In line with the some what predictable behaviour of Conservative, laissez-faire ideology, the Australian Conservative government is set to change the laws that protect diversity within the Australian media system. Australia has one of the world’s most concentrated media systems in terms of ownership and the ‘cross-media-ownership’ legislation was in place to protect the Australian people from further domination by large media conglomerates; either local or international.
“Although Australia ‘s media ownership laws have remained unchanged for over a decade, debate on the desirability of reform has continued unabated. This debate has been fuelled by the impact of new media technologies, a number of enquiries proposing regulatory changes, and the self-interest of those media organisations that report the controversy. The Government has long indicated that it believed the rules to be anachronistic, and its policy for the 2001 election contained a commitment to amend cross-media and foreign ownership restrictions”. (link)
As history has show us, laissez-faire policies may result in a number of new players in the market in the short term, but then as the market consolidates, large players abuse their position and ‘re-regulate’ it in favour of their own notion of ‘competition’.
Australia’s media system promises to become more lowbrow, more populists, more trivial, and less in touch with the political needs of our people and our political processes. It is our media system and dismantling the regulation that strengthens the diversity within it will simply result in less of the things that matter (like deliberative democracy). Just like oil is to the United States establishment, media ownership in Australia is the breeding ground of the nations most Conservative, and most anti-democratic forces. I just hope that the Australian people are smart enough to instill their own ‘cross-media ownership’ laws in their heads.
What do others reckon?
Further Reading:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,1819913,00.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/disaster-for-democracy/2006/07/13/1152637796841.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/brave-new-media-world/2006/07/13/1152637791532.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/packer-in-pole-position/2006/07/13/1152637795995.html
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