Can the Australian government’s proposed new media laws save troubled newspapers and other legacy media outlets? Or is that the wrong question to be asking? It’s now two weeks since the government confirmed plans to significantly change media ownership laws, which could prompt a whole swag of mergers and acquisitions as old-school news organisations battle…
I teach Journalism at University – and one of the lectures that I deliver is on how to make Journalism pay, in the digital era. There is a feeling – based on some pretty good evidence – that ‘old media’ is a dying delivery system … that newspapers, TV and Radio as we know them, are doomed…
A few weeks ago I was accused of being, and I quote, “Another doomsayer doing his level best to kill off commercial radio.” That’s because I had the temerity to suggest that DAB+ Radio, or Digital Audio Broadcasting, risked going the same way as AM Stereo – into the dustbin of ideas whose time never…
I had reason, during the week, to use a famous line of Ralph Waldo Emerson – the one about a foolish consistency being the hobgoblin of little minds. It was from his essay, ‘On Self-Reliance’ – but as I looked it up, it struck me that I hadn’t read Emerson, or Thoreau, or their ilk since high school…
I’ve been a customer of Audible, on and off, since I don’t know when – and I mean that literally. My current subscription dates back to 2013, but I can’t remember when I first opened an account. All I know is that it was long before Amazon bought the company in 2008. In fact, I can…
I was offended as I watched a 60’s era anti-American propaganda film on the bus yesterday, as we drove toward the Cu Chi tunnels northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. Oh .. I wasn’t offended by the fact that it was propaganda. I was offended that it was so badly done, and yet was still being…
One of the most common issues I face when teaching journalism students – especially those from Asian backgrounds – is the need for attribution. “You can’t just say ‘The 12th National Party Congress is a congress of solidarity, democracy, discipline and renovation, demonstrating its resolve to increase comprehensive and synchronous reforms while promoting the country’s…
I have spent a large part of the past week without access to my usual sources of media – and it’s been an interesting experience. I am on holidays, currently in Vietnam and reliant on my smartphone for access to news. Because days are so full and tiring, I have been largely restricted to Facebook.…
This week’s training tip is on how to get your ideas to sink in … If you wish to get an idea across to an audience, you can do worse than adopt the ‘Tell Them, Tell Them, Tell Them’ mantra. Lewis Carroll, in ‘Hunting For The Snark’, wrote “What I tell you three times is…
I’ve been in Radio long enough to remember the slow-motion train-crash that was AM Stereo – and I have to say, DAB or Digital Audio Broadcasting shows all the signs of being deja vu all over again. To explain: for 50 years, Australian broadcast radio was all AM, or Amplitude Modulation. Stations had whopping great…
Cairns Communications 