Australian commercial television, identity and the imagined community

This thesis is an examination of the way contemporary Australian commercial television corporations manipulate narratives of Australian national community. The television networks' representations of community, and their places within it, have changed considerably since the tum of the century. They have mutated as each network has been forced to adapt its corporate image to a changing economic environment - a result of the increasing prevalence of the global information network, new forms of digital technology and casualisation at all levels of the workforce. This thesis negotiates these changes by examining a set of interdisciplinary theories that could provide illumination as to why these changes have occurred and what possible effects these changes may cause in the future. This thesis examines the various theories of nation and community, applying them to an analysis of the methods used by media corporations to manipulate national narratives, predominantly through their news bulletins and station promotions. It is an attempt to open up new theoretical ground for the discussions and analyses of contemporary Australian television studies.