‘Parochial Internationalism’: publication in Australia

Abstract

This paper serves as an introduction and scene-setter to a series of four papers (including this) that examines the different facets of scholarly publication in the area of media and communication (as well as its various cognate disciplines) in the ‘region’ that comprises Australia and New Zealand. The authors of these papers are active members of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA), the peak professional and scholarly association of the region, and have all delivered a version of these papers at a plenary panel on ‘Publication in Australia and New Zealand’ at the International Communications Association (ICA) Regional Conference held at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane during 1–3 October 2014. This paper begins by looking at the role ANZCA plays in supporting and mentoring scholars, especially postgraduates or aspiring academics and early-career researchers, towards commencing their publication journey. It then turns its attention towards the globalising strategy of ‘parochial internationalisation’ that has defined much of Australia’s attempt to gain relevance and recognition in the global publications environment. The second part of the paper details the growth trajectory of one of Australia’s oldest and most reputable media and communications journal, Media International Australia, offering insights on how scholars and journal editors might think and operate more strategically in order to thrive in a new and demanding publications era.

Keywords:

• communications research
• scholarly publication
• parochialism
• internationalism
• Australia
• New Zealand

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Terence Lee

Terence Lee is Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies in the School of Arts and Research Fellow of the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University, Australia. He was President of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) from 2013 to 2014, and serves as the ‘Media and Culture’ Thematic Editor of the Asian Studies Review (Routledge) and Associate Editor of Communication Research and Practice. He is Book Series Editor of Media, Culture and Communication in Asia-Pacific Societies (with Susan Leong), published by Rowman and Littlefield International. His publications include: The Media, Cultural Control and Government in Singapore (2010, Routledge), Political Regimes and the Media in Asia (with Krishna Sen, 2008, Routledge), Voting in Change: Politics of Singapore’s 2011 General Election (with Kevin YL Tan, 2011, Ethos Books).

Sue Turnbull

Sue Turnbull is Professor of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research interests include: the representation of crime in the media, including crime fiction and the television crime drama with a particular focus on the transnational career of crime series; the history of television as a medium; its various forms and social role in a range of diverse locations and Australian screen comedy. She has an ongoing interest in various aspects of media audience research and is currently writing a book for Palgrave Macmillan in the series Key Concerns in Media Studies on the topic of Audiences. She has been involved with media education at all levels, and with Stuart Cunningham recently edited the fourth (and the largest) edition of the textbook, The Media and Communication in Australia. She is the current Editor of Media International Australia, and joint editor with Professor Martin Barker at the University of Aberystwyth of Participations: The Journal of Audience and Reception Studies.