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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"></span>The next
speaker at the Communications and Media Studies research seminar series
will be professor
Douglas Kirsner (Deakin University)<span style="" lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Bias and Culture:
Reforming the ABC<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Cultural issues
go to the root of what is wrong with the ABC. The major problem is the
conformist
culture of the institution. The fact that the one program on the ABC
that
challenges the orthodoxy by exploring conservative and liberal views is
called ‘Counterpoint’
tells the story of the ABC’s virtual political monoculture. A cultural
and
value perspective sets it far apart from the major political parties
and most
of the Australian population. Katherine Betts has termed a ‘new class’
whose
object was not old wealth but instead ‘the Australian mass, and its
materialism,
racism, sexism, and insularity’. The ‘knowledge-class’, which includes
ABC
journalists, is an important segment within the new educated class who
have
more distinct values that increasingly set them apart from business and
the
general community. Examples will be given with comparisons with the
BBC.
Cultural change in the ABC is essential for it to fulfill its own
charter of
balance, impartiality and diversity.<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="" lang="EN-US"><br>
Time: July 14, </span><i style="">, </i><i style=""><span style=""
lang="EN-US">2 to 3.30 pm</span></i><i style=""><br>
</i>Place: <i style="">Burchill Room</i><i style=""><span style=""
lang="EN-US"> (Clayton Campus</span>, Performing
Arts Complex Bld.68)<br>
</i>The campus map is available here:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.monash.edu.au/campuses/clayton.html">http://www.monash.edu.au/campuses/clayton.html</a>
<br>
</p>
<br>
Everyone welcome!<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dimitris Vardoulakis
School of English, Communications and Performance Studies
Communications and Media Studies
Building 11
Monash University
Clayton, Vic, 3800
Australia
Tel: +61 3 9905 2442
Fax: + 61 3 9905 2135
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/ecps/communications/staff/dimitris-vardoulakis/">www.arts.monash.edu.au/ecps/communications/staff/dimitris-vardoulakis/</a></pre>
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