ISSN: 1329-878X

Rural and Remote Convergence No 88 August 1998 Order form Abstracts

Contents

Abstracts

National convergence or localism? Rural and remote communications -- Helen Molnar

In 1985, when the Aussat domestic satellites were launched, there was considerable political hope that this new form of communications technology would help to minimise some of the communications disadvantages experienced by Australians living in rural and remote areas. However, a crucial problem with Aussat and other communications services conceived of as metropolitan solutions to rural and remote disadvantage is that the distinct communications needs of rural and remote Australians were not sufficiently addressed. The Remote Commercial Television Services are a good example of this. Specific services, like ABC Regional Radio, have also begun to blur the line between metropolitan and regional. In 1997, the federal government introduced Networking the Nation, a funding initiative that aims to improve telecommunications infrastructure and access in rural and remote Australia. To date, 96 projects have received funding. Networking the Nation stresses that there must be community input into all projects. It is too early to assess how successful this has been, but some examples of projects funded are discussed.

Improving regional telecommunications: The Regional Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund -- Regional Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Secretariat

In June 1997, the federal government launched Networking the Nation, a program designed to improve telecommunications services and infrastructure in regional, rural and remote Australia. This article presents the rationale for the program, details about it, lessons learnt since its inception, and general information about its administration.

(Not) using the remote commercial television service to dispel distance in rural and remote Western Australia -- Lelia Green

This paper addresses issues of 'distance' between remote and metropolitan audiences, and the use of communications technologies as tools to dispel such distance. Using the satellite-delivered RCTS broadcasting as a case study Ñ given that this was part of the thrust to 'dispel' this distance Ñ the research reported here interrogates notions of difference and inclusion as perceived, experienced and expressed by people resident in remote and regional Western Australia. The argument advanced is that new communications technologies do not dispel distance; rather, they act as catalysts through which distance is re-experienced and redefined. These distinctions are of continuing and growing importance in a climate within which Networking the Nation and digital TV again promise more equalisation of differences and services, and more dispelling of distance.

ABC Radio spaces: Region, state, nation -- Helen Wilson

In contrast to the 'high communication policy' of most of Australian television, recent developments in ABC radio have exhibited an opposing tendency, towards multiple centres of transmission. This came about through an imperative to provide equity for rural listeners, with the establishment of a Second Regional Radio Network in the 1980s. The network has resulted in a complex layering of radio's 'spaces of communication' on regional stations, which broadcast local, regional, state and national programs. This paper outlines the regional structure of the ABC in three states and begins to explore the nature of radio space.

Telecommunications: Bringing the regional 'MITE' to bear -- Samantha Wilkerson

This article focuses on the Modular Interactive Telecommunications Environment (MITE), which is being developed by Imago Multimedia Centre, Perth, with RTIF funding. It highlights the MITE's key features and design methodology and looks at how the MITE approach differs from most other rural communications.

Island Watch: The new front line in Torres Strait Island telecommunications -- Brian Arley

This article explores a unique Networking the Nation Remote Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund $8Êmillion funding application made by the Torres Strait Islanders Media Association Inc (TISMA). The purpose is to install and operate state-of-the-art telecommunication infrastructure on each inhabited Torres Strait Island to enhance the services and operations of the 27 Commonwealth and state government agencies operating in this region and to better meet the education, employment, training, socio-economic, cultural and linguistic needs of the region's inhabitants and to increase production, promotion and revenue-generation of their local cultural industries.

Into the new millennium: The role of Indigenous media in Australia -- Michael Meadows and Christine Morris

This article explores the nature of Indigenous media production in Australia in relation to a two-year study Ñ the Millennium Project Ñ which has begun to explore the implications and possibilities offered by new media technologies in Indigenous communities across the continent. Within a framework of the continuing misrepresentation of Indigenous people and issues, many communities have begun to develop alternative media systems with alternative approaches to information management by applying particular cultural frameworks to media production. This project explores the current and preferred future role of Indigenous media within the context of the impact of past, present and future media technologies and policies. The research will help to explain ways in which community-based media are being used and how they might be used as resources in the processes of cultural and linguistic maintenance.

Niche markets or monopolies? Regional media, government policy and the cross-media review -- Denis Cryle

This article examines the neglected field of regional media in the 1990s, with special reference to the Howard government's ineffectual Cross-Media Review of 1996Ð97. It identifies major players and developments during the previous decade and critically examines claims about increased regional diversity in the context of the 1992 and 1994 media inquiries. In conclusion, the article reviews the submissions of regional players to the Cross-Media Review in the context of its stated concerns with preserving media diversity and localism.

From censorship to policy: Rethinking media content regulation and classification -- Terry Flew

Debates about media content regulation have tended to be dominated by pro-censorship and anti-censorship arguments. This paper argues for a shift in understanding towards a more policy-oriented and empirical approach, which recognises that the field has been characterised not so much by the 'prohibition model', but by complex and multifaceted techniques of institutional governance, and less by censorship than by restriction and classification. This has implications for the value of empirical research into the relationship between media representations and audiences. The recent ABA Report on content issues with on-line services is considered in order to show how regulation and classification issues are continuing to be important in the on-line environment, although they are likely to take different forms to the regulation of traditional media of print, film and television.

Moccasins and 'respect': Writing practices during media coverage of the Moe story -- Mary Griffiths

Metropolitan media coverage moved beyond reporting the alleged abduction of Moe toddler Jaidyn Leskie to describe the social 'tragedy' of Victoria's La Trobe Valley, attributing the collapse of country-town innocence and a perceived growth of anti-social behaviour to state-driven 'dirty' industry restructuring, unemployment and the collapse of the local small business economy. The representation of Moe as 'rotten' offended local readers, sparking a series of mainstream and tactical 'rewritings' of Moe's social, moral and physical landscapes. The most effective and noteworthy local response was a special edition of the regional non-daily community paper, The La Trobe Valley Express. In 'Moe under the microscope', 'ordinary citizens' were given a platform for their views on the 'hostile' mainstream media reports, the region and the civic 'truths' of Moe. The incident provides a site for the consideration of some of the issues involved in compliance with the new code of ethics for journalists.