Title: The Convergence Review and the principle of Australians' access to and opportunities for participation

Authors: Adam Swift

Addresses: ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Z1 – 515 Musk Avenue, Kelvin, Grove, QLD 4059, Australia

Abstract: The recent Australian Convergence Review's second principle states: "Australians should have access to and opportunities for participation in a diverse mix of services, voices, views and information". However, in failing to define its own use and understanding of the terms 'access' and 'participation' the Convergence Review exposes itself to criticism. These terms would no doubt be made unambiguously clear should the Review's recommendations move towards policy, and this paper contributes to this discussion by framing access and participation, from the perspective of the 'produser' (Bruns, 2008), around three separate but related issues: the failure to frame the discussion that will be undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2012-2013 Copyright Inquiry; the prioritising of the market over and above media accountability and the health of the public sphere; and the missed opportunity to develop a national framework for digital literacy and advanced digital citizenry.

Keywords: media convergence; media regulation; regulatory design; media access; media participation; digital citizenship; produsage; Australia; media accountability; digital literacy; public participation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPL.2013.057007

International Journal of Technology Policy and Law, 2013 Vol.1 No.3, pp.257 - 269

Published online: 19 Jul 2014 *

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