Please note - Swinburne University of Technology

attempts at technological diffusion. Alternative international
industry approaches, from the different perspectives of
parties and government, carriers and suppliers, will be
examined in the context of comparative policy models. The
lessons of innovation will be drawn from case studies of
success and failure in Japan, UK, USA, Sweden and New
Zealand.
References
Alvarado, M. and Thompson, 1. (eds.) The Media Reader. London,
BFI Publications, 1990
Collins, R. Language, Culture and Global lnformation Markets.
South Melbourne, CIRCIT, 1989
Ferguson, M. (ed.) New Communications Technologies and the Public
Interest London, Sage Publications, 1986
Garnham, N. Capitalism and Communication. London, Sage
Publications, 1990
Skovmand, M. and Schroder, K.C. (eds.) Media Cultures: Re-
Appraising Transnational Media. London, Routledge, 1992
~ ~ 5 0 Communication 1
Environments
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: nil
Assessment: presentation of research proposal
50%, final report 50%
Subject aims and description
This subject examines the convergence of broadcasting and
telecommunications in the context of political, economic and
social change, especially in terms of the future of Australian
society. Key questions are addressed about the
communications revolution, such as who decides about the
introduction of new technologies, and how, what choices
may be available, whose interests are served, and whose
needs mav be met by these technoloqies of abundance. The
new policy paradigm in Australian roadc casting and
Telecommunications - com~etition and choice - will be
aklysed, with special emph'asis on the Telecommunications
Act 1992 and the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. Methods
of technological assessment will be examined, including
issues related to the information needs of d~fferent
Australians. Vexed questions about the cultural impact of
programming, access and diversity, especially for indigenous
people will be canvassed. Special attention will be given to
major social and communications trends in Australia, and to
the methodologies of future studies. Some modelling of
strategic planning and strategic thinking will be offered,
especially in the construction of possible scenarios for the
future of Australian communications.
References
ABC2000 (Australian Broadcasting Coporation)
Australia As An lnformation Society: Grasping New Paradigms.
Report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee for
Long Term Strategies, Canberra, AGPS, 1991
lnformation Society 2000. Telecom Australia (forthcoming)
Alternative - AM407 lnformation Society 2000
Wilson, L. 'The State of Strategic Planning', Technological Forecasting
and Social Change. Vol. 37, No. 2, April 1990
Note - Course attendanced based on AM307:
lnformation Society Promises and Policies, but with more
substantial assessment requirements.
~ ~ 5 0 Asian 2 Commumnications
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: nil
Assessment: seminar paper 40%, final paper
60 %
Subject aims and description
This subject will offer a panorama of print, broadcasting and
telecommunications issues, policies and practices in Asia and
SE Asia. It will examine the relevance of western
communications perspectives on Asia, and the complexity of
issues such as media freedom, satellite TV and development
journalism, in an Asian context. The changing scene in Asian
broadcasting will be analysed, with special reference to
debates about new communications technology - especially
cable, pay and Star television -as well as about multi-media
systems and the prospect of a Pan-Asia broadcasting
network. In telecommunications, the significance of network
modernisation will be analysed, especially in the context of
the drive for privatisation and deregulation, and of the
staggering levels of contemporary investment in new
systems. Vexed issues will include the use of alternative
media for social development, and the cultural impact and
access of western media throughout Asia. National
development models, especially those of Singapore, Malaysia
and Thailand, will be analysed as comparative studies for
desirable communications systems and development for Asia
and SE Asia.
References
A Vision ofan Intelligent Island. National Computer Board,
Singapore, March 1992.
Jussawalla, M. and Hukill, M. 'Structural Change of
Telecommunications in South East Asia', in Media Asia. Volume 19,
No. 1,1992
Peterson, N. "Asian News Values: Challenges and Change", in
Media Asia. Volume 19, No. 4, 1992
Sussman, G. and Lent, 1. Transnational Communications: Wiring the
Third World. Newbury Park, Calif., Sage Publications, 1991
Syed Salim Agha. Sustainability of lnformation Systems in Developing
Countries, An Appraisal and Suggested Courses of Action. Ghana,
IDRC, 1992
~ ~ 5 0 Interrogating 3
Texts: Cultural
Dreaming
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: nil
Assessment: seminar paper 40%, final paper
60%
Subject aims and description
This subject will explore issues attendant upon those in
AM500 Globalisation, using as a launching pad the study of a
variety of texts selected from film, television, literature, and
print and sound media. Questions to be explored will be
chosen from amongst: the function of theories of language
and society in making 'sense' of texts; the representation of
journalism and the media on screen (in film and television);
the depiction of the Third World in western fiction and
nonifiction: the representation of technology in and through
film and literature (with special emphasis on science fiction);
the American entertainment industry's representation of the
US in film and on television; images of Australia offered in
the arts and the media; Australian film, television and
literature into the '90s.