The Wire

Earlier this afternoon Communications Minister Helen Coonan released a discussion paper outlining proposed reforms to the media industry in Australia. Minister Coonan stated that the reforms were targeted at providing a richer and more diverse media environment for Australian consumers. Ironically, however, two of the main proposed reforms are the removal of prohibitions on cross-media ownership and foreign ownership of Australian media, reforms which may have precisely the opposite effect. Dr Mick Minehan, Head of the Communications Department at the University of Technology in Sydney spoke with Tristan Burt about the proposed changes to cross media ownership laws in Australia.