ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at what media sources the general public use for information on news, politics and affairs, followed by an analytical discussion of the relationship between the media and their audience. Politicians shape the media through sophisticated public relations processes, at the same time as journalists choose what to present as newsworthy. Collectively, media undoubtedly constitute a powerful institution in Australian society Commentators on the media discuss this application of power in two main ways: first through analysis of the relationship between the media and their audience, and second through an examination of the power of media owners and producers. Most analyses of politics and the media in Australia describe the current situation by itemising media ownership. The Act contains provisions that shape cross-ownership and control of television, radio and newspapers, the foreign ownership and control of television licences and the audience reach of commercial, free-to-air television.
