I need some assistance with these assignment. key characteristics of australian media Thank you in advance for the help! In the land down under, Australia also has its own way of letting the media operate. Whether it is in the form of electronic, print, PR, or media from the internet, Australian media adheres to its general guidelines. Publicly funded media companies in Australia are the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), which broadcasts on television, the internet and the radio for free, as it strongly broadcasts public service. Other major players in the industry of broadcasting are: Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd., Australian Associated Press, John Fairfax Holdings, The Seven Network, APN News and Media, and many others shape the characteristics of Australian media in a way that media’s most important public role is largely dependent on the game played by private corporations. Its increasing difficulty in being well regulated is affected by several factors including technological developments, ownership, and control structure where media conglomerates follow the globalization trend and the contractual relationships between suppliers or information and entertainment and its viewers (Sampford & Lui 2004, p. 86-87).

Apparently, broadcasting companies in Australia are characterized by having a highly concentrated media ownership structure brought about by cross-ownership. and this is one of the challenges that Australian media has to face. The ownership of a small media company has posed to be more complex than expected because the company establishes relationships with associations and other organizations which often belong under the same larger corporation resulting in a complicated intertwining of relationships. Due to this complication, cross-media ownership was decided to be given some limitations and so changes were proposed by the government in 1985, which created the Broadcasting Act of 1987 (Sheehan 2002, p. 4). This act limits the company’s audience reach and the types of media it can own. Sheehan (2002, p. 4) stated that this act would support “competition policy, discourage concentration of media ownership in local markets, and enhance public access to a diversity of viewpoints.” Broadcasting Act of 1988 was enacted for radio broadcasting media which basically carries the same principles regarding ownership and control. Moreover, the Broadcasting Act of 1989 contains amended provisions regarding cross-media ownership of radio and television licenses. The limit on this type of ownership in on who gains control over the company based on the number of shares of stock owned. The Act also provides for the succession or chain of companies to exercise control over (Sheehan 2002, p. 4). The Broadcasting Services Act of 1992 gives a description of media ownership and control in which the act provides for individual ownership and control, cross-media ownership and control, and subscription television broadcasting licenses for foreign owners (Sheehan 2002, p. 3).