HOW many submissions from the public constitute an overwhelming response? Last Friday the federal government released more than 2400 submissions to its review of public broadcasting, and the claim has been made that this demonstrates overwhelming public involvement. Yet twelve years ago when Bob Mansfield conducted his inquiry into the future of the ABC he...

The government's review of public broadcasting might be unnecessarily narrow, but there's plenty of fuel for controversy. Summary Many of us who wonder about the future of media tend to look to the United States for indications of the path ahead. I recently heard news.com.au editor David Higgins, for instance, say that developments in the...

MANY OF US who wonder about the future of media tend to look to the United States for indications of the path ahead. I recently heard David Higgins, for instance, the editor of the News Limited website news.com.au, say that developments in the Australian media are about two to three years behind those across the...

"The word 'blog' doesn't really give one much of an idea about the content or nature of a given online site. In fact, author and freelance journalist, Margaret Simons, describes the term as 'manifestly inadequate', because it offers so little differentiation. She says there's now an urgent need for a new vocabulary for internet-based publications...

The Australian media largely ignored a major conference looking at its own future, writes Margaret Simons.