Developing Dialogues: Indigenous and Ethnic Community Broadcasting in Australia

This book is written about the Australian community broadcasting sector and presents evidence of global trends in the media industry. It is a global study to chart the rise of the new relationship between the audience and the producer, whose boundary, according to the authors, has collapsed in indigenous and ethnic community broadcasting. Based on studies of radio and television audiences in Australia, the authors argue that community radio and television worldwide represents an essential service for indigenous and ethnic audiences, empowering them at various levels, fostering "active citizenry", and enhancing the processes of democracy. The authors, former journalists, interviewed indigenous Australians from urban centres and in regions of the Central Desert to ask why they engage with and adapt local broadcast media. They used primary research material taken from face-to-face interviews and focus-group discussions with audiences. The book intends to give international researchers, scholars of media and cultural studies, industry practitioners, and policy makers a new social, cultural, and historical perspective.