Milestones
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Details
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Document source
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1923–1929
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1923
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Twenty six capital
city newspapers are published on a daily basis. These are controlled by 21
independent owners.
As radio stations
are established ownership of these is dominated by the major print owners.
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H Mayer, The
press in Australia, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1964, p. 31.
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May
1923
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After
calls from the Association for Development of Wireless in Australia, a
conference to discuss the introduction of radio is convened. The conference
endorses a so-called ‘sealed’ set of wireless broadcasting.
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P Greeves, The
dawn of Australia’s radio broadcasting, Electronics Australia, 1993,
p. 22.
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July–November
1923
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The
sealed set system of broadcasting (in amplitude modulation, that is, AM) is
established under regulations made under the WT Act. Four stations
commence operation, one of which, 2SB (later to become 2BL), is supported by
newspaper owner Joynton Smith.
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Wireless
Telegraphy Regulations 1923 (No. 97) and R
Langhans, The first
twelve months of radio broadcasting in Australia: 1923–1924, Historical Radio Society of Australia, 2013 and Greeves,
op. cit., p. 26.
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July
1923
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John
Langdon Bonython sells the Adelaide Express to James Davidson who
establishes an afternoon tabloid, the News, and a public company, News
Ltd.
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EJ Prest, ‘Advertiser
(Adelaide)’ in Griffen-Foley, (ed.), op. cit., p. 3 and Australian
Dictionary of Biography entry for James Edward Davidson.
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July
1924
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New regulations
are introduced for an open set system for radio to replace the sealed set
system.
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Wireless
Telegraphy Regulations 1924 (No. 101) and Langhans, op. cit.
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1924
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Decimus Mott, a
member of the Mott family, which had been involved in print since 1856 when
they began Albury’s (NSW) first paper, purchases a group of suburban
newspapers distributed in Melbourne. Mott develops the Leader Group of
newspapers from this purchase.
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R Kirkpatrick,
‘Mott family’ and N Richardson, ‘Leader community newspapers’, in
Griffen-Foley, ed., op. cit., pp. 240 and 281.
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March
1925
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2FC makes what is
thought to be the first ever broadcast of a parliamentary debate when it
covers a session of the NSW Legislative Assembly.
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Moran and Keating,
op. cit., p. xxi.
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April 1925
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Denison closes the
Melbourne Evening Sun after suffering heavy financial losses and
sells the Sun News-Pictorial to HWT.
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Singleton Argus,
28 April 1925, p. 4.
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May 1925
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The first
ratings-like survey taken by the Argus newspaper reveals radio
audience preferences are for programming that features brass band, orchestral
or instrumental music.
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‘Wireless broadcasting. Programming preferences’, The Argus, 30 May 1925, p. 35.
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November 1925
Anti-Labor parties retain government in
a sweeping election victory.
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January
1926
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The Government
appoints a Royal Commission, chaired by JH Hammond, to investigate all
aspects of wireless broadcasting.
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Royal Commission
on Wireless, Report of the Royal Commission on Wireless, (Hammond Commission), HJ Green, Government Printer for the State of Victoria, Melbourne,
1927.[51]
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September 1926
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Murdoch and HWT
syndicate (which includes WL Baillieu and Theodore Fink) buys the West
Australian from the estate of John Hackett.
The syndicate forms the public company West Australian Newspapers (WAN). In
the early 1930s Keith Murdoch disposes of the syndicate's interest in WAN.[52]
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John Hackett and Theodore Fink, Australian Dictionary of Biography entries.
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September
1926
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Thomas Shakespeare
launches the Canberra Times as a weekly paper (eight months before
Parliament House is opened in Canberra).
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Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for Thomas Mitchell Shakespeare
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January–March
1927
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A newspaper tax is
imposed by the NSW Government (the Lang Government). This is declared invalid
by the High Court in March.
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Macquarie
encyclopedia, op. cit., p. 520 and John Fairfax & Sons Ltd v New South Wales (1927) 39 CLR 139 [1927] HCA 3
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October
1927
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Report of the
Hammond Royal Commission is released. The report does not recommend
substantial administrative changes to the broadcasting system. It rejects the
concept of direct control over broadcasting by government, but it supports
the ideas of cooperation between stations and a monitoring role for the Postmaster-General’s
Department. It makes recommendations with regards to the amount and
distribution of licence fees as well as the location, power, frequency and
operating conditions of stations and advertising restrictions and
requirements.
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Hammond Commission,
op. cit. and Greeves, op. cit., p. 53.
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June
1928
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Australian
Federation of Broadcasting Stations is formed.
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‘Wireless: station rivalry’, The Sydney Morning Herald,
29 June 1928, p. 10.
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July
1928
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Federal Government
announces that it will take over all A class radio stations.
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Greeves, op. cit.,
p. 60.
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November
1928
Bruce Coalition Government returns to
office with a reduced majority.
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December
1928
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HWT-Murdoch-led
syndicate buys South Australia’s oldest paper, the Adelaide Register
and Langdon Bonython’s Adelaide Advertiser. The Register closes
in 1931.
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Langdon Bonython, Australian Dictionary of Biography entry
and ‘Adelaide “Register” sold’, The Daily News 14 December 1928,
p. 2.
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1929–30
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The Federal
Government acquires all A class radio stations. These are then operated by
the Postmaster-General’s Department with programming supplied by the
Australian Broadcasting Company.
Class B stations
are designated as commercial stations. They continue to be regulated by the WT
Act.
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B
Griffen-Foley, Changing stations: the story of Australian commercial radio,
University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2009, Chapter 1.
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1929
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Eight national (formerly A Class and 13 commercial
(formerly B Class)) radio licences in operation.
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Australian Broadcasting Control Board (ABCB), First
Annual Report, LF Johnson, Commonwealth Government Printer, 1949, p. 5.
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September
1929
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HR Denison forms Associated Newspapers, with Sun Newspapers
and the Daily Telegraph News Pictorial, which Denison had acquired in
December 1927, as subsidiaries. Associated Newspapers also buys the Sunday
Guardian and Daily Guardian from Smith’s Newspapers.[53]
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Denison, op. cit., p. 75 and Australian Dictionary of
Biography entries, HR Denison, S
Bennett and Joynton Smith
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October
1929
A landslide election victory to the
Labor Party, which is led by James Scullin.
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October
1929
On 29 October 1929, Black Tuesday, over
16 million shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange in a single
day. Billions of dollars are lost and the economic devastation caused by the
Crash of 1929 is a crucial factor which leads to the Great Depression
(1929–39).
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1930–1938
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1930
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There are twenty capital city daily newspapers
published and twelve independent owners.
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Mayer, op. cit., p. 31.
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March
1930
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Warwick Fairfax is appointed managing director of
John Fairfax and Sons Ltd. He is to control Fairfax for 47 years.
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Warwick Fairfax, Australian Dictionary of Biography entry.
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June
1930
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Following the untimely death of James Edward
Davidson, the owners of the Adelaide News (News Ltd) seek financial
assistance from HWT to continue operating. Keith Murdoch demands voting
rights in the company in return for assistance. This gives him control of the
company, which his son Rupert later inherits.
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Zwar, op. cit., p. 84.
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December
1930
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AWA opens 2AY, Albury. It later manages a number of
stations (including 2CH, Sydney, for the Council of Churches) on behalf of
the owners.
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Moran and Keating, op. cit., p. xxii.
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1930
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Australian Federation of Broadcasting Stations
renamed Australian Federation of
Commercial Broadcasters. The group, with 33 members, intends to present a
unified industry approach to government on broadcasting matters. Copyright
and royalty issues are its first lobbying concerns.
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Commercial Radio Australia website and Macquarie encyclopedia, op. cit., p. 527 and B
Griffen-Foley, ‘Commercial Radio Australia’, in Griffen-Foley, ed., op. cit.,
pp. 101–02.
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December
1931
The Labor Government is defeated at the
polls. The United
Australia Party (UAP), under the leadership of Joseph Lyons, is able to form government without having to rely on a
coalition with the Country Party.
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July 1932
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The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) is
established. The ABC is to control national stations. Newspaper owners, in
particular the owners of the HWT under Murdoch’s editorship, are opposed to
the ABC broadcasting a news service.
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Australian Broadcasting Commission Act 1932
‘Federal session: Broadcasting Bill: read third time’, The Sydney Morning Herald,
4 May 1932, p. 15 and TDC Roberts, Before Rupert: Keith Murdoch
and the birth of a dynasty, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia,
2015, pp. 209–14.
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November 1932
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Frank Packer and EG Theodore (as owners of Sydney
Newspapers) make a deal with Hugh Denison that they will not attempt to begin
publishing an afternoon paper in Sydney for seven years. Proceeds from the
deal allow Packer and Theodore to begin publication of a women’s magazine—the
Australian Women’s Weekly.
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Frank Packer and EG Theodore, Australian Dictionary of Biography entries and RS Whitington, Sir Frank: the
Frank Packer story, Cassell, North Melbourne, 1971, Chapter 6.
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March 1933
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Fairfax acquires shares in Sydney radio station 2GB.
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Souter, op. cit., p. 314.
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June 1933
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Frank Packer and EG Theodore publish the first issue
of the Australian Women’s Weekly.
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Whitington, op. cit., p. 126.[54]
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August 1933
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Keith Murdoch and entrepreneur John Wren merge their
newspaper interests in Brisbane to form Queensland Newspapers and the Brisbane
Courier and Daily Mail are amalgamated into the Courier-Mail.
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Zwar, op. cit., p. 81 and Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for John Wren.
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1933
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The Albert family and associates’ Australian
Broadcasting Company acquires the licence for commercial radio station 2UW.
By 1956, the company had changed its name and the Alberts had bought out
their partners and expanded its holdings to seven commercial radio stations,
including 2UW in Sydney and 3DB in Melbourne.[55]
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Albert family website
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September 1934
United Australia Party wins federal election. It forms a coalition with the
Country Party following the election. Joseph Lyons remains Prime Minister.
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July
1935
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Australian Associated Press (AAP) is established
through the amalgamation of Australian Press Association, run by John
Fairfax, Edward Wilson and Lauchlan MacKinnon of the Melbourne Argus
and the HWT Cable Service.
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S Forde and J Johnston, ‘Australian Associated
Press’, in Griffen-Foley, ed., op. cit., p. 39 and Australian
Dictionary of Biography entries for Edward Wilson and Lauchlan Mackinnon.
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October
1935
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In response to concerns about increasing ownership
concentration, regulation is made under the WT Act to restrict the
number of commercial broadcasting stations that can be owned by an individual
or company. Initially, the rule limits ownership of radio stations to one
metropolitan in any one state, a total of two metropolitan stations, three
stations in any one state and five stations throughout the country (rule
104).
Following immediate protests about these changes from commercial
broadcasters, the rule is rescinded and a new rule (Statutory rule 120) is
introduced (in November 1935). This rule increases the limits of ownership of
stations to four in any one state and eight throughout the country, but keeps
the restriction of only one metropolitan station per state.
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Wireless Telegraphy Regulations 1935 (Nos. 104 and
120). ‘Government control of broadcasting‘, The Advertiser (Adelaide), 31 October
1935, p. 18.
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October
1935
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Broadcasters express concern about the extent of
government control over radio and the lack of mechanisms to allow appeals
about decisions that are made by the Postmaster-General’s Department.
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‘Radio control: protest against new regulations’, The Canberra Times, 30 October 1935, p. 3.
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December
1935
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The High Court rules that the Federal Government has
the power under the Constitution to regulate ‘broadcasting’ (under section 51(v)).[56]
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R v Brislan (1935)
54 CLR 262 [1935]
HCA 78
‘Control of broadcasting: Commonwealth powers upheld’, The Argus, 18 December 1935, p.
8.
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1936
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Nineteen capital
city newspapers published.
Twelve independent owners—Denison’s Associated Newspapers, the Shakespeare
family’s Canberra Times, Fairfax, HWT, Consolidated Press, the Syme
Company, Davies Brothers, John Norton’s Truth newspapers, West Australian
Newspapers, Murdoch’s News Ltd and Wilson and McKinnon (owners of the
Argus) and the British firm, International Publishing Corporation.
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M Goot, Newspaper
circulation in Australia, 1932–77, in P Spearritt and D Walker,
(eds), Australian popular culture, George Allen and Unwin, North
Sydney, 1979, p. 213.
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January
1936
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Frank Packer and
EG Theodore make an unsuccessful offer to buy Ezra Norton’s Truth.
Packer and Theodore then buy the Daily Telegraph from Hugh Denison
on terms that they not establish a Sunday paper for three years.
All three go into partnership as Consolidated Press.
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Whitington, op.
cit.
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January
1936
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ABC announces that
listeners can purchase a booklet on cricket through its radio stations.
Commercial broadcasters and newspaper publishers accuse the national
broadcaster of ‘invading the publishing field’.
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‘Editorial’, Broadcasting
Business, 9 January 1936 in I McKay, Broadcasting in Australia,
Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1957, p. 121.
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September
1936
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Commentary on the
ABC’s The Watchman program (the Watchman was the on-air identity of
commentator EA Mann) at times in conflict with Lyons Government policy.
The Government applies pressure to the broadcaster to censor the program.
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A Thomas,
‘Political pressure in the ABC’, in Moran, op. cit.
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1936
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Journalist Eric
White forms Cumberland Newspapers.
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N Richardson,
‘Cumberland Newspapers’, in Griffen-Foley, ed., op. cit., p. 126.
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October
1937
The Lyons Government returned to power
at the election held on 23 October.
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December
1937
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Radio licences in
Australia reach the one million mark. Sixty two per cent of licences in
metropolitan areas.
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‘1,000,000 radio licences’, The Argus, 17 December 1937, p. 2.
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March
1938
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Australian
Newsprint Mills established by eight publishers. Directors include Denison,
Murdoch and Fairfax.
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P Chadwick, Media
mates: carving up Australia’s media, Macmillan, South Melbourne, 1989, p.
xxiv and ‘Australian Newsprint Mills’, The West Australian, 16 March 1938,
p. 14.
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June
1938
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Keith Murdoch
makes an offer on behalf of HWT for an interest in Consolidated Press. This
is rejected by Packer and Theodore.
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Whitington, op.
cit.,
pp. 144–5.
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July 1938
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HR Denison founds, and becomes chair of, Macquarie
Broadcasting Services, which controls 15 radio stations, including 2GB
(Sydney), 3AW (Melbourne) 5DN (Adelaide) and 2CA (Canberra). Networking is
promoted as being able to give advertisers better coverage and value for
money.
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Denison, Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, op.
cit.
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December
1938
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Radio licence of
Sydney station 2KY, which is controlled by the NSW Labour Council, is
cancelled. No reason is given, but the station had criticised the Lyons
Government a number of times. After apologising for its ‘past
offences’, 2KY’s licence is renewed.
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‘Closing of 2KY’, The Mercury (Hobart), 23 December 1938, p.
6 and ‘Views of 2KY commentator’, Worker (Brisbane), 27 December 1938, p. 1
and Griffen-Foley, Changing stations, op. cit., pp. 362–63.
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