Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of case studies exercises, and original contributions
- Foreword
- PART 1 Policy and theory
- PART 2 Policy in practice
- 7 Who does policy?
- 8 The nuts and bolts of policy work: advice, implementation and evaluation
- 9 The role of the media in setting the policy agenda
- 10 Consulting with stakeholders
- 11 Research and policy
- 12 Communication, ethics and accountability
- References
- Index
- References
9 - The role of the media in setting the policy agenda
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of case studies exercises, and original contributions
- Foreword
- PART 1 Policy and theory
- PART 2 Policy in practice
- 7 Who does policy?
- 8 The nuts and bolts of policy work: advice, implementation and evaluation
- 9 The role of the media in setting the policy agenda
- 10 Consulting with stakeholders
- 11 Research and policy
- 12 Communication, ethics and accountability
- References
- Index
- References
Summary
Why do some problems attract national attention and others pass without comment? Why do governments fail to solve some visible problems, while addressing others that are virtually invisible? This chapter attempts to shed further light on the important, and difficult, policy question discussed in Chapter 6: how is the policy agenda set, and by whom? Chapter 6 focused on the role of language and discourse; this chapter focuses on the role of the media, and the interaction between policy makers and the media. This focus on the media does not mean that the media is essential to the development and implementation of policy, but it does reflect the significant, and growing, importance of the media and the increasingly symbiotic relationship that is developing between the media and government.
While those in power are rarely forthright about their relationship with the media, those who have retired are sometimes more forthcoming. For example, Bruce Hawker, the chief of staff to former NSW Premier Bob Carr, provides the following perspective:
One of the questions I've been asked to answer is whether all politicians let the media influence their decisions.
And I have a pretty simple answer to that one: Only the successful ones.
He goes on to say:
The biggest asset Carr brought to the leadership of the NSW ALP – at its low point in 1988 – was his training as a journalist. He knew the power of the media – and he harnessed it. He knew he had to grab the attention of the press gallery and start setting the political agenda…
(2005: 1).[…]- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Introduction to Australian Public PolicyTheory and Practice, pp. 181 - 197Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009