Archiving of ABC Local Radio Programs Jake Krausmann [email protected] A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Communication (Research), Faculty of Arts Humanities and Education, Central Queensland University, Australia. 2008 1 Table of Contents Abstract: ............................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 5 Declaration of Authorship ............................................................................................. 5 Chapter One – Introduction: .............................................................. 6 1.1 Motivation ............................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Area of Study ......................................................................................................... 7 1.2a Archives ............................................................................................................ 7 1.2b ABC Radio ........................................................................................................ 9 1.3 Summary of Previous Findings ............................................................................ 11 1.4 Hypotheses .......................................................................................................... 12 1.5 Limits of the Research ......................................................................................... 13 1.6 Audience .............................................................................................................. 14 1.7 Method ................................................................................................................. 15 1.8 Significance of the Research ............................................................................... 15 1.9 Structure .............................................................................................................. 18 Chapter Two – Literature Review: .................................................... 22 2.1 Archiving .............................................................................................................. 22 2.1a The Value of Archives .................................................................................... 22 2.1b The Spoken Word as Evidence ...................................................................... 26 2.1c Paper to Disk .................................................................................................. 27 2.1d Digitisation of Archives ................................................................................... 29 2.1e Metadata ........................................................................................................ 30 2.1f Archives and the Internet ................................................................................. 40 2.2 Audio Recording .................................................................................................. 42 2.3 Radio in Australia – A Brief History ...................................................................... 43 2.3a Initial Technology............................................................................................ 43 2.3b Radio Station Development ............................................................................ 45 2.3c Radio Starts a War ......................................................................................... 48 2.3d Golden Age to Steam Radio ........................................................................... 49 2.3e Community Radio ........................................................................................... 51 2.3f Radio in the Digital Age ................................................................................... 53 2.3g Durable Radio ................................................................................................ 54 Chapter Three – Focus of the Study: ................................................ 57 3.1 The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) .................................................. 57 3.1a Relevance and Value ..................................................................................... 57 3.1b Establishment ................................................................................................. 58 3.1c From Company to Commission ...................................................................... 59 3.1d From Commission to Corporation ................................................................... 62 3.2 The Independence of the Public Broadcaster ...................................................... 64 3.2a Independence from Government .................................................................... 64 2 3.2b Independence from the Commercial Sector ................................................... 67 3.2c Bias ................................................................................................................. 74 3.2d Editorial Autonomy ......................................................................................... 75 3.3 The Relevance of the ABC ................................................................................... 76 3.3a Battle of the Brows ......................................................................................... 77 3.3b Ratings ........................................................................................................... 78 3.3c Diversity .......................................................................................................... 79 3.4 ABC Local Radio .................................................................................................. 81 3.4a Local Radio History ........................................................................................ 81 3.4b Local Radio Post 2000 ................................................................................... 85 3.4c Emergency and Identity .................................................................................. 86 3.5 Archiving of ABC Radio ........................................................................................ 89 3.5a Local Radio Archives in the Digital Age .......................................................... 91 Chapter Four – Method: ................................................................... 95 4.1 Ontology and Epistemology ................................................................................. 95 4.2 Quantitative and Qualitative Research ............................................................... 100 4.3 Surveys .............................................................................................................. 102 4.4 The Research Process ....................................................................................... 106 4.4a The Research Instrument ............................................................................. 107 4.5 Administration of the Research .......................................................................... 110 4.6 Triangulation ...................................................................................................... 114 4.7 Error ................................................................................................................... 115 Chapter Five – Results: .................................................................. 118 5.1 Data from Surveys ............................................................................................. 118 5.1a Participants ................................................................................................... 118 5.1b Relationship with ABC Archives and Library Services .................................. 120 5.1c Personal Audio Archives ............................................................................... 121 5.1d Burning CDs ................................................................................................. 123 5.1e The Archiving Function of Netia – Awareness and Use ............................... 124 5.1f Attitudes to Audio Archiving ........................................................................... 126 5.1g General Comments Regarding Local Radio Archiving ................................. 127 5.2 Interview Derived Data ....................................................................................... 128 5.3 Practices of Other National Broadcasters .......................................................... 133 5.3a Radio Salzburg (Austria) .............................................................................. 133 5.3b Danmarks Radio (Denmark) ......................................................................... 135 5.3c British Broadcasting Corporation .................................................................. 136 Chaper Six – Conclusions: .............................................................. 138 6.1 Hypotheses and Results .................................................................................... 138 6.2 Responsibility and Opportunity .......................................................................... 141 6.3 Recommendations ............................................................................................. 143 6.4 Future Research ................................................................................................ 147 Glossary: .......................................................................................