Adam Swift

THE PROMISE OF COMPUTATIONAL JOURNALISM

Computational journalism involves the application of software and technologies to the activities of journalism, and it draws from the fields of computer science, the social sciences, and media and communications. New technologies may enhance the traditional aims of journalism, or may initiate greater interaction between journalists and information and communication technology (ICT) specialists. The enhanced use of computing in news production is related in particular to three factors: larger government datasets becoming more widely available; the increasingly sophisticated and ubiquitous nature of software; and the developing digital economy. Drawing upon international examples, this paper argues that computational journalism techniques may provide new foundations for original investigative journalism and increase the scope for new forms of interaction with readers. Computational journalism provides a major opportunity to enhance the production of original investigative journalism, and to attract and retain readers online.

Engaging, Persuading, and Entertaining Citizens: Mediatization and the Australian Political Public Sphere

This paper draws upon public sphere theories and the “mediatization of politics” debate to develop a mapping of the Australian political public sphere, with particular reference to television. It discusses the concept of a “political public sphere,” and the contribution of both non-traditional news media genres, such as satirical television and infotainment formats, to an expanded conception of the political public sphere. It considers these questions in the context of two case studies: the Q&A program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and its uses of social media and interactive formats to engage citizens, and the comedy program Gruen Nation, also on the ABC, which analyzed the use of political advertising to persuade citizens during the 2013 Australian Federal election.

Fashion as Aerial: Transmitting and Receiving Cyborg Culture

Abstract Clynes and Klines (1995 [1960]) conception of the cyborg sees a technologically augmented human designed for the adverse conditions of space travel. Despite alterations through artificial and self-organizing biochemical, physiological, and electronic modifications, the paramount piece of technology enabling human non-terrestrial flirtations was the “exogenous device” of the spacesuit. In this instance, the incorporation of high-tech textiles and manufacturing techniques accommodates the design process to the point where the distinction between fabric, garment, and astronaut merge. This article uses the spacesuit as an illustrative example in arguing that a particular utility value of fashion is its role as “aerial”; transmitting and receiving messages that feed into, and draw from, social and cultural archives. This article explores the concept of to-and-fro transmission/ reception, arguing that fashion, as aerial, contributes to a highly complex meaning system, in which negotiation becomes a passive, unconscious activity.

Politics, Media and Democracy in Australia: Public and Producer Perceptions of the Political Public Sphere

About the book In Australia, as in many comparable democracies, the role of the media in the political process is high on the public agenda. There is a perception of widespread disillusionment with and disengagement from politics amongst voters, and criticism of the media for failing to fulfil their democratic responsibilities adequately. This book evaluates public perceptions of the performance of the political media in the context of the declared aims and objectives of media producers. From there the authors present findings for improving the capacity of political media to engage and inform their audiences in ways which enhance the quality and popular legitimacy of the democratic process. These conclusions are of import not only to Australians, but to observers of mediated politics in the UK, the US and other countries where similar debates around the ‘crisis of public communication’ are on-going. Table of Contents Part I: Theories and Frameworks 1. Introduction to Politics, Media and Democracy in Australia 2. The Politics-Media Relationship in Australia: Spin, Political Communication and the Mediatization of Politics 3. Insiders and Their Critics. Part II: Mapping the Australian Political Public Sphere 4. Mapping the Australian Political Public Sphere: The Press 5. The Audio-Visual Public Sphere 6. What the People Think - A Qualitative Evaluation of the Australian Public Sphere 7. More Questions than Answers: Public Participation Programming in Australia 8. Outsiders: Infotainment and Hybridisation in the Australian Political Public Sphere - The Project, Kitchen Cabinet, Gruen Nation 9. Key Findings and Conclusions

The Convergence Review and the principle of Australians' access to and opportunities for participation

The recent Australian Convergence Review’s second principle states: “Australians should have access to and opportunities for participation in a diverse mix of services, voices, views and information”. However, in failing to define its own use and understanding of the terms ‘access’ and ‘participation’ the Convergence Review exposes itself to criticism. These terms would no doubt be made unambiguously clear should the Review’s recommendations move towards policy, and this paper contributes to this discussion by framing access and participation, from the perspective of the ‘produser’ (Bruns, 2008), around three separate but related issues: the failure to frame the discussion that will be undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission’s 2012 2013 Copyright Inquiry; the prioritising of the market over and above media accountability and the health of the public sphere; and the missed opportunity to develop a national framework for digital literacy and advanced digital citizenry.