This essay will examine free-to-air television news and current affairs in Australia. Comparisons will be made where appropriate between those services offered on commercial networks (Seven, Nine and Ten) and those offered on the public broadcasters (ABC and SBS). I will examine issues of quality, frequency of content, provision of local content, funding (including cost reduction strategies) and claims of bias and regulatory obligations.

Television enjoys a de facto monopoly in what goes into the heads of certain sections of the population. Television is a powerful mass medium, and as such it deserves strong regulation to ensure its power is not abused. Many people don’t believe in events, they just simply believe in television, the ‘if it’s on TV it must be true’ attitude.

What constitutes news can be quite different for different news services. The level of focus on world events can range from SBS where coverage is almost exclusively on world events through to channels Seven and Nine where local events are predominant. Channel Nine has the least. It generally only has a voiced over round-up of events around the glo

Current affairs is now dead on commercial television, replaced by the concept of ‘public affairs’. Public affairs includes more celebrity stories, issues useful in a domestic sense such as how to save money shopping, or the latest miracle diet and less emphasis on world events or politics. This softening of news and analysis is a worldwide trend. It is fortunate that at least we still have the ABC.

Some topics in this essay:
Australia June, ABC SBS, Green Guide, Sports Wrap’, Richard Alston, Sydney Perth, Services Act, SBS Charter, Commonwealth Government, Corporation Act, commercial television, current affairs, western australia, television current affairs, television current, world events, abc sbs, australian broadcasting, broadcast programming, ‘national sports, australia abc, ‘national sports wrap’, free-to-air commercial television, australian broadcasting corporation, commercial television networks,