Australian media ownership is one of the most concentrated in the world. The last review of media ownership in Australia (1999) found that of 12 capital city and daily papers, seven are owned by Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corporation and three by John Fairfax Holdings. The West Australian and the Canberra Times were the only independently owned dailies, however, the Canberra Times is now part of the Farirfax group and The West Australian is now part of Kerry Stokes’ media group.
The Impact of Ownership on the Dissemination of Information
The major commercial media organizations in Australia have vested interests in several commercial entities. This can have an impact on the content presented and the information audiences receive……….
Another effect of major companies owning more than one form of media in Australia with a wide audience is that the companies may put bias and censorship in their various media forms, therefore controlling what information is released to their Australian audiences. For example, one company may release the same information to their television network and newspaper, leaving out some information that may be relevant to the Australian public. (by SLR)
A good way to ensure that this does not happen is for Australia to have a wide range of companies covering the media ownership, and not a select few. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many laws protecting the coverage of media ownership in Australia; however, the ones that are in force do not always come into place. (by SLR)
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