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Australian Government Considering Changes to Media Ownership Rules

Posted on: Thursday, 1 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

Australian government considering changes to media ownership rules

CANBERRA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government is considering a major revamp of cross media and foreign ownership laws.

One company would be allowed to own a newspaper, radio station and a television network in the same market under the changes, while under the current arrangements, a single company can only own two of the three forms of media in a single market.

Foreign media players could also snare Australian TV networks and newspapers, subject to the Australian federal government approval.

Addressing the National Press Club here Tuesday, Australian Communications Minister Helen Coonan said she is looking at ways to allow different media systems to merge.

"I'm considering an approach where mergers could take place between the regulated platforms of television, radio and newspapers within a license area," she said.

"This would mean, for example, there could be common ownership of a television license, two radio stations and an associated newspaper or other combinations in that same market," she said.

Australia's largest opposition party, the Labor party, said the proposal will lead to less diversity and fewer media companies, and is not in the public interest.

Coonan said if the plans went ahead, tough rules would be introduced to ensure consumers continued to have a diverse choice of media.

Coonan said she hoped to have a framework covering the changes drawn up by the end of the year, with legislation presented to parliament next year.

The minister is also keen to ensure changes to media ownership rules take into account new technology, such as datacasting and digital TV.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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