https://hdl.handle.net/2123/22630 2026-06-04T05:42:31Z 2026-06-04T05:42:31Z Borschke, Margie https://hdl.handle.net/2123/34339 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2025-09-29T00:00:00Z

Sharing Borschke, Margie In digital culture, sharing is a metaphor used to describe and explain a variety of digital practices, network infrastructures and associated values. It is closely aligned with social media where to share is to post, to speak, to listen, to upload, to download and with the sharing economy and the offer of access to goods and services via an online platform. Although sharing seems ubiquitous and constitutive of online culture and has a long history as a term in computing that dates to the mid-2Oth century, it is not until the late 2000s that its meaning shifts, conflating the distributive and communicative senses of the verb. Recognizing this shift offers insight into how in the 21st century moral ideals about altruism and free expression are linked to economic goals and why the age of sharing has also become a time of rising inequality, centralization of power and increasing commercialization of culture and social relations.

2025-09-29T00:00:00Z Borschke, Margie https://hdl.handle.net/2123/34259 2026-04-28T02:26:08Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK NEVER WRITTEN A Media History of Saul Kripke’s Scholarly Samizdat Borschke, Margie This article considers the significance of informal publication and circulation in the work of the philosopher Saul Kripke (1940-2022). It argues that everyday copying technologies (e.g. tape recording, photocopying) enabled academics in the 1970s and 1980s to create living documents whose private preservation and circulation maintained a community of interest and makes a case for understanding these technologies and techniques of reproduction as essential to the composition of Kripke’s ground-breaking published work. Kripke lectured a great deal, usually without notes, and was known to be reluctant to commit his ideas to print; this so-called samizdat preserved a space for the oral as the preferred mode of communication for philosophical discourse, connecting the modern tradition with the ancients, while the recordings, transcripts and photocopies archived Kripke’s ideas and secured access outside of institutional publishing channels

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Nicholls, Robert Zhao, He https://hdl.handle.net/2123/34106 2026-04-22T01:54:26Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Misinformation and Digital Policy in Australia Flew, Terry; Nicholls, Robert; Zhao, He The circulation of misinformation and disinformation online during election campaigns has been identified as a major problem in Australia. This article was prepared for the Safer Internet Lab Snapshot series.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Hercus, Zoe https://hdl.handle.net/2123/34016 2026-04-22T01:54:29Z 2025-06-22T00:00:00Z

Platformization in the Digital Comics Industry – Leaving Comic Creators Behind Hercus, Zoe Webcomics have become an incredibly influential part of the comic industry. Traditional publishers look to webcomic platforms, where creators can establish an extensive following for their comics, to pick out successful titles to transition to print. These publishers are also trying their hand at the platform model, developing platform-like systems (PLS) to appeal to a digitally orientated readership. These movements afford platforms an immense amount of power to affect the comics industry. The ways they are shaping business directions and user expectations are consistent with the dynamics of platformization outlined by Poell et al. (2022). This thesis investigated the structures and mechanisms of webcomic platforms to determine how they engineer platformed effects and their ramifications for comic creators as a vulnerable group. Additionally, it assessed how these effects were reflected by digital comic PLS and how that affected their practice. Ten platforms and PLS, capturing a variety of industry players, were observed using a variation of Light et al. (2016)’s walkthrough method. The data captured from these observations was analysed using Braun and Clarke (2022)’s reflective thematic analysis approach. My findings revealed that the recommendation and sorting techniques of platforms and PLS demonstrate orientations towards newness, quantification (less so for PLS) and low-value exchange terms. These orientations were exaggerated by mechanics that encouraged habitual return, success based on metric logics, and comic monetisation that devalued the individual comic product. This was to the detriment of comic creators, whose efforts to support themselves via relationship- based crowdfunding were not sustained by platforms and PLS. The ways comic creators have become reliant on webcomic platforms to build a following, based on the entanglement of the print and digital comic industries, places pressure on them to weather these negative effects to seek success.

2025-06-22T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33457 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

What Future for Media Industries and Media Industry Studies? Flew, Terry This paper explores the future of media industries, focusing on the challenges of measuring media concentration, and transformations brought about by digital platforms and artificial intelligence (AI). It discusses the evolving nature of communication and media studies as interdisciplinary fields, the impact of digital platforms on media production and distribution, the rise of AI and its implications for media industries, and the complex issues surrounding media concentration and power. The paper highlights the changing dynamics of media industries and the need for new approaches to media industry studies which can interpret and navigate these transformations.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Koskie, Timothy Stepnik, Agata Tang, Wenjia https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33447 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Response to News Media Assistance Program Consultation Paper Flew, Terry; Koskie, Timothy; Stepnik, Agata; Tang, Wenjia One of the great paradoxes of the current era is that we live in an age of news abundance, where digital technologies have made news available instantaneously from multiple sources around the world, yet we continually speak of there being a ‘crisis in news’. Whether it be job losses at major news organisations, the closure of smaller newspaper titles, or the sense that we are awash in misinformation and ‘fake news’ that is eroding the integrity of the public sphere, it is rare to be talking about the future of news in anything other than a negative light. These questions have become more pressing due to the near collapse of the traditional business model that has underpinned commercial news journalism. For over a century, commercial news businesses have been able to rely upon dual media markets, where both display and classified advertising (or, for broadcast media, commercials) paid for the maintenance of a workforce that produced news that could be made available either for free or for a below-cost price to consumers. The rise of the internet and digital platforms have undermined this model in fundamental ways. As the Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has observed, “Historically, the production of news has been a joint product with advertising…and so those ads have supported the production of the news that we all depend on…. But if advertising is going down, there won’t be the production of news”. There is considerable evidence of the declining number of news media outlets in Australia as there is internationally.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Avieson, Bunty Palden, Tshering https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33427 2026-04-28T02:26:09Z 2024-12-09T00:00:00Z

Intersections of Culture, Climate, and Science: Innovations from Bhutanese research in Australia Avieson, Bunty; Palden, Tshering The papers in this edited collection represent a selection of the research that was delivered at a conference hosted by University of Sydney and Royal Bhutanese Embassy on December 4 and 5, 2023.

2024-12-09T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Gray, Joanne Nicholls, Robert https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33143 2026-04-28T02:26:09Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

ACCC Digital Platform Services Inquiry Response to Final Report: Issues Paper Flew, Terry; Gray, Joanne; Nicholls, Robert This submission addresses two issues that the ACCC may find useful as part of its work on the tenth and final report in the Digital Platform Services Inquiry. The first is the International Digital Policy Observatory (IDPO) and the second, related issue is consultation fatigue.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Fitzgerald, Scott Nicholls, Robert McTernan, Cameron https://hdl.handle.net/2123/33054 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Media and Internet Concentration in Australia, 2019-2022 Flew, Terry; Fitzgerald, Scott; Nicholls, Robert; McTernan, Cameron The Communications, Media and Internet Concentration in Australia report provides an overview of market concentration and the economic dominance of key players in 15 markets across telecommunications and internet access, online media and traditional media services, and core internet applications. Collating and analysing publicly available revenue and consumer data, we find that from 2019 to 2022, the majority of Australia’s media, internet and communication markets are moderately to highly concentrated. These results reflect a long history of media concentration in Australia and a continuing trend seen in many developed economies abroad.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Humphry, Justine Gray, Joanne Hutchinson, Jonathon Page Jeffrey, Catherine Johnson, Mark McKee, Alan Nicholls, Rob https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32826 2026-04-22T01:54:31Z

Submission to the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society Flew, Terry; Humphry, Justine; Gray, Joanne; Hutchinson, Jonathon; Page Jeffrey, Catherine; Johnson, Mark; McKee, Alan; Nicholls, Rob Recommendations Recommendation 1. Provide online safety education and critical media literacy in schools and communities. Sexual education and critical sexual media literacy earlier in the curriculum and in families would help to mitigate the negative effects of younger children accessing or encountering online pornography via social media. Recommendation 2. Promote and support ongoing conversations about online safety with parents, carers, peers and trusted experts and expand availability of youth specialist counsellors to provide online safety advice and education. Recommendation 3. Implement strong laws and enforcement strategies to ensure social media companies comply with agreed industry codes and develop tools, moderation and features that support safer online platforms and experiences using ‘safety by design’ and ‘privacy by design’ principles. Recommendation 4. Reform of Australia’s Privacy Act and specific online privacy laws and industry codes should be hastened and developed in parallel to align with the Online Safety Act to ensure that these are complementary, mutually reinforcing and fit for purpose. Recommendation 5. Resource research and technology testing (e.g. for age verification in practice) to provide evidence of emerging online safety issues, safety technologies and literacy needs to inform the design of education, changes in codes, and new platform features and interface designs. The decision of Meta to abandon deals under the News Media Bargaining Code. Recommendation 6: The case for a funding mechanism that ensures that digital platforms contribute to the sustainability of news production remains valid. However, the News Media Bargaining Code is less likely to be able to perform this role over the medium-term. The Federal Government should investigate the possibility of developing a levy on online advertising whose revenues would be earmarked towards the support of news production, with particular focus on public interest journalism and news provision to underserved communities and rural, regional and remote areas. The important role of Australian journalism, news and public interest media in countering mis- and disinformation on digital platforms. Recommendation 7: There is a need for legislation that can effectively respond to the challenge of misinformation, particularly with regards to political content. Such legislation needs to have due regard to principles of free speech, legitimate differences of opinion, and respectful disagreement that characterise robust liberal democracies. The algorithms, recommender systems and corporate decision making of digital platforms in influencing what Australians see, and the impact of this on mental health. Recommendation 8: That the Australian government adopts measures similar to the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) to ensure greater digital platform transparency. Other issues in relation to harmful or illegal content disseminated over social media, including scams, age-restricted content, child sexual abuse and violent extremist material. Recommendation 9: Any regulations placed on social media platforms to prevent harm to users be extended to immersive media platforms to ensure that platforms are accountable for user safety and proactively prevent harm. This could be achieved through implementing combinations of AI-driven monitoring tools and real-time behaviour controls that can mitigate harmful interactions as they happen. Proactive governance should focus on fostering positive community norms and inclusive environments from the start.

Mestrom, Sanné Odlum, Nadia https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32777 2026-04-28T02:26:07Z 2024-07-11T00:00:00Z

Play Beyond Playgrounds Symposium Report Mestrom, Sanné; Odlum, Nadia This report documents the proceedings and findings of the two-day symposium 'Play Beyond Playgrounds: Rethinking the role of public art in urban play' held at the University of Sydney on Thursday 30th November and Friday 1st December 2023. Comprising of keynotes, panel discussions, workshops and site visits this dynamic interdisciplinary event brought together experts from public art, urban planning, landscape architecture, academia, child development, and urbanism to collaborate, converse, grapple and play. Led by visual arts researchers Dr. Sanné Mestrom and Nadia Odlum from ART/PLAY/RISK and the University of Sydney, in partnership with leading landscape architect firm ASPECT Studios, this symposium challenged the status quo of urban play, asking the crucial questions: How can we harness the transformative power of play in public life to create better future cities, empowering individuals and communities? And what role can public art and design play in this vital transformation? The findings presented in this report advocate for the role of playable public art in shaping a city that empowers individuals of all ages to thrive and grow.

2024-07-11T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Stepnik, Agata Koskie, Timothy Tang, Wenjia https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32276 2026-04-28T02:26:08Z 2024-02-27T00:00:00Z

Response to News Media Assistance Program Consultation Paper Flew, Terry; Stepnik, Agata; Koskie, Timothy; Tang, Wenjia This response to the News Media Assistance Program Consultation Paper has been co-authored by Professor Terry Flew, Dr. Agata Stepnik, Ms. Wenjia Tang (all of Media and Communications, The University of Sydney), and Dr. Timothy Koskie (Centre for Media Transition, University of technology, Sydney). The authors have been engaged with the future of news media on the basis of their research on the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery-Project titled Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives (DP220100589), funded from 2022 to 2024. We thank the ARC for their support with this research. Other members of the Valuing News research team are: Professor Sora Park (News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra), Professor Derek Wilding (Co-director, Centre for Media Transition, University of technology, Sydney), Associate Professor Caroline Fisher (News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra), Associate Professor Timothy Dwyer (The University of Sydney), and Dr. Aljosha Karim Schapals (Queensland University of Technology). In this submission we have chosen to focus primarily upon the “Potential Measures” section of the Consultation Paper, as this raises issues of direct relevance to the work we have undertaken in the Valuing News report.

2024-02-27T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Swist, Teresa https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32257 2026-04-28T02:26:05Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Social Media Regulation Futures: Learning from International Policy Mixes Flew, Terry; Swist, Teresa There has been a turn worldwide towards social media regulation in the context of concerns about online harms, including those arising from misinformation. Social media regulation largely involves nation-states – or in the case of the European Union, a supra-national regional entity – setting rules and imposing sanctions on global digital platforms, raising issues about consistency in the application of such laws across jurisdictions and competing normative principles that underpin the understanding of social media and its relationship to politics and society. The paper considers the proposal by the Australian Federal government to develop a Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill as a case study, noting the relationship such legislation has to the circulation of online misinformation and racist social media content during the Voice referendum of 2023. The paper notes the importance of access to information about international approaches for comparative policy development and developing systemic approaches to such regulation that are not simply reactive, and points to resources being developed to enable such comparative work, such as the International Digital Policy Observatory (“IDPO”).

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Clark, Kate Euphemia Carter, Marcus Egliston, Ben Heemsbergen, Luke Hawker, Kiah O'Neill, Aurelia Foxman, Maxwell https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32215 2026-04-28T02:26:08Z 2024-02-15T00:00:00Z

CAVRN Syllabus, Vol. 2 Clark, Kate Euphemia; Carter, Marcus; Egliston, Ben; Heemsbergen, Luke; Hawker, Kiah; O'Neill, Aurelia; Foxman, Maxwell In its second volume CAVRN explores the implications that VR and AR technologies have on politics and policymaking, identity, ethics, socialisation and community building, and the economy from a critical, interdisciplinary perspective. This volume of CAVRN presents critical perspectives of AR and VR spanning over 7 articles. While coming from different perspectives each article tackles the entanglement of social, cultural, and historical factors that influence both the use of VR and AR and its material affordances. The contributions in this volume span three main areas: 1) the production and design of AR and XR; 2) the social and material implications of dominant XR narratives; and 3) XR and identity

2024-02-15T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32075 2026-04-28T02:26:05Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Return of the Regulatory State: Nation-States as Policy Actors in Digital Platform Governance Flew, Terry This chapter explores the rise of digital platform regulation by nation-states as a manifestation of the rise of "big state" nationalism and the decline of the open Internet.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Stepnik, Agata https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31897 2026-04-28T02:26:09Z 2023-11-22T00:00:00Z

The Value of News: Aligning Economic and Social Value From an Institutional Perspective Flew, Terry; Stepnik, Agata Journalism is considered essential to a functioning democracy. However, the continued viability of commercial news production is uncertain. News producers continue to lose advertising revenue to platform businesses dominating digital advertising markets, and alternate consumer direct revenue streams are not yet meeting the financial shortfall. This has led to questions of who should pay for news, the role of governments in maintaining news production viability, and whether digital platforms have social or economic responsibilities to pay news publishers. In this article, we seek to make explicit what is often implicit in such debates, which is the value of news. This is hard to know in advance as news is an experience good whose value and quality are only known after consuming it, and a credence good, whose perceived qualities may not be observable even after it is consumed. As such, preparedness to pay for news can be hard to ascertain, accentuated by the large amount of free news available online. This article seeks to use a value perspective to consider the relationship between individual consumer choices and questions of news’s value to society. Applying a new institutional economic perspective, it is observed that the value of news as a consumer product needs to be examined in relation to its value as a social good in democratic societies as both a media product and part of the institutional environment in which other social actors operate. We consider news’s social and economic value within a context of platformed news distribution and declining advertising revenues that appear to be structural and not cyclical.

2023-11-22T00:00:00Z Clark, Kate Marcus, Carter Ben, Egliston Heemsbergen, Luke Foxman, Maxwell Liao, Tony Murphy, Dooley Roquet, Paul Harley, Roquet Iliadis, Andrew Le, Trang Evans, Leighton Siriaraya, Panote Chesher, Chris https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31704 2026-04-28T02:26:05Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

CAVRN Syllabus, Vol. 1 Clark, Kate; Marcus, Carter; Ben, Egliston; Heemsbergen, Luke; Foxman, Maxwell; Liao, Tony; Murphy, Dooley; Roquet, Paul; Harley, Roquet; Iliadis, Andrew; Le, Trang; Evans, Leighton; Siriaraya, Panote; Chesher, Chris In this inaugural volume, we introduce CAVRN and set out an agenda for a Critical Augmented and Virtual Reality research Network. Through what we refer to as ‘critical AR and VR studies’, we argue there is urgent need for research that takes stock of rapid developments in the AR and VR space – accounting for the ethical, social, political, and economic implications of these technologies. This volume of CAVRN presents 16 contributions offering critical perspectives on AR and VR, encompassing diverse domains, united in their call for a deeper exploration of the complexities of virtual interaction, advocating for an approach to the critique of VR that accounts for both its material-technical affordances and its socio-cultural dimensions. The contributions in this volume cover four main areas – 1) the policy, regulatory, and legal implications of AR and VR, 2) media theoretical approaches to studying VR, 3) responses to the emerging ‘metaverse’, and 4) VR experiences and storytelling.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Humphry, Justine Boichak, Olga Hutchinson, Jonathon https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31689 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2023-09-20T00:00:00Z

Emerging Online Safety Issues: Co-creating social media with young people - Research Report Humphry, Justine; Boichak, Olga; Hutchinson, Jonathon Research report for the Emerging Online Safety Issues project funded by the eSafety Commissioner Online Safety Grants Program. The project was a collaboration between the University of Sydney, Youth Action and Student Edge. The project engaged young people (12-17) and parents and carers in participatory research and co-design to develop, disseminate and evaluate evidence-based social media education resources focusing on key and emerging issues for young people’s safety online.

2023-09-20T00:00:00Z Goggin, Gerard https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31571 2026-04-28T02:26:09Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Australia Media 2.0 Goggin, Gerard A lot has changed in the Australian media, especially with the rise of digital technologies –– and this chapter gives a bird’s eye view of this vastly altered landscape. Taking the early 1990s as a reference point, it outlines the main developments that underpin media in the 2020s. It looks at the key players in contemporary Australian media, and what the big changes have been in relation to–– understanding digitalisation, data, audiences and publics, as well as new forms of media power. Finally, the chapter ends with discussion of where Australian media fit into the global media environment, and what key questions we need to address.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31273 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

‘Too much’ and ‘too little’ content moderation: Internet governance as a case study in advanced liberal modes of government Flew, Terry The liberal art of government is forced to determine the precise extent to which and up to what point individual interest, that is to say, individual interests insofar as they are different and possibly opposed to one another, constitute a danger for the interest of all. The problem of security is the protection of the collective interest against individual interests. Conversely, individual interests have to be protected against everything that could be seen as an encroachment of the collective interest.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Tang, Wenjia Wei, Mingou https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31085 2026-05-07T02:24:10Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Streaming media business strategies and audience-centered practices: a comparative study of Netflix and Tencent Video Tang, Wenjia; Wei, Mingou This comparative study of streaming services in different cultural and economic contexts shows how they optimize the user experience by improving recommendation algorithms, upgrading infrastructure, and developing global services, in responding to the crisis of losing subscribers. We use analysis of industry documents to demonstrate how different approaches to streaming video business value user-generated data and reconstruction practices. There is already a similar trend among global streaming platforms to create a pan-media entertainment & cultural service by increasing revenue streams and merchandise offering categories, as well as keeping subscriptions and attracting more viewers in the long run. The study displays how streaming platforms with SVOD, AVOD, and Mix-funded modes are changing their business strategies in the current hyperinflationary and increasingly competitive media market, updating how they create user-centered practices in search of ultimate commercial success. It also illustrates how different commercial streaming service formats end up with similar solutions to the challenges. The study is a comparative analysis of the streaming phenomenon as it happens in real-time, complementing the observation and evaluation of the latest updates in the streaming industry and predicting the future trends of global brands in the digital ecosystem under different commercial and cultural logics.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z O'Donnell, Penny Zion, Lawrie Marjoribanks, Timothy https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29727 2026-05-07T02:24:12Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Who is a journalist now? Recognising atypical journalism work in the digital media economy O'Donnell, Penny; Zion, Lawrie; Marjoribanks, Timothy For the past two decades, understandings of the scale of digital disruption in journalism work in post-industrialised countries have relied on data about newspaper closures, newsroom job losses and the creation of new full-time jobs in journalism. Yet, the digital economy has fostered new employment and work arrangements, and there is less secure employment in journalism, making it more difficult to define who is a journalist now. Using a case study of Australian journalists seeking re-employment after newsroom job loss, this article examines some of the emerging patterns of atypical journalism work. It concludes that attempts to measure the current extent of journalism work need to explicitly account for hybrid careers characterised by professional activities at the margins of or outside of traditional newsroom work. In the digital economy, journalists may undertake a range of journalism and non-journalism work simultaneously or sequentially.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z O'Donnell, Penny Marjoribanks, Timothy https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29723 2026-04-22T01:54:27Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

What just happened? The days after redundancy O'Donnell, Penny; Marjoribanks, Timothy O'Donnell, P., & Marjoribanks, T. (2021). What just happened? The days after redundancy. In A. Dodd & M. Ricketson (Eds.). Upheaval: Disrupted lives in journalism (pp. 254-263). Sydney: UNSW Press.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z O'Donnell, Penny Buller, Brad Ricketson, Matthew https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29722 2026-04-22T01:54:31Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Pickets and payouts: Unions in the newsroom O'Donnell, Penny; Buller, Brad; Ricketson, Matthew O'Donnell, P., Buller, B. & Ricketson, M. (2021). Pickets and payouts: Unions in the newsroom. In A. Dodd & M. Ricketson (Eds.). Upheaval: Disrupted lives in journalism (pp. 199-214). Sydney: UNSW Press.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z O'Donnell, Penny Sherwood, Merryn Buller, Brad https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29721 2026-04-22T01:54:32Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

The constant undercurrent: sexual harassment and discrimination O'Donnell, Penny; Sherwood, Merryn; Buller, Brad O'Donnell. P., Sherwood, M. & Buller, B. (2021). The constant undercurrent: sexual harassment and discrimination. In A. Dodd & M. Ricketson (Eds.). Upheaval: Disrupted lives in journalism (pp. 89 - 101). Sydney: UNSW Press.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z O'Donnell, Penny https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29720 2026-04-22T01:54:30Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Resilience and reinvention O'Donnell, Penny O'Donnell, P. (2021). Resilience and reinvention. In A. Dodd & M. Ricketson (Eds.). Upheaval: Disrupted lives in journalism (pp 264-276). Sydney: UNSW Press.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Josephi, Beate O'Donnell, Penny https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29071 2026-04-22T01:54:27Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

The blurring line between freelance journalists and self-employed media workers Josephi, Beate; O'Donnell, Penny This study uses the question, ‘what makes a freelancer specifically a journalist’ as a starting point for investigating the ways Australian freelance journalists experienced and managed precarious employment in COVID-19 impacted 2020. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 32 self-identified freelance journalists, we analyse the types of work they did, the influence of the precarious job situation on their work choices and the consequent ways they chose to display their identity as journalists. Our findings reveal a complex picture, which calls into question some of the binaries established around journalism. While nearly all participants had to resort to work outside journalism in 2020, at least half still displayed strong links to journalism, demonstrated by their sense of belonging to a community of journalists, and their continued interest in doing self-funded public interest journalism as ‘passion projects’. However, we also noticed a blurring between the descriptors of journalist and writer, based partly on employment opportunities but also, importantly, on interest in increasing creativity in the journalistic space. These results lead us to question work-test definitions as a signifier of a freelancer’s bond to journalism and to propose, instead, that freelancers merit a new standing in the flattening hierarchy of journalism.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Hartley, John https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29067 2026-04-22T01:54:23Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

"Epistemic justice" (a memoir) Hartley, John This is a review essay, focussing on Emma A. Jane's (2022) memoir, Diagnosis Normal: Living with Abuse, Undiagnosed Autism, and coronavirus disease grade Crazy (2022).

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28889 2026-04-22T01:54:28Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Why tech regulators need to think like Google Flew, Terry As many of the world’s largest companies are platform-based technology companies, there has been a growing push worldwide to regulate these companies to address issues arising from economic, political and communications power. At the same time, their distinctive platform business models raise new challenges to regulators, such as what industries they are in, what problems connect to which regulatory authority, and who has jurisdictional authority and regulatory capacity. The paper argues that regulators increasingly need to “think like Google”: they need to be able to adopt holistic strategies that can apply across industry silos and different regulatory responsibilities. There is also a need to empower the notion of regulation in the public interest, to challenge the ideational power of tech companies that they are superior stewards of public good to government agencies.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Martin, Fiona R. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28749 2026-04-28T02:26:09Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Digital Platform Regulation: Global Perspectives on Internet Governance Flew, Terry; Martin, Fiona R. This Open Access volume provides an in-depth exploration of global policy and governance issues related to digital platform regulation. With an international ensemble of contributors, the volume has at its heard the question: what would actually be involved in digital platform regulation?’. Once a specialised and niche field within internet and digital media studies, internet governance has in recent years moved to the forefront of policy debate. In the wake of scandals such as Cambridge Analytica and the global ‘techlash’ against digital monopolies, platform studies are undergoing a critical turn, but there is a greater need to connect such analysis to questions of public policy. This volume does just that, through a rich array of chapters concretely exploring the operation and influence of digital platforms and their related policy concerns. A wide variety of digital communication platforms are explored, including social media, content portals, search engines and app stores. An important and timely work, ‘Digital Platform Regulation’ provides valuable insights into new global platform-orientated policy reforms, supplying an important resource to researchers everywhere seeking to engage with policymakers in the debate about the power of digital platforms and how to address it.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Park, Sora https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28700 2026-04-22T05:42:12Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Willingness to Pay: The Future of Screen Entertainment Flew, Terry; Park, Sora The rise of video streaming services, or subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), has been transforming television globally. In Australia, the growth in demand for video streaming services has occurred in parallel with the growth in the number of Australian households with smart TVs. New issues have emerged as a result, including the discoverability of content, the future of locally-produced screen content, and a widening digital divide between those with and without SVOD services.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Van Bavel, Jay J. Cichocka, Aleksandra Capraro, Valerio Sjåstad, Hallgeir Nezlek, John B. Pavlovi, Tomislav Alfano, Mark Gelfand, Michele J. Azevedo, Flavio Birtel, Michèle D. Cislak, Aleksandra Lockwood, Patricia L. Ross, Robert Malcolm Abts, Koen Agadullina, Elena Aruta, John Jamir Benzon Besharati, Sahba Nomvula Bor, Alexander Choma, Becky L. Crabtree, Charles David Cunningham, William A. De, Koustav Ejaz, Waqas Elbaek, Christian T. Findor, Andrej Flichtentrei, Daniel Franc, Renata Gjoneska, Biljana Gruber, June Gualda, Estrella Horiuchi, Yusaku Huynh, Toan Luu Duc Ibanez, Agustin Imran, Mostak Ahamed Israelashvili, Jacob Jasko, Katarzyna Kantorowicz, Jaroslaw Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, Elena Krouwel, André Laakasuo, Michael Lamm, Claus Leygue, Caroline Lin, Ming-Jen Mansoor, Mohammad Sabbir Marie, Antoine Mayiwar, Lewend Mazepus, Honorata McHugh, Cillian Minda, John Paul Mitkidis, Panagiotis Olsson, Andreas Otterbring, Tobias Packer, Dominic J. Perry, Anat Petersen, Michael Bang Puthillam, Arathy Riaño-Moreno, Julián C. Rothmund, Tobias Santamaría-García, Hernando Schmid, Petra C. Stoyanov, Drozdstoy Tewari, Shruti Todosijevi, Bojan Tsakiris, Manos Tung, Hans H. Umbre, Radu G. Vanags, Edmunds Vlasceanu, Madalina Vonasch, Andrew Yucel, Meltem Zhang, Yucheng Abad, Mohcine Adler, Eli Akrawi, Narin Mdarhri, Hamza Alaoui Amara, Hanane Amodio, David M. Antazo, Benedict G. Apps, Matthew Ay, F. Ceren Ba, Mouhamadou Hady Barbosa, Sergio Bastian, Brock Berg, Anton Bernal-Zárate, Maria P. Bernstein, Michael Biaek, Micha Bilancini, Ennio Bogatyreva, Natalia Boncinelli, Leonardo Booth, Jonathan E. Borau, Sylvie Buchel, Ondrej Cameron, C. Daryl Carvalho, Chrissie F. Celadin, Tatiana Cerami, Chiara Chalise, Hom Nath Cheng, Xiaojun Cian, Luca Cockcroft, Kate Conway, Jane Córdoba-Delgado, Mateo Andres Crespi, Chiara Crouzevialle, Marie Cutler, Jo Cypryaska, Marzena Dabrowska, Justyna Daniels, Michael A. Davis, Victoria H. Dayley, Pamala N. Delouvee, Sylvain Denkovski, Ognjan Dezecache, Guillaume Dhaliwal, Nathan A. Diato, Alelie B. Di Paolo, Roberto Drosinou, Marianna Dulleck, Uwe Ekmanis, Jnis Ertan, Arhan S. Etienne, Tom W. Farhana, Hapsa Hossain Farkhari, Fahima Farmer, Harry Fenwick, Ali Fidanovski, Kristijan Flew, Terry Fraser, Shona Frempong, Raymond Boadi Fugelsang, Jonathan A. Gale, Jessica Garcia-Navarro, E. Begoña Garladinne, Prasad Ghajjou, Oussama Gkinopoulos, Theofilos Gray, Kurt Griffin, Siobhán M. Gronfeldt, Bjarki Gümren, Mert Gurung, Ranju Lama Halperin, Eran Harris, Elizabeth Herzon, Volo Hruka, Matej Huang, Guanxiong Hudecek, Matthias F. C. Isler, Ozan Jangard, Simon Jørgensen, Frederik J. Kachanoff, Frank Kahn, John Dangol, Apsara Katuwal Keudel, Oleksandra Koppel, Lina Koverola, Mika Kubin, Emily Kunnari, Anton Kutiyski, Yordan Laguna, Oscar Leota, Josh Lermer, Eva Levy, Jonathan Levy, Neil Li, Chunyun Long, Elizabeth U. Longoni, Chiara Magli, Marina McCashin, Darragh Metcalf, Alexander L. Mikloui, Igor El Mimouni, Soulaimane Miura, Asako Molina-Paredes, Juliana Monroy-Fonseca, César Morales-Marente, Elena Moreau, David Muda, Rafa Myer, Annalisa Nash, Kyle Nesh-Nash, Tarik Nitschke, Jonas P. Nurse, Matthew S. Ohtsubo, Yohsuke Oldemburgo de Mello, Victoria O'Madagain, Cathal Onderco, Michal Palacios-Galvez, M. Soledad Palomäki, Jussi Pan, Yafeng Papp, Zsófia Pärnamets, Philip Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola Pavlović, Zoran Payán-Gómez, César Perander, Silva Pitman, Michael Mark Prasad, Rajib Pyrkosz-Pacyna, Joanna Rathje, Steve Raza, Ali Rêgo, Gabriel G. Rhee, Kasey Robertson, Claire E. Rodríguez-Pascual, Iván Saikkonen, Teemu Salvador-Ginez, Octavio Sampaio, Waldir M. Santi, Gaia C. Santiago-Tovar, Natalia Savage, David Scheffer, Julian A. Schönegger, Philipp Schultner, David T. Schutte, Enid M. Scott, Andy Sharma, Madhavi Sharma, Pujan Skali, Ahmed Stadelmann, David Stafford, Clara Alexandra Stanojević, Dragan Stefaniak, Anna Sternisko, Anni Stoica, Agustin Stoyanova, Kristina K. Strickland, Brent Sundvall, Jukka Thomas, Jeffrey P. Tinghög, Gustav Torgler, Benno Traast, Iris J. Tucciarelli, Raffaele Tyrala, Michael Ungson, Nick D. Uysal, Mete S. Van Lange, Paul A. M. van Prooijen, Jan-Willem van Rooy, Dirk Västfjäll, Daniel Verkoeijen, Peter Vieira, Joana B. von Sikorski, Christian Walker, Alexander Cameron Watermeyer, Jennifer Wetter, Erik Whillans, Ashley Willardt, Robin Wohl, Michael J. A. Wójcik, Adrian Dominik Wu, Kaidi Yamada, Yuki Yilmaz, Onurcan Yogeeswaran, Kumar Ziemer, Carolin-Theresa Zwaan, Rolf A. Boggio, Paulo S. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28291 2026-04-22T01:50:34Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic Van Bavel, Jay J.; Cichocka, Aleksandra; Capraro, Valerio; Sjåstad, Hallgeir; Nezlek, John B.; Pavlovi, Tomislav; Alfano, Mark; Gelfand, Michele J.; Azevedo, Flavio; Birtel, Michèle D.; Cislak, Aleksandra; Lockwood, Patricia L.; Ross, Robert Malcolm; Abts, Koen; Agadullina, Elena; Aruta, John Jamir Benzon; Besharati, Sahba Nomvula; Bor, Alexander; Choma, Becky L.; Crabtree, Charles David; Cunningham, William A.; De, Koustav; Ejaz, Waqas; Elbaek, Christian T.; Findor, Andrej; Flichtentrei, Daniel; Franc, Renata; Gjoneska, Biljana; Gruber, June; Gualda, Estrella; Horiuchi, Yusaku; Huynh, Toan Luu Duc; Ibanez, Agustin; Imran, Mostak Ahamed; Israelashvili, Jacob; Jasko, Katarzyna; Kantorowicz, Jaroslaw; Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, Elena; Krouwel, André; Laakasuo, Michael; Lamm, Claus; Leygue, Caroline; Lin, Ming-Jen; Mansoor, Mohammad Sabbir; Marie, Antoine; Mayiwar, Lewend; Mazepus, Honorata; McHugh, Cillian; Minda, John Paul; Mitkidis, Panagiotis; Olsson, Andreas; Otterbring, Tobias; Packer, Dominic J.; Perry, Anat; Petersen, Michael Bang; Puthillam, Arathy; Riaño-Moreno, Julián C.; Rothmund, Tobias; Santamaría-García, Hernando; Schmid, Petra C.; Stoyanov, Drozdstoy; Tewari, Shruti; Todosijevi, Bojan; Tsakiris, Manos; Tung, Hans H.; Umbre, Radu G.; Vanags, Edmunds; Vlasceanu, Madalina; Vonasch, Andrew; Yucel, Meltem; Zhang, Yucheng; Abad, Mohcine; Adler, Eli; Akrawi, Narin; Mdarhri, Hamza Alaoui; Amara, Hanane; Amodio, David M.; Antazo, Benedict G.; Apps, Matthew; Ay, F. Ceren; Ba, Mouhamadou Hady; Barbosa, Sergio; Bastian, Brock; Berg, Anton; Bernal-Zárate, Maria P.; Bernstein, Michael; Biaek, Micha; Bilancini, Ennio; Bogatyreva, Natalia; Boncinelli, Leonardo; Booth, Jonathan E.; Borau, Sylvie; Buchel, Ondrej; Cameron, C. Daryl; Carvalho, Chrissie F.; Celadin, Tatiana; Cerami, Chiara; Chalise, Hom Nath; Cheng, Xiaojun; Cian, Luca; Cockcroft, Kate; Conway, Jane; Córdoba-Delgado, Mateo Andres; Crespi, Chiara; Crouzevialle, Marie; Cutler, Jo; Cypryaska, Marzena; Dabrowska, Justyna; Daniels, Michael A.; Davis, Victoria H.; Dayley, Pamala N.; Delouvee, Sylvain; Denkovski, Ognjan; Dezecache, Guillaume; Dhaliwal, Nathan A.; Diato, Alelie B.; Di Paolo, Roberto; Drosinou, Marianna; Dulleck, Uwe; Ekmanis, Jnis; Ertan, Arhan S.; Etienne, Tom W.; Farhana, Hapsa Hossain; Farkhari, Fahima; Farmer, Harry; Fenwick, Ali; Fidanovski, Kristijan; Flew, Terry; Fraser, Shona; Frempong, Raymond Boadi; Fugelsang, Jonathan A.; Gale, Jessica; Garcia-Navarro, E. Begoña; Garladinne, Prasad; Ghajjou, Oussama; Gkinopoulos, Theofilos; Gray, Kurt; Griffin, Siobhán M.; Gronfeldt, Bjarki; Gümren, Mert; Gurung, Ranju Lama; Halperin, Eran; Harris, Elizabeth; Herzon, Volo; Hruka, Matej; Huang, Guanxiong; Hudecek, Matthias F. C.; Isler, Ozan; Jangard, Simon; Jørgensen, Frederik J.; Kachanoff, Frank; Kahn, John; Dangol, Apsara Katuwal; Keudel, Oleksandra; Koppel, Lina; Koverola, Mika; Kubin, Emily; Kunnari, Anton; Kutiyski, Yordan; Laguna, Oscar; Leota, Josh; Lermer, Eva; Levy, Jonathan; Levy, Neil; Li, Chunyun; Long, Elizabeth U.; Longoni, Chiara; Magli, Marina; McCashin, Darragh; Metcalf, Alexander L.; Mikloui, Igor; El Mimouni, Soulaimane; Miura, Asako; Molina-Paredes, Juliana; Monroy-Fonseca, César; Morales-Marente, Elena; Moreau, David; Muda, Rafa; Myer, Annalisa; Nash, Kyle; Nesh-Nash, Tarik; Nitschke, Jonas P.; Nurse, Matthew S.; Ohtsubo, Yohsuke; Oldemburgo de Mello, Victoria; O'Madagain, Cathal; Onderco, Michal; Palacios-Galvez, M. Soledad; Palomäki, Jussi; Pan, Yafeng; Papp, Zsófia; Pärnamets, Philip; Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola; Pavlović, Zoran; Payán-Gómez, César; Perander, Silva; Pitman, Michael Mark; Prasad, Rajib; Pyrkosz-Pacyna, Joanna; Rathje, Steve; Raza, Ali; Rêgo, Gabriel G.; Rhee, Kasey; Robertson, Claire E.; Rodríguez-Pascual, Iván; Saikkonen, Teemu; Salvador-Ginez, Octavio; Sampaio, Waldir M.; Santi, Gaia C.; Santiago-Tovar, Natalia; Savage, David; Scheffer, Julian A.; Schönegger, Philipp; Schultner, David T.; Schutte, Enid M.; Scott, Andy; Sharma, Madhavi; Sharma, Pujan; Skali, Ahmed; Stadelmann, David; Stafford, Clara Alexandra; Stanojević, Dragan; Stefaniak, Anna; Sternisko, Anni; Stoica, Agustin; Stoyanova, Kristina K.; Strickland, Brent; Sundvall, Jukka; Thomas, Jeffrey P.; Tinghög, Gustav; Torgler, Benno; Traast, Iris J.; Tucciarelli, Raffaele; Tyrala, Michael; Ungson, Nick D.; Uysal, Mete S.; Van Lange, Paul A. M.; van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; van Rooy, Dirk; Västfjäll, Daniel; Verkoeijen, Peter; Vieira, Joana B.; von Sikorski, Christian; Walker, Alexander Cameron; Watermeyer, Jennifer; Wetter, Erik; Whillans, Ashley; Willardt, Robin; Wohl, Michael J. A.; Wójcik, Adrian Dominik; Wu, Kaidi; Yamada, Yuki; Yilmaz, Onurcan; Yogeeswaran, Kumar; Ziemer, Carolin-Theresa; Zwaan, Rolf A.; Boggio, Paulo S. Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N=49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N=42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r=0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Su, Chunmeizi https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28232 2026-04-28T02:26:07Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Regulating Chinese and North American Digital Media in Australia: Facebook and WeChat as Case Studies Su, Chunmeizi As the Australian government has legislated for a ‘News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code’ to compel Google and Facebook to pay for news content, platform regulation in Australia has prompted a heated discussion worldwide. Questionable business practices have incited issues such as anti-competition behaviour, online harms, disinformation, algorithmic advertising, trade of data, privacy breaches and so on. Consequently, these technology tycoons are re-inscribing industries and societies alike, posing a threat to digital democracy. This chapter examines how Facebook and WeChat are (or should be) regulated in Australia, the current regulatory frameworks, and the overall effectiveness of self-regulation. Through the lenses of comparative research, this study is focused on infrastructuralization, techno-nationalism (censorship), and civil society (media diversity), to identify distinct features and common themes in platform regulation and explore possible solutions to regulating global platforms in Australia.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Su, Chunmeizi https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28230 2026-05-07T02:24:12Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Contingency, Precarity and Short-Video Creativity: Platformization Based Analysis of Chinese Online Screen Industry Su, Chunmeizi Platformization theory proposes that cultural productions are contingent on platforms. This study argues that in the Chinese context; however, online productions are contingent not only on platforms, but on government policies. Under the influence of state, market, and platform policy, major streaming services in China are becoming an online “state TV.” The limitations placed on grassroots content has forced creators to thrive elsewhere, contributing to the proliferation of short video platforms such as TikTok. This study investigates the contingency and precarity of the online sector to map the migration of content creators from conventional streaming services to the emerging creative forms of short videos and livestreaming.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Su, Chunmeizi https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27485 2026-04-28T02:26:07Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Mapping International Enquiries into the Power of Digital Platforms Flew, Terry; Su, Chunmeizi There has been a resurgence of interest across multiple jurisdictions in greater regulation by nation-states of aspects of the structure, conduct and performance of digital platforms. This has been driven by: growing concerns about the economic and other forms of power exercised by the largest platform companies in the digital economy; a series of ‘public shocks’ related to the misuse of such power and digital reach; pervasive community concerns about privacy, security, the misuse of personal data, and the erosion of rights in a digital age; and a policy shift from a ‘rights’ discourse that dominated early debates about internet governance towards one focused upon potential risks and online harms. While there are similar factors across nations promoting questions about why greater regulation of digital platforms should occur, there is less consensus about how it should be undertaken. This report seeks to map the issues raised and policies recommended, identifying the issues as arising across the fields of competition policy, content policy and digital rights. Undertaking an initial environmental scan of 65 public enquiries, the authors undertook a textual and thematic analysis of a subset of 20 public inquiries, across seven countries, the European Union, and the United Nations. The approach taken parallels that of Kretschmer, Furgal and Schlesinger in their mapping of the emergence of a new regulatory field of platform governance in the United Kingdom (Kretschmer et al., 2021). In terms of policy recommendations, it was found that with regards to competition, access to data, competition in digital markets, the future of the news industry, and platform regulation were common themes across the enquiries. The main drive for content regulation has been perceived online harms, and the main themes identified include the role of digital platforms, in disseminating or restricting access to harmful content, support for civil society organisations monitoring misinformation and online harms, development of multi-stakeholder codes of practice, and an expanded role of public authorities. In the more diffuse field of rights, the main drivers of policy reform are online targeting of consumers, transparency on political advertising, data portability, privacy laws, and regulations on third-party uses of data along the lines of the European Union’s GDPR. There is also an emerging literature on regulatory issues raised by artificial intelligence. The report concludes with a discussion of issues raised by national policy regulations, including jurisdictional authority over global platforms headquartered in other countries, the question of who regulates, and the appropriate balance between nation-state regulation, industry self-regulation, and multi-stakeholder governance. It finds some support for the proposition that such issues are seeing the rise of hybrid regulatory entities that operate across industry and policy silos, as part of what Philip Schlesinger has termed neo-regulation (Schlesinger, 2021).

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Keane, Michael Su, Chunmeizi https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27425 2026-04-28T02:26:07Z 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Will to Power: the BAT in and beyond China Keane, Michael; Su, Chunmeizi This chapter examines the imperative for China to compete for international cultural acclaim. The term ‘strong cultural power’ (wenhua qiangguo), is a slogan institutionalised by the Xi Jinping regime to reclaim China’s lost cultural ascendency and normalise operations. What is cultural power and how does Chinese media become powerful? While state media institutions are restrained from creative risk-taking another force is arising, which describe as BAT, an acronym for Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, China’s leading internet companies, which are rapidly establishing global connections and taking Chinese media into new territories, either through co-productions or by buying foreign assets.

2018-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry Chunmeizi, Su https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27417 2026-04-28T02:26:08Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Mapping International Enquiries into the Power of Digital Platforms Flew, Terry; Chunmeizi, Su There has been a resurgence of interest across multiple jurisdictions in greater regulation by nation-states of aspects of the structure, conduct and performance of digital platforms. This has been driven by: growing concerns about the economic and other forms of power exercised by the largest platform companies in the digital economy; a series of ‘public shocks’ related to the misuse of such power and digital reach; pervasive community concerns about privacy, security, the misuse of personal data, and the erosion of rights in a digital age; and a policy shift from a ‘rights’ discourse that dominated early debates about internet governance towards one focused upon potential risks and online harms. While there are similar factors across nations promoting questions about why greater regulation of digital platforms should occur, there is less consensus about how it should be undertaken. This report seeks to map the issues raised and policies recommended, identifying the issues as arising across the fields of competition policy, content policy and digital rights. Undertaking an initial environmental scan of 65 public enquiries, the authors undertook a textual and thematic analysis of a subset of 20 public inquiries, across seven countries, the European Union, and the United Nations. The approach taken parallels that of Kretschmer, Furgal and Schlesinger in their mapping of the emergence of a new regulatory field of platform governance in the United Kingdom (Kretschmer et al., 2021). In terms of policy recommendations, it was found that with regards to competition, access to data, competition in digital markets, the future of the news industry, and platform regulation were common themes across the enquiries. The main drive for content regulation has been perceived online harms, and the main themes identified include the role of digital platforms, in disseminating or restricting access to harmful content, support for civil society organisations monitoring misinformation and online harms, development of multi-stakeholder codes of practice, and an expanded role of public authorities. In the more diffuse field of rights, the main drivers of policy reform are online targeting of consumers, transparency on political advertising, data portability, privacy laws, and regulations on third-party uses of data along the lines of the European Union’s GDPR. There is also an emerging literature on regulatory issues raised by artificial intelligence. The report concludes with a discussion of issues raised by national policy regulations, including jurisdictional authority over global platforms headquartered in other countries, the question of who regulates, and the appropriate balance between nation-state regulation, industry self- regulation, and multi-stakeholder governance. It finds some support for the proposition that such issues are seeing the rise of hybrid regulatory entities that operate across industry and policy silos, as part of what Philip Schlesinger has termed neo-regulation (Schlesinger, 2021).

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Hutchinson, Jonathon Humphry, Justine Boichak, Olga https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27166 2026-04-28T02:26:08Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Online Privacy Bill: Exposure Draft - Submission to the Attorney General’s Department Hutchinson, Jonathon; Humphry, Justine; Boichak, Olga This submission refers to the Online Privacy Bill Exposure Draft, where the OP Code has identified children as one of the key vulnerable groups especially concerned with social media services. The three scholars named in the submission have recently secured a funded research project with the eSafety Commissioner to explore further the key issues identified in this document. Within the next 12 to 18 months, the research data from this project will be available to clearly articulate the emerging issues for young Australians and their parents or carers who engage with social media. The project is a co-designed approach to place the voice of young Australians and their parents/carers at the centre of the findings while prioritising a shared responsibility for their online safety. Two members of the project research team also attended the Attorney-General Department’s Consultation - Privacy Protections for Children held on the 19th November, 2021.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Humphry, Justine Chesher, Chris https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27082 2026-04-22T01:54:23Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Visibility and security in the smart home Humphry, Justine; Chesher, Chris Smart home, media and security systems intervene in the territory and boundaries of the home in a variety of ways. Among these are the capacity to watch the home from afar, and to record these observations over time, as well as using the home as a site of performance for those on the outside. In this paper, we map the meanings of the smart home and explore the tensions between security and visibility, adopting a cultural history and cultural analysis methodological approach. We make a contribution to the literature on the smart home, highlighting its connection to longer trajectories of media and cultural change, and to understanding the contemporary formations of technologised surveillance, with attention to practices that emerged in response to COVID-19. We focus on two aspects of our model of domestic smartification: Ludics (devices and systems for play or entertainment) and exteriorities (security and communication interfaces that remotely monitor and expose the home). We focus on these aspects relating them to ideas of haunting and the uncanny to explore the implications of making what was previously hidden visible and manipulable to others.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26408 2026-04-28T02:26:07Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

WILLINGNESS TO PAY: NEWS MEDIA Flew, Terry There has been much attention in recent years to the future sustainability of news production, and the implications of a decline in professionally produced and locally based journalism for civic engagement, democratic participation and the public sphere. There has been a long-term drift of audiences and advertisers away from the dominant mass media formats of the 20th century, such as newspapers, magazines and broadcast radio and television, towards a wider range of digital options, including social media, subscription video-on-demand services, podcasts and blogs. There has also been growing questioning of the role of digital platforms in the transformation of media markets, and how equitable the relationships are between the many creators of news content and the small number of digital platforms, which have near-monopoly power in key digital sectors such as search and social media, as well as dominance in digital advertising. These concerns about industry transformation and market power are overlaid by concern about the consequences of a changing news media ecology, particularly the impact of misinformation and “fake news” distributed through social media platforms by politically and ideologically motivated “bad actors”, which in turn feeds into a wider distrust of not only the media, but all social institutions.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25709 2026-04-22T01:54:23Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Trust and Communication: Looking Back, Looking Forward Flew, Terry What has been referred to as the crisis of trust in social institutions has deep connections with communications, whether it be declining trust in news media and journalism, debates about the power of digital platforms and trust in online environments, questions surrounding media effects, the rise of political populism, or how trust or mistrust shapes interpersonal and intergroup communication. At the same time, trust in communications research has something of a “hidden history” when compared to disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, political science, and economics. Through a systematic literature review of uses of the concept of trust in six journals published by the International Communication Association—Journal of Communication; Communication Theory; Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication; Human Communication Research; Communication, Culture & Critique; and Annals of the International Communication Association (formerly Communication Yearbook)—this article undertakes a chronological and thematic analysis of how research into trust has evolved among communication researchers from the 1950s to 2020. It concludes with a discussion of the distinctive contributions of communications as a scholarly field to trust studies more broadly.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Sinpeng, Aim Martin, Fiona R. Gelber, Katharine Shields, Kirril https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25116.3 2026-04-28T02:26:08Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Facebook: Regulating Hate Speech in the Asia Pacific Sinpeng, Aim; Martin, Fiona R.; Gelber, Katharine; Shields, Kirril This study was funded as part of the Facebook Content Policy Research on Social Media Awards to examine Facebook’s hate speech regulation challenges in the Asia Pacific. It maps hate speech law in five case study countries in the Asia Pacific region - India, Myanmar, Indonesia, The Philippines and Australia - to understand how this problem is framed nationally, and what regulatory gaps exist that might enable hate speech to proliferate on Facebook. It presents an ideal definition of hate speech derived from scholarly literature and compares that to Facebook’s policy versions in its Community Standards and editorial procedures, to establish if the company’s policy could be improved. It then explores how Facebook hate speech policies and procedures seek to moderate this harmful content, by examining corporate literature, conducting interviews with Facebook staff, and mapping the organisational response to this problem. Finally, given the level of discrimination and vilification experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer identifying people across Asia, the study analyses data from the public Facebook pages of major LGBTQ+ groups in our case study countries to examine the incidence of hate speech that had escaped Facebook’s automated filters. It also presents interviews with page administrators of these groups that reveal their conceptions and management of hate speech, including their experience of reporting hate posts to Facebook. Along with expert online community management input from the Australian Community Managers network, these civil society interviews provide a framework for understanding the ‘regulatory literacy’ of those who are at the frontline of Facebook’s efforts to minimise hate on its platform. The report recommends Facebook: • extend its consultation with protected groups on their experience and management of hate speech, • develop and publicise its trusted partners channel, so that individuals and organisations have a direct hate speech reporting partner for crisis reporting issues. • hold an annual regional hate speech roundtable for stakeholder groups, and • recognise the role of page administrators as critical gatekeepers of hate speech content, supporting their improved regulatory literacy via training and education.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25025 2026-04-28T02:26:07Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Trusting and valuing news in a pandemic: Attitudes to online news media content during COVID-19 and policy implications Flew, Terry While the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to significant growth in news consumption, this did not translate into either greater trust or an improved financial situation for news providers. At a time when disinformation has become a key concern with regards to public health messaging, this mistrust of mainstream news media has potentially disastrous consequences for public communication in a time of urgent public health concerns. The article explores five issues for the study of news and trust, including the impact of digital platforms, the accountability revolution, the crisis of news media business models, the power-shift within media to platforms in the time of COVID-19, and the turn to subscription-based media. The latter raises critical issues around the value of news, and the future relationship between subscriptions, advertising revenue and public funding in the future of news publication and distribution.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24994 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Global Trust Deficit Disorder: A Communications Perspective on Trust in the Time of Global Pandemics Flew, Terry There has been much discussion worldwide about the crisis of trust, with evidence of declining trust in social, economic, political and media institutions. The rise of populism, and the differing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic between nations, has been drawing attention to wider implications of pervasive distrust, including distrust of the media. In this article, I develop three propositions. First, I identify trust studies as a rich interdisciplinary field, linking communication to other branches of the social sciences and humanities. Second, I argue that we lack a comprehensive account of how trust has been understood in communication, and that doing so requires integrating macro-societal approaches with the “meso” level of institutions, and the “micro” level of interpersonal communication. Third, I propose that a focus upon trust would open up new perspectives on two important topics—the future of news media and journalism, and the global rise of populism.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24789 2026-04-28T02:26:04Z 2021-04-06T00:00:00Z

Digital media Flew, Terry “Digital media” refers to content that is created, distributed, consumed, modified, and preserved on digital electronic devices. The term digital indicates that it is content that takes the form of a combination of binary codes (zeros and ones), or digits, that is indifferent to the content that it contains; it contrasts to analog media, which are carried through analog waves, and require particular devices in order to be received. By contrast, digital media signals are indifferent to the type of networked electronic device that carries or receives the signal, and so can be created, distributed, and consumed across multiple electronic platforms.

2021-04-06T00:00:00Z Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24782 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z

Trusting and valuing news in a pandemic: Attitudes to online news media content during COVID-19 and policy implications Flew, Terry While the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to significant growth in news consumption, this did not translate into either greater trust or an improved financial situation for news providers. At a time when disinformation has become a key concern with regards to public health messaging, this mistrust of mainstream news media has potentially disastrous consequences for public communication in a time of urgent public health concerns. The article explores five issues for the study of news and trust, including the impact of digital platforms, the accountability revolution, the crisis of news media business models, the power-shift within media to platforms in the time of COVID-19, and the turn to subscription-based media. The latter raises critical issues around the value of news, and the future relationship between subscriptions, advertising revenue and public funding in the future of news publication and distribution

2021-04-01T00:00:00Z Su, Chunmeizi Flew, Terry https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24147 2026-04-28T02:26:08Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

The rise of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) and their role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Su, Chunmeizi; Flew, Terry The Chinese digital technology giants, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT), dominate over their competitors in China across platforms that include e-commerce, digital entertainment, e-finance and artificial intelligence (AI). To understand BAT’s corporate power and their strategic role working with the government – in this case, their involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – this paper unveils the capabilities of these three oligopolies and discusses their international expansion in relation to the BRI. The BRI is being constructed on two layers, the physical and digital infrastructure, and the BAT are contributing to the latter. This paper examines the interrelations between BAT and the state through case studies, observing the tensions and potential contradictions arising from the reliance of the Chinese state on the BAT to build digital infrastructure, while the BAT seek to minimize direct state regulation for their data- driven business models.

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z Mrva-Montoya, Agata https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24110 2026-04-28T02:26:05Z 2020-12-10T00:00:00Z

Producing Accessible Books in Australia: A Snapshot Mrva-Montoya, Agata This exploratory study of Australian alternative format providers involved in the retroactive conversion of print into accessible formats seeks to better understand the issues affecting the remediation practices used in the production of accessible content. The key aim of the study is to identify the key challenges that the producers encounter, facilitate better communication with publishers and access to appropriate files for conversion, and improve the delivery of print conversion services so that people with disabilities can receive accessible material in the quickest and most streamlined fashion.

2020-12-10T00:00:00Z Mrva-Montoya, Agata https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24113 2026-04-28T02:26:09Z 2020-12-10T00:00:00Z

Inclusive Publishing in Australia: A Preliminary Report Mrva-Montoya, Agata Despite the developments in digital technologies, people with a print disability such as blindness or low vision have limited access to reading material in accessible formats. This “global book famine” affects their opportunities for learning, participating in the social and economic life of society, and leading a balanced life. With limited research in this area, and poor understanding and collaboration among alternative content producers and publishers, a potential opportunity exists to transform the creation and production of accessible content in Australia. This exploratory study of Australian book publishers seeks to better understand the issues affecting the production of accessible content. While the results from this sample cannot be generalised to the whole publishing industry in Australia, this study offers valuable insights into the level of engagement of the publishing industry in the implementation of accessibility standards, and identifies the key drivers and challenges that publishers encounter.

2020-12-10T00:00:00Z Carter, Marcus Egliston, Ben https://hdl.handle.net/2123/22485 2026-04-28T02:26:06Z 2020-06-12T00:00:00Z

Ethical Implications of Emerging Mixed Reality Technologies Carter, Marcus; Egliston, Ben Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies are increasingly finding foothold in culture and society. As these technologies stake out an increasingly large space in areas like entertainment, work, health and communication, it is important that we are equipped to think lucidly about both their benefits and their drawbacks. This document presents a thematic review of the literature that focuses on the ‘ethics’ or ethical implications of virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies. We cover both the perceived benefits to individuals and society, as well as associated risks and ambiguities. We survey research published in fields such as media studies, Human-Computer Interaction, philosophy of technology, and surveillance studies, as well as work published in the popular media. We outline areas pertaining to the ethics of AR and VR, broadly encompassed in the following categories: 1) ethical frameworks for VR and AR, 2) expectations of privacy in public space, 3) accessibility, inclusivity and exclusion, 3) surveillance and platform power, 4) the military entertainment complex, 5) empathy, and 6) work.

2020-06-12T00:00:00Z