A Study of Cross Media Ownership in Australia and Italy

Larissa Di Mauro and Grace Li, University of Technology, Sydney, have published "Regulating Cross-Media Ownership: A Comparative Study between Australia and Italy," in the Media and Arts Law Review, Melbourne University (2009). Here is the abstract.

 

Regulating media ownership is not a simple task. The media represents a field where public interest collides with technological and economic interests. The law is challenged to strike a balance between all three dimensions. This article attempts to deconstruct cross media ownership regulation amidst this field. It establishes the theoretical viewpoints that influence the development of cross-media ownership laws, which puts forward the relevant principles and viewpoints that support the social/political, economic and technological dimensions. It then demonstrates the interaction of these dimensions in practice by presenting a comparative case study of cross-media ownership laws in Australia and Italy. In doing so, this article finds that cross-media ownership regulation requires the careful balancing of competing influences. Sound understanding of competing spheres of influence that interact in the realm of media ownership policy allows legislators to best formulate the directions of Australian law.

Download the paper from SSRN here.