Politics, radio and journalism in Australia

Abstract

This article draws on a research project examining the influence of talkback radio on politics in Australia, which focuses on the manner in which talkback formats have displaced the more conventional news and current affairs formats once prominent on the AM band in order to discuss the consequences of this change. An important consideration here is the fact that radio journalism has given way to the talkback host or entertainer at precisely the time when the political influence of the talkback format has become most pronounced, and when the regulatory control of that influence has become least effective. The result is a form of entertainment that mimics the forms and practices of journalism but which performs quite different social and political functions.