Digital TV in Australia and the USA: a cross-impact analysis of the adoption and diffusion of digital TV in Australia and the United States

The paper examines the adoption and diffusion of Digital Television (DTV) in Australia and the United States, identifying historical, technical, regulatory, marketing, and other commonalities and differences that appear to be most significant to its adoption, as both countries have experienced a 'sluggish' diffusion and adoption of DTV so far. Using library research and borrowing the cross-impact matrix method from futures research, the authors develop J J events related to the various influences and groups of stakeholders that had shaped the policy making and adoption of DTV. We then carry out a comparative analysis between the two countries to make evident their impacts, strengths, and directions of influence. The authors suggest that the implementation of DTV in these two developed countries appears to be nearly identical. Even though Australian and US broadcasting models are fundamentally different, the diffusion process for DTV is primarily affected by the nature of digital technology and globalisation, two trends that may be diminishing the import of the nation-state in the technology adoption process. The paper concludes that these broader economic and technical events may have greater import to DTV's successful diffusion than do traditional, cultural, and nationalistic factors suggested in earlier comparative broadcast studies.

Race as political strategy by US presidential candidates: a case study

Race has played an important part in US presidential politics in contemporary history. Different political parties and candidates have followed covert strategies playing on the prejudices of white voters both cognitively and emotionally by linking racerelated issues to the majority's individual and group interests. This elite discourse carried to the public by the mainstream media, along with media's practices of stereotyping, priming, framing and agenda setting, help to justify racial prejudice, discrimination against minorities and their marginalized status, while maintaining the status quo. Taking the social constructionist position, this case study examines the opinions expressed by a sample of undecided voters selected from different geographic locations at various stages of the 1992 US presidential campaign under the themes 'Candidates' racial prejudice' and 'Race is used as political strategy by candidates.'

Give us a fair go! Legal obstacles to reporting sport on the internet

As the Internet becomes a mainstream conduit for business and communication, it can no longer be referred to as a “ lawless frontier" (De Zwart 1999, 112). The laws that regulate this environment, however, are not always obvious, particularly to reporters who have to collect stories for online newspapers, which are facing competition from their traditional sources of information. This article uses a case study of on-line sport to examine the legal pitfalls facing journalists reporting on-line.

Who is `us`? Students negotiating discourses of racism and national identification in Australia

This article explores the political beliefs and the forms of reasoning about racism, national identity and Other developed by young Australian women and men from different ethnic and class backgrounds. The interviews on which the discussion is based are drawn from a larger longitudinal study of Australian secondary school students which examines how young people develop their sense of self and social values over time. The present article has two overall purposes: to add to understandings of how the cultural logic of racism functions in one national setting, and to consider political reasoning about race and ethnicity in relation to processes of young people's identity positioning. Three main lines of argument are developed. The first concerns students' positioning of themselves vis-a `-vis the current 'race debate' in Australia, and in relation to us as researchers, including their negotiation of the protocols for speaking about 'race' and racism. This includes consider ation of the methodological and political effects of white Anglo women asking questions about racism and ethnicity to ethnic minority students who are routinely constituted as 'Other': what blindnesses and silences continue to operate when posing questions about racism directly? A second and related focus is the range of emotional responses evoked by asking questions about racism and about an Australian politician (Pauline Hanson), who has been prominent in race debates. Third, the authors examine young people's construction of 'us and them' binaries and hierarchies of Otherness and whiteness. They argue throughout that reasoning about race, national identity and Others, and the taking up of 'political positions', is intimately linked to identity formation and to how we imagine ourselves in the present, the past and the future.

The exclusionary policies of 'us and them' in the IPA and psychoanalytic institutes

This article will explore the issues of otherness in the IPA and also consider the local institute level using the example of the British Psychoanalytic Society. According to the IPA it is 'The world's primary psychoanalytic accrediting and regulatory body, with 10,500 members in over forty-five countries. The IPA works in partnership with its Component Organizations to train, support and network psychoanalysts, developing clinical, educational and research programmes'. It is well-known that the history of psychoanalysis is replete with organizational schisms and primary issues of 'inclusion-exclusion'. Who is a real psychoanalyst? "That are the necessary acceptable professional 'standards'? 'While standards' should be derived from knowledge, they are often derived from power and are often really a mask for power-plays. The others' have included those from both outside and within the psychoanalytic movement. Outsiders include medicine and the universities, psychotherapists, other psychoanalysts and other disciplines. Deviationists ,.vithin the IPA include other schools vvithin the'broad church' of psychoanalysis or even just those who don't fit with the proclivities of those in power sometimes rationalized into issues of standards

Determining the professional sport broadcasting landscape : an Australian football club perspective

The professional sport broadcasting landscape has received much attention from an economic and legal perspective. While the economic and legal focus has been the predominant association with sport broadcasting, there has been little research undertaken into the breadth of delivery and significance of broadcast coverage. The aim of this paper was to identify the professional sport broadcasting landscape in Australia. The sport broadcast landscape was examined from the perspective of two professional football codes. In-depth interviewing of senior managers of 11 AFL, and 10 NRL clubs was undertaken with the resulting data analysed, coded and emergent themes identified. Three core themes emerged: identified as territory, distribution and profile. A further seven sub-themes specific to the outcomes associated within each category were also identified. Major findings highlight the territorial nature of the Australian professional football league market, identifying the way in which clubs are representative of particular regions. Issues associated with free-to-air delivery, brand recognition and core market attributes were also identified. Results are presented; implications for management and opportunities for future research are discussed.

Neoconservatism, US-China conflict, and Australia's 'great and powerful friends' dilemma

Following its time-honoured 'great and powerful friends' foreign policy tradition, Australia has been cultivating close ties simultaneously with the United States and China. Yet, as a rivalry between the two powers apparently looms large, Australia faces an acute dilemma. While the rise of China and the question of Taiwan are often cited as main causes of US-China discord, this article argues that the American neoconservative policy on China, underpinned by a belief in both military strength and moral clarity, is integral to this growing competition and is, by extension, partly responsible for the emergence of Australia's predicament. To avoid such a difficult choice, the article suggests that Australia should strive to curb the policy influence of neoconservatism both in the United States and at home by pursuing a more independent foreign policy, making clear its strategic postures on US-China relations, and helping establish a trilateral strategic forum between Australia, the United States, and China.

Australian and US preservice teachers' perceptions of the gender stereotyping of mathematics

Historically mathematics was considered a pursuit more suited to males than females. Using a new instrument, contemporary high school students' beliefs about the gender stereotyping of mathematics have been measured and an apparent change in beliefs reported. The same instrument was administered to preservice teachers in Australia and the USA. These countries share common social and cultural characteristics and both were active in addressing identified female disadvantage in mathematics education outcomes. The preservice teachers were asked to respond to the survey items as they believed high school students would answer. The Australian and US preservice teachers' responses were compared. The results are reported and discussed in this paper.

The impact of technology on the supply of sport broadcasting

The demand for sport content by broadcasting organizations has undergone a major redefinition in the last 15-20 years. Television has become predominantly a private good, subject to deregulation and technological revolution. The traditional approach to presenting sport content predominantly live and exclusive through one distribution channel has evolved considerably into one represented now by a multi-faceted, multi-organizational approach. This paper will introduce the two markets of sport and broadcasting through the supply network of broadcasting rights and sports programming, and how this network is affected by the emerging broadcasting technology that is appearing in the digital environment. The era of digital broadcasting creates a significant alteration to the supply of broadcasting content developed by professional sport leagues, competitions and events. A number of emerging distribution system components linked to the digital environment can be identified and associated with sport broadcasting, all of which are having a profound impact on the way sport is being presented now and into the future. The various distribution components are introduced and examined in terms of their impact on the professional sport broadcasting markets. Each distribution component is addressed from the perspective of the regulatory, marketing, and economic impacts on channel management that apply.

Announcement effect on the credit spreads of US dollar Malaysian bonds

We find that international political events have more influence on the changes of bond yield spreads from Malaysian USD issues than domestic events. Significant results are consistent across different issues. The resignation by the former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir, however created mix response from the market. Using error correction model, this study also found the monetary policy by Federal Reserve have long term and significant impact on the behaviour of the Malaysian USD issues.

Bonding with cultural brands: exploring the 'binds that tie us'

In contexts such as those in the arts and culture industry, where the use of branded products may be difficult to access due to intermittent availability, or, where the branded product outcomes may be difficult to predict, it is argued that consumers form complex relationships with brands.
In order to explore these complex relationships, this research explores the components of the bond that consumers form with arts and cultural products and brands. This research highlights empirically five components of brand bonding with arts and cultural products, viz., brand trust/affinity, social/self connectedness, loyalty, emotional connectedness and brand involvement. These results found that intricacies emerge, such as consumer optimism about branded product failures, anticipation of usage, and a sense of responsibility for the success of the brand. More importantly, these findings suggest that in situations where service outcomes are uncertain, and where the service is available intermittently, loyal consumers are still willing to develop a relationship based on their connectedness or bond with the brand, despite the situational difficulties associated with accessing it.

Don't tate us! The impediments and drivers of branding museums

This study examines the applicability of brand orientation, and its drivers and impediments in the museum context. A multiple case study approach, with 12 institutions across two countries (United Kingdom and Australia) was carried out. Results suggest that brand orientation provides the cultural platform to retain the distinctiveness of the institution and build the symbolic representation required to remain competitive in the future.