Australian TV News : New Forms, Functions, and Futures

Australian TV News explores the important role of entertainment in Australian television news over the past decade. Through the use of textual analysis, industry interviews and audience research, it argues that 'infotainment' and satire are increasingly becoming significant methods of informing audiences about serious news issues. The work examines the changing relationships between television news, politics and everyday people, finding that these often humorous programs are used by audiences as sources of political information and fact, and this book challenges traditional assumptions about what form TV news should take and what functions it ought to serve.