlling Representations of the New South Wales Police Force

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

POLICING MEDIA: CONTROLLING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE Alyce Michelle McGovern A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Western Sydney 2008 Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of many important people. First and foremost I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Murray Lee and Elaine Fishwick, the best supervisors I could have ever asked for. Not only did they provide fantastic advice and feedback throughout the course of my thesis, but they have also been great mentors and wonderful friends. I could never thank them enough for all the time and effort they have put into helping my throughout my candidature, and I am forever indebted to them for this. I am also thankful for the support I received from the University of Western Sydney, the staff within the School of Social Sciences, and especially Associate Professor Moira Carmody and Dr. Michael Kennedy, who have both been of great assistance at various stages of the project. I also wish to thank my PhD colleagues at UWS for their friendship and support: Natalie Scerra, Lynette Aitken, Chris Cole, Peri O‟Shea, Joanne Cummings, Kelly Richards and Janette Welsby. Thanks also to my current colleagues at Charles Sturt University for the encouragement. There are many others who have helped guide me through to the end of the tunnel with friendship and assistance: Thouraya Battye, Christine Kerr, Brian Gordon, Andrew Scott, Brooke Dinning, Jenny Wise, Kriss Marel, Michael Krilic, Richard Woolley and Leanne Weber. You have provided me with feedback on my work, listened to me whinge about my thesis incessantly, and assisted me in getting out of the house to experience some form of a social life! For this I am truly grateful. I also need to thank those who participated in the fieldwork component of the thesis: the journalists, police representatives, and other individuals who agreed to interviews and shared their insights with me. Without their knowledge and opinions, I would not have had such rich data to work with. Finally, and above all, I wish to thank my parents Robert and Roslyn, and brother and sister, Christopher and Kimberley. Whilst you may not have always understood what I was doing (and why I took so long to do it!) you have always been very supportive and I wish to thank you all for helping me get through to the end. Your backing has always been important and much appreciated. I also cannot forget my cat Millie, who has kept me amused with her insane ways. Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. ………………………………………….. (Signed A. McGovern) Contents ACCOMPANYING NOTE ..................................................................................... IV LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... VII ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... VIII INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 THEORETICAL CONTEXT ................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................ 11 LITERATURE IN THE FIELD OF POLICE-MEDIA RELATIONS: AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVES .......................................................................... 12 WHAT THE AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE REVEALS .................................................... 41 INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: RESEARCH INTO THE FIELD OF POLICE- MEDIA RELATIONS, MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICES AND THE PEOPLE WHO STAFF THEM ............................................................................................... 42 POLICE-MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS INTERNATIONALLY ............................................... 42 POLICE MEDIA UNITS AND THEIR STAFF ................................................................. 67 WHAT THE INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE REVEALS ............................................... 90 CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH DESIGN: EPISTEMOLOGY, METHODOLOGY AND METHOD ...................................................................... 93 RESEARCH QUESTION(S) AND HYPOTHESIS .............................................. 94 RESEARCH PROBLEM .............................................................................................. 94 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................ 95 EPISTEMOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................... 98 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 98 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................. 101 Existing Literature: Theory and Analysis ........................................................ 102 METHOD ............................................................................................................... 111 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 114 The Process ...................................................................................................... 115 Advantages and Limitations of Documentary Analysis ................................... 120 KEY STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS .......................................................................... 122 Sample .............................................................................................................. 124 The Process ...................................................................................................... 129 Advantages and Limitations of Key Stakeholder Interviews ............................ 132 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................... 136 RESEARCH IN A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT: THE NSW POLICE FORCE .................. 136 Negotiating Access to the NSW Police Force Media Unit: A Personal Research Experience ........................................................................................................ 137 i CHAPTER THREE: BACKGROUND TO THE NSW POLICE MEDIA UNIT .................................................................................................................................. 153 THE EMERGENCE OF THE NSW POLICE FORCE: COLONIAL CONCERNS ........................................................................................................... 153 ESTABLISHING A CONVICT COLONY ..................................................................... 155 Centralisation ................................................................................................... 160 THE NSW POLICE FORCE ................................................................................ 161 THE NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE MEDIA UNIT: HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................. 163 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 163 THE 1940S TO THE 1960S: EARLY BEGINNINGS .................................................... 165 THE 1970S: A „NEW LOOK‟ PUBLIC RELATIONS BRANCH .................................... 175 The Lusher Inquiry ........................................................................................... 179 THE 1980S AND BEYOND: GREATER FOCUS AND ACCOUNTABILITY ..................... 183 THE POLICE MEDIA UNIT OF TODAY ..................................................................... 193 CHAPTER FOUR: THE INESCAPABLE POLITICS OF LAW AND ORDER .................................................................................................................................. 197 THE POLITICISATION OF FEAR .................................................................... 198 POLITICS AND THE POLICE ........................................................................... 205 POLITICS AND THE NSW CONDITION ......................................................... 211 THE STATE AND CRIME CONTROL: POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTORS: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE ........................... 223 THE RHETORIC OF THE POLICE MEDIA UNIT ......................................................... 224 CHAPTER FIVE: ‘TAMING THE SYSTEM’ ................................................... 227 THE NSW POLICE MEDIA UNIT: THE ‘TAMED’ AND THE ‘TAMER’ .. 228 THE POLICE MEDIA UNIT AS INFORMATION FILTER, SIPHON AND GUARDIAN ............................................................................................................ 231 THE GATEKEEPERS ............................................................................................... 240 THE FILTERS ......................................................................................................... 248 CRITICAL REPORTAGE ..........................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Sydney, 25 May 1999 ( 432.8

    Sydney, 25 May 1999 ( 432.8

    SPARK AND CANNON Telephone: Adelaide (08) 8212-3699 TRANSCRIPT Melbourne (03) 9670-6989 Perth (08) 9325-4577 OF PROCEEDINGS Sydney (02) 9211-4077 _______________________________________________________________ PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION INQUIRY INTO THE BROADCASTING SERVICES ACT 1992 PROF R. SNAPE, Presiding Commissioner MR S. SIMSON, Assistant Commissioner TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS AT SYDNEY ON TUESDAY, 25 MAY 1999, AT 9.06 AM Continued from 24/5/99 Broadcast 201 br250599 PROF SNAPE: Welcome back to the resumption of the Sydney hearings. I shan't go through the introductory spiel that I give at the beginning of each city; simply to say that the terms of reference for the inquiry are available on the table outside. There is also the issues paper, if anyone isn't familiar with the issues that we're covering. It is transcribed and the transcripts will be normally available about three days after. They appear on the Web site, as well as being available on hard copy. At the end of today's hearings I shall be inviting any people to make oral presentations, should they wish to do so. With that introduction I now turn to Network Ten, who have two representatives today, and I would ask each of you to identify yourselves for the transcription service, please. MS ODDIE: Susan Oddie, general manager, business affairs, Network Ten. MR McALPINE: John McAlpine, CEO, Network Ten. PROF SNAPE: Thanks very much. We have your very thoughtful and helpful submission in which you have attempted to address some of the important issues that are here and we're grateful for you doing that.
  • Inaugural Speeches in the NSW Parliament Briefing Paper No 4/2013 by Gareth Griffith

    Inaugural Speeches in the NSW Parliament Briefing Paper No 4/2013 by Gareth Griffith

    Inaugural speeches in the NSW Parliament Briefing Paper No 4/2013 by Gareth Griffith ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank officers from both Houses for their comments on a draft of this paper, in particular Stephanie Hesford and Jonathan Elliott from the Legislative Assembly and Stephen Frappell and Samuel Griffith from the Legislative Council. Thanks, too, to Lenny Roth and Greig Tillotson for their comments and advice. Any errors are the author’s responsibility. ISSN 1325-5142 ISBN 978 0 7313 1900 8 May 2013 © 2013 Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior consent from the Manager, NSW Parliamentary Research Service, other than by Members of the New South Wales Parliament in the course of their official duties. Inaugural speeches in the NSW Parliament by Gareth Griffith NSW PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY RESEARCH SERVICE Gareth Griffith (BSc (Econ) (Hons), LLB (Hons), PhD), Manager, Politics & Government/Law .......................................... (02) 9230 2356 Lenny Roth (BCom, LLB), Acting Senior Research Officer, Law ............................................ (02) 9230 3085 Lynsey Blayden (BA, LLB (Hons)), Research Officer, Law ................................................................. (02) 9230 3085 Talina Drabsch (BA, LLB (Hons)), Research Officer, Social Issues/Law ........................................... (02) 9230 2484 Jack Finegan (BA (Hons), MSc), Research Officer, Environment/Planning..................................... (02) 9230 2906 Daniel Montoya (BEnvSc (Hons), PhD), Research Officer, Environment/Planning ..................................... (02) 9230 2003 John Wilkinson (MA, PhD), Research Officer, Economics ...................................................... (02) 9230 2006 Should Members or their staff require further information about this publication please contact the author.
  • Long-Running Drama in Theatre of Public Shame

    Long-Running Drama in Theatre of Public Shame

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Long-running drama in theatre of public shame MP Daryl Maguire and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Wagga in 2017. Tom Dusevic OCTOBER 16, 2020 The British have epic soap Coronation Street. Latin Americans crave their telenovelas. The people of NSW must settle for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and its popular offshoot, Keeping Up with the Spivs. The current season is one of the most absorbing: bush huckster Daz Kickback ensnares Gladys Prim in his scams. At week’s end, our heroine is tied to railroad tracks as a steaming locomotive rounds the bend. Stay tuned. In recent years the public has heard allegations of Aldi bags stuffed with cash and delivered to NSW Labor’s Sussex Street HQ by Chinese property developer Huang Xiangmo. In 2013 corruption findings were made against former Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald. The following year, Liberal premier Barry O’Farrell resigned after ICAC obtained a handwritten note that contradicted his claims he did not receive a $3000 bottle of Grange from the head of Australian Water Holdings, a company linked to the Obeids. The same year ICAC’s Operation Spicer investigated allegations NSW Liberals used associated entities to disguise donations from donors banned in the state, such as property developers. Ten MPs either went to the crossbench or quit politics. ICAC later found nine Liberal MPs acted with the intention of evading electoral funding laws, with larceny charges recommended against one. Years earlier there was the sex-for- development scandal, set around the “Table of Knowledge” at a kebab shop where developers met officials from Wollongong council.
  • Media, Place, Sociality, and National Publics: Chinese

    Media, Place, Sociality, and National Publics: Chinese

    MARTIN, Fran. “Media, Place, Sociality, and National Publics: Chinese International Students in Translocal Networks,” in Koichi Iwabuchi, Olivia Khoo and Daniel Black eds., Contemporary Culture and Media in Asia, London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield (2016), pp. 207-224. Accepted draft One Saturday afternoon in the bedroom of the purpose-built international student apartment in Carlton, Melbourne that she shares with three Chinese classmates, 20-year old Ying, an Arts student from Hebei Province, connects via her laptop to a popular media download site based in China. While downloading several recent movies and TV series episodes (from China, Thailand and Hollywood), Ying opens up her QQ account and makes a video call to her parents back home. Speaking with her mother, she catches up on the latest news and gossip from her family and hometown. Ying then posts a comment on an ex-schoolmate’s status update on WeChat (the Chinese WhatsApp-style platform): ‘Nice pic! You and your BF are such a cute couple, haha. Miss you. Message me!’ She then scans a favourite gossip account to catch up on celebrity news from China. Once Ying’s downloads are complete, she spends the rest of the afternoon immersed in the latest episodes of the Chinese TV comedy series that screened back home the previous week. Yaqi, a 20-year-old from Liaoning Province, sits by the window on a suburban train travelling from the leafy eastern suburb of Camberwell, where she lives in a homestay, to Melbourne’s Central Business District, where she studies actuarial studies. Yaqi is engrossed in the screen of her smartphone, where she scrolls through recent posts on her Weibo feed (the Chinese Twitter-like platform), catching up on the details of a recent political scandal involving a prominent member of the Chinese Communist Party.
  • Downloads from the Site Per Month Since Then, As Well As the Higher School Certificate White Paper Subject Evaluation Reports

    Downloads from the Site Per Month Since Then, As Well As the Higher School Certificate White Paper Subject Evaluation Reports

    A N N U A L R E P O R T 1998 Office of the Board of Studies NSW Board of Studies NSW Annual Report 1998 Board of Studies NSW Office of the Board of Studies NSW Office of the Board of Studies NSW 117 Clarence Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Telephone: (02) 9367 8111 Fax: (02) 9367 8484 Internet: www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au Postal address: Office of the Board of Studies GPO Box 5300 SYDNEY NSW 2001 © Board of Studies NSW 1998 ISBN 0 7313 4127 9 Unit cost of Annual Report: $3.87 Quantity printed: 4000 Office hours: 8:30am – 5:30pm Board staff are available outside these hours by arrangement. Contents 1 Function and Structure 5 2 Mission and Objectives 13 3 Review of 1997–98 15 4 Key Result Areas 17 5 AMEB and AECG 53 6 Management and Performance 59 7 Financial Statements 75 8 Appendices 91 1 Year 2000 Compliance 91 2 Major Assets 92 3 Statutory Disclosure Requirements 93 4 Disability Strategic Plan 94 5 Ethnic Affairs Policy Statement 95 6 Action Plan for Women 96 7 Profiles of Board Members 98 8 Attendance at Meetings 101 9 Freedom of Information 104 10 List of Publications 108 11 Board of Studies Inspectors 112 12 Board of Studies Liaison Officers 112 Index 115 The Honourable John Aquilina, MP Minister for Education and Training Minister Assisting the Premier on Youth Affairs Dear Minister We are pleased to present the Annual Report of the Board of Studies and of the Office of the Board of Studies for the year ending June 30, 1998.
  • Survey of Post-War Built Heritage in Victoria: Stage One

    Survey of Post-War Built Heritage in Victoria: Stage One

    Survey of Post-War Built Heritage in Victoria: Stage One Volume 1: Contextual Overview, Methodology, Lists & Appendices Prepared for Heritage Victoria October 2008 This report has been undertaken in accordance with the principles of the Burra Charter adopted by ICOMOS Australia This document has been completed by David Wixted, Suzanne Zahra and Simon Reeves © heritage ALLIANCE 2008 Contents 1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 Context ......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Project Brief .................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................... 6 2.0 Contextual Overview .................................................................................................................. 7 3.0 Places of Potential State Significance .................................................................................... 35 3.1 Identification Methodology .......................................................................................................... 35 3.2 Verification of Places .................................................................................................................. 36 3.3 Application
  • Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories?

    Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories?

    Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories? Putting the spotlight on cultural and linguistic diversity in television news and current affairs The Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories? report was prepared on the basis of research and support from the following people: Professor James Arvanitakis (Western Sydney University) Carolyn Cage (Deakin University) Associate Professor Dimitria Groutsis (University of Sydney) Dr Annika Kaabel (University of Sydney) Christine Han (University of Sydney) Dr Ann Hine (Macquarie University) Nic Hopkins (Google News Lab) Antoinette Lattouf (Media Diversity Australia) Irene Jay Liu (Google News Lab) Isabel Lo (Media Diversity Australia) Professor Catharine Lumby (Macquarie University) Dr Usha Rodrigues (Deakin University) Professor Tim Soutphommasane (University of Sydney) Subodhanie Umesha Weerakkody (Deakin University) This report was researched, written and designed on Aboriginal land. Sovereignty over this land was never ceded. We wish to pay our respect to elders past, present and future, and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities’ ongoing struggles for justice and self-determination. Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories? Executive summary The Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories? report is the first comprehensive picture of who tells, frames and produces stories in Australian television news and current affairs. It details the experience and the extent of inclusion and representation of culturally diverse news and current affairs presenters, commentators and reporters. It is also the first
  • Inquest Finding

    Inquest Finding

    Coroners Act 1996 (Section 26(1)) RECORD OF INVESTIGATION INTO DEATH I, Barry Paul King, Deputy State Coroner, having investigated the death of Shirley June Finn with an inquest held at Perth Coroner’s Court on 29 August 2017; 11, 13, 14 and 18 to 20 September 2017; 20 to 24 and 27 to 30 November 2017; 11 to 14 and 20 December 2017; 23 to 27 July 2018; and 1, 3 and 4 April 2019, find that the identity of the deceased person was Shirley June Finn and that death occurred on or about 22 June 1975 at Melville Parade in South Perth from multiple gunshot wounds to the head in the following circumstances: Counsel Appearing: Ms K E Ellson (29 August 2017) and Mr J T Bishop assisted the Coroner Mr T F Percy QC, Mr S Nigam, Mr R McCabe, Mr M Crowley and Mr R Cywicki (instructed by Nigams Legal) appeared for Ms B Shewring Mr D E Leigh and Mr J F Bennett (State Solicitor’s Office) appeared for the Commissioner of Police Mr Mark Trowell QC appeared for Ms D Cannon Mr L Durand appeared for Ms C M Langan TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 4 References ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Confidentiality ............................................................................................................................. 10 SHIRLEY JUNE FINN ..............................................................................................................
  • The National Crime Authority

    The National Crime Authority

    CHAPTER 1 WELCOME TO THE NATIONAL CRIME AUTHORITY Maybe it was who you knew, not what you knew, that would help you get ahead in the Force. In the early 1980s in Sydney, drug dealing was big—it still is. In 1981, the infamous drug dealer and armed robber, Warren Lanfranchi, was wanted nationally for the attempted murder of a traffic cop in Sydney. When Lanfranchi aimed the shot, the firing pin jammed in the hammer of his revolver, which saved the life of the traffic cop that day. Lanfranchi became a prime target of the New South Wales Police Force. My partner Schuey and I had information that Lanfranchi sold heroin on behalf of the notorious drug kingpin Neddy Smith to Aborigines who hung out at the Everleigh Hotel. The Everleigh was in the area called The Block in inner-city Redfern. Warren Lanfranchi was a creature of habit. If he wasn’t at The Block tormenting drug addicted Aborigines, he wouldn’t be too far away. It was a matter of hitting the place a couple of times to catch him. So, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, Schuey and I bowled through the Everleigh Hotel searching for him. We were the only two white guys in the dump. 13 DIRTY WORK The locals did not welcome our arrival. In fact, they were hostile, shouting and mouthing threats under their breath, until the loudest loudmouth in the place accidentally fell from his barstool and landed on his arse. After that it was dead quiet. Schuey and I searched the pub high and low for Lanfranchi.
  • WEEKLY HANSARD Hansard Home Page: E-Mail: Hansard@Parliament.Qld.Gov.Au Phone: (07) 3406 7314 Fax: (07) 3210 0182

    WEEKLY HANSARD Hansard Home Page: E-Mail: [email protected] Phone: (07) 3406 7314 Fax: (07) 3210 0182

    PROOF ISSN 1322-0330 WEEKLY HANSARD Hansard Home Page: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/hansard/ E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (07) 3406 7314 Fax: (07) 3210 0182 51ST PARLIAMENT Subject CONTENTS Page Thursday, 29 September 2005 PETITIONS ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 2953 PAPERS ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2953 NOTICE OF MOTION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2953 Revocation of Protected Areas and Forest Reserves ........................................................................................................ 2953 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT .......................................................................................................................................................... 2954 Liquor Licensing Laws ........................................................................................................................................................ 2954 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT .......................................................................................................................................................... 2954 Southern Regional Water Pipeline
  • Political Briefings: - Barry O’Farrell MP, NSW Leader of the Opposition: Thursday 27Th May 2010

    Political Briefings: - Barry O’Farrell MP, NSW Leader of the Opposition: Thursday 27Th May 2010

    Political Briefings: - Barry O’Farrell MP, NSW Leader of the Opposition: Thursday 27th May 2010 1) Libertarian and Progressive Conservatism: Concept/Strategy as stated to Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop MP, re Chief of Staff emails in late 2009 for then Federal Leader of Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull MP. 2) Tailored Policies/Programmes: Obviously the Federal and NSW political, economic, social and cultural circumstances are different or at least not exactly the same. Sydney’s “regionalism” has historical peculiarities as the “founding city” of the nation. Sydney always looked to the Mother Country, UK, and its colonial “off-shoots: in Tasmania, Victoria, New Zealand and Queensland, and through them to the Pacific Islands in the South West Pacific. NSW was predominantly Free Trade in persepective rather than Protectionist as in Victoria. 3) Political Parties in New South Wales: The ALP – since Sir William McKell MP, Premier 1941-47 a) McKell to Renshaw - Premiers 1941-65 b) Wran and Unsworth – Premiers 1976-88 c) Carr to Keneally – Premiers 1995-2011 The Liberal Party – since Sir Robert Askin MP, Premier 1965-75 a) Pre WW11 – Bertram Stevens 1932-39 b) The Bob Askin years - a decade of alleged “corruption”. c) Greiner and Fahey – 1988-1995 4) Barry O’Farrell – State Leader of the Opposition: a) Comment by Nick Greiner: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/election-is-the-only-opinion-poll-that- matters/story-e6frg6zo-1225869365983 b) The Rudd/Abbott contest for PM -2010 c) Three/four terms of ‘Good” Liberal Party Government – 2011/27 5) ACCCI Interests a) NSW is “in” the Trade Business – Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations b) Greater Sydney as a World City – one Mayor, many Deputies.
  • 65 Watching Television in Australia: a Story of Innocence and Experience

    65 Watching Television in Australia: a Story of Innocence and Experience

    Watching Television in Australia: A Story of Innocence and Experience Susan Bye School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry La Trobe University Abstract The excitement and naiveté of early viewers have become central to narratives of the Australian viewing past. These stories are of simpler times when the pleasure of watching television was unmediated by modern self-consciousness and cynicism. This popular way of ‘remembering’ television seems both natural and inevitable, but its role as a discursive strategy is highlighted by the alacrity with which TV columnists sought to bestow a sense of experience on fledgling Sydney viewers. In this paper, I focus on the way that the regular TV column worked to stitch readers into the daily business of television. Moreover, from the beginning of regular broadcasting, TV columnists challenged the idea that watching television was an identity- subsuming process and invited their readers to assume an active connection with television and its culture. Keywords: Audiences, Australian Television, Everyday Life, TV Columns Introduction The construction of television viewing history as progressive or developmental is not peculiar to the Australian context but, in the Australian situation, the popular association of early television with the fifties has allowed it and its audience to be collapsed into the ‘fifties story’. Imagined simultaneously as a time of innocence and a period of narrow-mindedness, the dominant narrative of Australia in the fifties involves a perception of a simple and insular people readily committing to family life in the suburbs (White 1983). This monochromatic understanding of suburban life in fifties Australia has effortlessly intersected with a similarly tidy conception of the relationship of early TV viewers to the new technology of television.