Standards and Practices of Ethnic Media in Australia

ABSTRACT

In the Australian migrant situation, a large number of migrants, especially new arrivals and those with limited English language skills, rely mostly on ethnic media sources and community radio stations for information — either to keep in touch with their countries of origin or to learn about the current affairs of their adopted country.

The influence that such media providers wield over migrants cannot be underestimated. Without safeguards in place, such organizations have the potential to exploit and manipulate information in a variety of ways. For multilingual ethnic media providers, the primary safeguard is to entrust their language program managers with ensuring their policies and standards are being observed by broadcasters and journalists.

This study, which is based on the analysis of 200 hours of recorded programs of Arabic media providers over a period of two years in Australia, examines the standards, practices and performance of the Arabic programs. It focuses on the following areas:

• Information integrity

• Intellectual property and copyright

• Coverage

• Policy and attitudes

• Conflict of interests

• Formal standards

• Style and standards of delivery

• Operational issues

• Programming

This study identifies serious problems with ethnic media and highlights the need for better safeguards to ensure compliance with policy guidelines and broadcasting laws.

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