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Overview of the media in Australia
Newspapers
The Age
The Age is a Melbourne-based daily with a generally more educated readership than the tabloids (newspapers which are half-size with bold headlines and large photographs). The Age has a broadsheet (full page) format and is strong on Australian and Victorian news and sport. International news is not so well covered. The Age includes several useful supplements:
- Thursday: The Green Guide (a comprehensive television and radio guide)
- Friday: EG the entertainment guide
- Saturday: classified advertisements.
The Age is also available online 
.
The Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a Melbourne-based daily with a tabloid format and generally shorter and articles are easier-to-read than those in The Age or The Australian. There is a strong emphasis on local news, especially more sensational stories.
The Herald Sun is also available online .
The Australian
This newspaper is the only national daily. It has a similar format to The Age but with a stronger emphasis on national and international news.
The Australian is also available online .
The Financial Review
This specialist national financial daily is useful for business and economics students.
The Financial Review is available online .
Television
ABC
Channel 2 is run by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) a government-financed broadcaster which often addresses controversial issues and questions political decisions. It is very strong in news, current affairs and documentaries. The ABC obtains many programs from the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
Highlights:
- News: 7.00 pm
- The 7.30 Report: 7.30 pm: in-depth coverage and analysis of major daily news events - both domestic and international
- Lateline:10.30pm: nightly news analysis program with up-to-the-minute coverage of Australian and International news
- Four Corners: Mondays 8.30 pm: Australia's longest running current affairs program
- Media Watch: Mondays 9.20pm: evaluates the way in which news is presented in the media
- Foreign Correspondent: Tuesdays 9.20 pm: current affairs from around the world.
The ABC Online website has links to both ABC television and radio.
SBS
SBS is also government-financed, with some commercial funding. With a role to promote 'multicultural television', it has many international programs broadcast in languages other than English (with English subtitles), including news from all over the world.
Highlights:
- World News at 6.30 pm
- foreign films shown in original languages
- world soccer.
Channels 7, 9 and 10
These are fully commercial channels and show similar programs, many of which are American. There is a strong emphasis on sport, especially on Channels 7 and 9.
Radio
Radio programs are an excellent way of practising your listening skills as well as keeping up to date with the latest news and music. The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) has several radio stations: Radio National, Triple J, ABC News Radio, Classic FM and Radio Australia, which offer a variety of specialised music, news and current affairs. You can download programs broadcast on ABC radio from ABC Online .
There are also commercial radio stations, such as 3AW (AM 693), which highlight current events and discussion via talk-back with listeners. Community radio stations such as 3RRR (FM 102.7) and PBS (FM 106.7) provide an enormous range of alternative music, arts and reviews programs.
ABC Radio National (AM 621)
Radio National has a broad range of interesting programs. Their news programs AM and PM give comprehensive national and general international news, morning and night. Other specialised shows such as The Health Report, The Book Show, Life Matters, The Science Show give fascinating insights into a wide range of topics. Most shows can be downloaded and many programs have transcripts available. Students who are not fluent in English can create a valuable listening resource by using the transcripts and listening to the programs read on air.
RPH Print Radio (AM 1179)
The Vision Australia Foundation operates the radio station, RPH Print Radio where articles from the daily newspapers are read aloud. This is also a useful resource for speakers of English as an Additional Language as you could record a newspaper being read on air and follow the text on the printed page. The Age, the Herald Sun, The Australian and the Australian Financial Review are read at various times of the day.
You can go online and view the RPH Print Radio program guide from Vision Australia .
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