We are thrilled to introduce these contributions from the 2016 Australian and New Zealand Communication Association conference. The theme of ‘Creating Space in the Fifth Estate’ was chosen to start a discussion around what is novel and valued about the digital terrain and examine it as a new loci of power. With nearly all forms of communication now ‘either created, stored, or transmitted in digital form’ (Straubhaar et al., Citation2016, p. 8), how has the process of innovative disruption and its corollary, the maintenance of the conventions creative and communicative activity always springs from, affected the various centres of power that rely on them? In exploring these ideas, there is a need to understand not only, as McIntyre argues, where we are going but to also ask the question: how did we get here?
The papers in this collection reflect the diverse ways the fifth estate (Dutton, Citation2009) is being investigated. We have included keynotes and papers that impel us to think deeply about issues such as trust in news and, as Stephen Ward suggests, the need for a digital ethics to guide activity in the changing forms of global communication. Questions are asked about the ways institutions such as NGOs, human rights groups and professional associations monitor, critique and hold the powerful to account using the digital tools typical of this new space. This is not limited to the functions of what used to be called the press. A vast majority of people develop ideas about societal norms from such things as engaging with sport. Tony Schirato leads us on a search for the ways we watch and participate with sport in the new digital terrain and how it is different to the traditional sport/legacy media nexus. Furthermore, what are the implications for children playing with internet-connected toys where their life is datafied well before they can give their consent? These discussions bring to the fore the complex issues that revolve around the twin poles of privacy and surveillance.
The two commentary pieces included here are deeply perceptive. Phillipa McGuinness provides insight into how those in the creative industries are dealing with the radical changes to the legal framework that underpins their work and Joanne McCarthy emphasises the age old importance of storytelling in bringing the guilty to justice. Both highlight, yet again, what changes and what stays the same when we embrace the fifth estate.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.