The Australian's media supplement: A lapdog, a watchdog, an attack dog or all of the above?

Abstract

The modern news media comprise powerful institutions that require the kind of scrutiny they direct towards other influential institutions. The 50th anniversary of The Australian offers a timely opportunity to examine how fairly and accurately the national daily newspaper has reported on its parent company's strengths and weaknesses, and those of its commercial rivals, as well as covering overall trends in the media industry. The article argues that when The Australian's Media section began in 1999, it substantially expanded for readers the available range of news and views about the media. However, the section never reached its advertising revenue targets and in recent years has lost much of the revenue it once had. Over the past decade, the section has become increasingly narrowminded in the range of its coverage, tone and approach.