GIR Colloquium Series

After the Killing Fields: Post-Pandemic Changes in Journalism Employment in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand

Presenter: Dr Peter Chen, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney

A02, Room 341 and Zoom

Continuing a longitudinal national study of journalism employment in Australia, this seminar presents findings that contribute to new understandings of journalism employment in Australia and introduces data for Aotearoa/New Zealand. Based on an analysis of reported journalism workers in the Margaret Gee/MediaNet database, results suggest a shift in the organisational landscape of the media in Australia, with an expansion of large organisations at the ‘top,’ and a considerable loss of small micro-ventures (largely based online) at the ‘bottom.’ Implications include stronger centralised editorial control at the corporate level, urbanisation and homogenisation of media produces and product, and reduced opportunities for creative entry-level roles. A considerable decline in ‘ethnic presses’ is also observed. The analysis points to action being required from policy makers and tertiary educators to support innovative, smaller media ventures and to equip their employees and graduates with new necessary skills.

Peter John Chen teaches media politics, public policy and Australian politics at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His research interests focus on the relationship between media and politics: with a special interest in new media’s impacts on electoral politics, media regulation, social movements, and the politics of animal protection. His work includes an interest in the political content of film, the movement of political and policy ideas, and the role of networks in collective action. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Information Technology & Politics and the International Journal of Electronic Governance. Peter is currently working on a new book on the politics of animal welfare in Australia.

Please join via Zoom: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/83922183404

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