The dimensions of mediatized policy-making in Australian Indigenous affairs
-
Kerry McCallum
and
Lisa Waller
Abstract
This article analyzes media-related policy-making practices in the bureaucratic realm of Indigenous affairs in Australia. It considers the implications of an increasingly media-oriented bureaucracy for particular social policies in the light of recent mediatization theory. A qualitative study explored how bureaucrats working in Indigenous affairs articulated their understanding of the news media’s role in policy development. The article identifies and describes five dimensions of mediatized bureaucratic practice – expertise, monitoring, anticipating, reacting and strategizing – and concludes that mediatized practices have permeated the very fabric of the policy-making process. It finds evidence of an increasingly intimate relationship between the logics and agendas of mainstream news media and bureaucrats working on complex and politically controversial policies. In Australia, mediatized policy-making practices contributed to both the intractability of Indigenous affairs policy and the introduction of radical policy solutions to address apparent policy failure. These findings add to the body of empirical research exploring the mediatization of policy-making and its implications for politically sensitive fields.
©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Actor diversity and viewpoint diversity: Two of a kind?
- Critical news reading with Twitter? Exploring data-mining practices and their impact on societal discourse
- How does the radio spokesperson’s voice influence credibility?
- The dimensions of mediatized policy-making in Australian Indigenous affairs
- A gender-focused review of the effect of message source attractiveness on persuasion: Implications for marketers and advertisers
- Research in brief
- Materialistic girls watching a materialistic world: fashion TV series and women’s copy-cat intentions
- Diversity reflected? Analyzing the representation of gender, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation on Dutch prime time television
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
