cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

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ASSESSING THE KNOWLEDGE ECOLOGIES OF MEDIA POLICY: THE CASE OF CONTENT CLASSIFICATION Paper presented to Cultivating Knowledge Ecologies: Contexts, Complexities, Powers, People, Institute for Culture and Society, Parramatta, University of Western Sydney, March 25-27, 2014 Terry Flew, Professor of Media and Communication, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology

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ASSESSING THE KNOWLEDGE ECOLOGIES OF MEDIA POLICY: THE CASE OF CONTENT CLASSIFICATION Paper presented to Cultivating Knowledge Ecologies: Contexts, Complexities, Powers, People, Institute for Culture and Society, Parramatta, University of Western Sydney, March 25-27, 2014 Terry Flew, Professor of Media and Communication, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology

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Page 1: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

ASSESSING THE KNOWLEDGE ECOLOGIES OF MEDIA POLICY: THE CASE OF

CONTENT CLASSIFICATION

Paper presented to Cultivating Knowledge Ecologies: Contexts, Complexities, Powers, People, Institute for Culture

and Society, Parramatta, University of Western Sydney, March 25-27, 2014

Terry Flew, Professor of Media and Communication, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology

Page 2: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

Australian Law Reform Commission Final Report: Classification—Content Regulation and Convergent Media

• Completed Feb 2012• 57 recommendations

for a new National Classification Scheme

• About 1/3 of these currently in process of being implemented

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Page 3: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

The ALRC approach to Law Reform

• Building an evidence base• Bias towards public

consultation• Role of Advisory Committees• Economic impact• ‘Law reform is too important

to be left to the experts’ (Justice Michael Kirby, first Chair of ALRC)

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Page 4: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

The ALRC Review Process

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Page 5: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

Context of media policy reform: from industry ‘silos’ to convergence

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Page 6: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

Different approaches to law reform in Westminster systems

1. Law Reform Commissions

2. Commissions of Inquiry1. Departmental inquiries (e.g. Convergence Review,

Finkelstein Review)

2. Royal Commissions

3. Parliamentary Committees

Page 7: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

Different approaches to law reform in Westminster systems

• Law Reform Commissions ‘are more cost effective, have the opportunity to establish greater visibility and credibility than their ad hoc counterparts, and can build long term relationships with interest groups that might otherwise develop submission fatigue’ (Laura Barnett, ‘The Promise of Law Reform: Conditions for Success’, Federal Law Review, v. 39, 2011: 192).

Page 8: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

Criteria for effective and responsive law reform (Barnett)

1. Appropriate triggers/terms of reference

2. Real consultation

3. Quality of evidence base

4. Timeliness

5. Practicality/innovativeness of recommendations

Page 9: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

Benchmarks for effective consultation/knowledge brokering

1. Balancing engagement with ‘usual suspects’ in a field, with engaging less established, less well resourced, or less vocal stakeholders;

2. Being sufficiently credible and displaying sufficient transparency and accountability to be able to engage in informal information-gathering;

3. Making effective use of all forms of media, and particularly social media and online communication tools, to maximize community awareness of issues and provide multiple ‘touchpoints’ for public participation;

4. Getting the timing right by providing public information and opportunities to comment at appropriate moments in the review process, without allowing inquiry to drag on;

5. Awareness of the ‘social facts’ that underpin the inquiry, and being able to challenge various forms of ‘received wisdom’, and self-interested presentation of information that stakeholders may bring to the process.

Page 10: Cultivating knowledge ecologies presentation flew

• Informed advice ‘requires a methodology that is not only consultative in as inclusive a manner as possible, but also capable of assessing representative and expert opinion in a scientific manner. This includes, where relevant, the use of empirical techniques and the rigorous analysis and interpretation of data … it is the perception that the advice is informed in this sense that is often the crucial factor’ (Michael Tilbury, ‘Law Reform Commissions: A Deconstruction and Stakeholder Analysis from an Australian Perspective’, Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, 2005, p. 334).