Australia

Australia, situated between the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, is the sixth largest country in the world by area at 2,988,902 square miles (7,741,220 square kilometres). Its population of 23 million is concentrated mainly in urban areas along the coastline. The popular image of Australia conveyed to the world through its motion pictures, television programs, and popular music is the product of a complex and sophisticated mass media ecosystem, which has both shaped and reflected Australia’s development as an industrialised, urbanised nation[Page 122] throughout the 20th century and into the present millennium.

Australia’s historical exposure to, and reliance on, Anglo-American media innovations and conventions has created a hybrid industry model whereby government regulation and public service media outlets have (to varying degrees) served as a bulwark ...