“in Contemporary Australian Media, It's Far More Important to Entertain Than to Educate.” Discuss Using Two Examples from Either Australian Free-to-Air Television or the Australian Magazine Industry.

To Educate or to Enteratain?
“In contemporary Australian media, it’s far more important to entertain than to educate.” Discuss using two examples from either Australian free-to-air television OR the Australian magazine industry.

      The media has always played a pivotal role in Australian society, notably through its ability to educate its respondents via various forms of production. Contemporary times however have seen the media adapt its approach to current demands, placing a direct emphasis on entertaining its respective viewers. This shift in values however has not seen one aspect of production take priority over the other, rather allowing it to serve a dual purpose to both educate and entertain. This idea is represented clearly through free-to-air television, where current broadcasts leave the audience entirely independent as to how they chose to utilize the content provided to them. On a simplistic level, programs may merely be seen as a means of amusement, however on a deeper level they are able explore values and human traits that until modern times, could only be developed through social contact. Two broadcasting networks that televise clear examples of this are Channel Ten and the ABC, where simultaneously they express the development of the media to perform two contrasting roles in order to match demand.

      Australian Free-to-air Television has recently seen increased competition from rival stations and media forms. In 1964 when Channel Ten was first introduced to Australian Television, Stuart Cunnigham (2000, p. 18) argued that its introduction had ‘skewed the system too far towards the commercial end, creating too much competition too early’. These problems however, were not fully extenuated until contemporary times where the rapid introduction of ‘pay TV’ and other interactive mediums significantly altered patterns of production and ensured televised programs were entertaining enough to attract a large audience. This target of maximising... [continues]

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