ABC news 24: a study of limited resources and challenging newsgathering

This was a refereed abstract for an international conference. The paper analyses the content of the 24 hour news cycle of the ABC News 24 station.

Commercial influence on Indian public-service broadcasting

In the UK, the Conservative Party has been drafting a proposal to withhold part of the consumers' broadcasting licence fee from the BBC and place it in a contestable fund for public-service programming. In Australia, the ABC continues to struggle to meet its funding requirements just when the Federal conservative coalition government is considering a bid to use public funding to engage a commercial consortium to run the country's Asia-Pacific television channel and so take it away from the ABC. These struggles for independence and for an appropriate level of funding are part of the landscape of public-service broadcasting in many developed countries. Those who believe in the public-service ethos are concerned about the potential diminishing value of these great broadcasting assets because of the privatisation and commercialisation. However, this is the story of another public-service broadcaster - Doordarshan in India - which has had to live with severe competition from the skies since 1991. As the former dominant broadcaster in the largest democracy in the world, Doordarshan has survived and revived itself many times in the past four and a half decades. However, it continues to struggle to fulfil its role as a mass medium for education and entertainment. This paper explores the role of public-service broadcasting using Doordarshan as a case study. It asks: Does commercialisation of this public broadcaster mean privatisation by stealth or does it provide healthy distance between the broadcaster and the government of the day?

Dietary sodium intake is associated with total fluid and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in US children and adolescents aged 2 - 18 y : NHANES 2005 - 2008

Background: Increasing dietary sodium drives the thirst response. Because sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are frequently consumed by children, sodium intake may drive greater consumption of SSBs and contribute to obesity risk.

Objective: We examined the association between dietary sodium, total fluid, and SSB consumption in a nationally representative sample of US children and adolescents aged 2–18 y.

Design: We analyzed cross-sectional data from NHANES 2005–2008. Dietary sodium, fluid, and SSB intakes were assessed with a 24-h dietary recall. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess associations between sodium, fluid, and SSBs adjusted for age, sex, race-ethnic group, body mass index (BMI), socioeconomic status (SES), and energy intake.

Results: Of 6400 participants, 51.3% (n = 3230) were males, and the average (&plusmn;SEM) age was 10.1 &plusmn; 0.1 y. The average sodium intake was 3056 &plusmn; 48 mg/d (equivalent to 7.8 &plusmn; 0.1 g salt/d). Dietary sodium intake was positively associated with fluid consumption (r = 0.42, P < 0.001). After adjustment for age, sex, race-ethnic group, SES, and BMI, each additional 390 mg Na/d (1 g salt/d) was associated with a 74-g/d greater intake of fluid (P < 0.001). In consumers of SSBs (n = 4443; 64%), each additional 390 mg Na/d (1 g salt/d) was associated with a 32-g/d higher intake of SSBs (P < 0.001) adjusted for age, sex, race-ethnic group, SES, and energy intake.

Conclusions: Dietary sodium is positively associated with fluid consumption and predicted SSB consumption in consumers of SSBs. The high dietary sodium intake of US children and adolescents may contribute to a greater consumption of SSBs identifying a possible link between dietary sodium intake and excess energy intake.

The state of Australia's performing arts centres, and what it tells us about the state of the Australian arts

 In December 2010 the Albany entertainment centre opened in its harbour-side city, at the bottom of southern Western Australian. Featuring a bold, angular design by architects Cox Howlett and Bailey Woodland, the complex contains a 620-seat theatre and a 200-seat studio. Needless to say, these spaces are described by the centre as 'state of the art'.