Politics, convergence and media regulation: A Senate Committee Report and its implications for the press

As newspaper companies diversify into new media forms such as datacasting, they may be apprehensive that the convergence of technologies will lead them into uncharted regulatory territory. Such a concern would not be without foundation. The Senate Select Committee Report, In the public interest: Monitoring Australia`s media (April 2000), recommended the establishment of a single statutory Media Complaints Commission covering the press as well as broadcasting. This paper examines the politics of media regulation and the issue of convergence of regulation, focusing on the Senate Select Committee Report and media response to it.