NOT BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS?

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In 2004, in the months leading up to the federal election, the Howard government spent over AUS$30 million on government advertising. The author of this article, as a critic of high government advertising spending, was regularly quoted in media accounts at the time and was therefore a participant in the events she describes (Young, 2004a Young, Sally . 2004a. The Persuaders: inside the hidden machine of political advertising, North Melbourne : Pluto Press. [Google Scholar] , 2004b Young, Sally . 2004b. Submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee Inquiry into Government Advertising and Accountability, Canberra : Department of the Senate, Parliament House. [Google Scholar] , 2004c Young , Sally ( 2004c ) “A High Price to Tell Us Nothing” , Herald-Sun , 30 June , p. 20 . [Google Scholar] , 2004d Young , Sally ( 2004d ) “Governments Simply Value Ads with a Top Spin for Voters” , Canberra Times , 17 May , p. 13 . [Google Scholar] ). However, it was the opponent Labor Party which, believing itself to be disadvantaged, was most vocal in criticising the government's pre-election advertising, arguing that it was an attempt to sway public opinion in order to gain an early electoral advantage. The Labor Party used a number of media management techniques to try to obtain media coverage of its criticisms. However, collectively, commercial media outlets have profited by nearly AUS$3 billion from state and federal government advertising over the past decade. As commercial media outlets are economic institutions and their performance is shaped by the market system in which they operate, do they report criticism of high spending on government advertising despite the fact that they have a vested commercial interest in the practice? Analysing media coverage from 2004 reveals that, as propaganda theory would suggest, the more income a media organisation receives from government advertising, the less likely it will report criticisms of the practice.