Media actors as policy entrepreneurs: a case study of “No Jab, No Play” and “No Jab, No Pay” mandatory vaccination policies in Australia

Katie Attwell (), Adam Hannah (), Shevaun Drislane (), Tauel Harper (), Glenn C. Savage () and Jordan Tchilingirian ()
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Katie Attwell: University of Western Australia
Adam Hannah: University of Queensland
Shevaun Drislane: University of Western Australia
Tauel Harper: University of Canberra
Glenn C. Savage: University of Melbourne
Jordan Tchilingirian: University of Bath

Policy Sciences, 2024, vol. 57, issue 1, No 3, 29-51

Abstract: Abstract The media’s central role in the policy process has long been recognised, with policy scholars noting the potential for news media to influence policy change. However, scholars have paid most attention to the news media as a conduit for the agendas, frames, and preferences of other policy actors. Recently, scholars have more closely examined media actors directly contributing to policy change. This paper presents a case study to argue that specific members of the media may display the additional skills and behaviours that characterise policy entrepreneurship. Our case study focuses on mandatory childhood vaccination in Australia, following the entrepreneurial actions of a deputy newspaper editor and her affiliated outlets. Mandatory childhood vaccination policies have grown in strength and number in recent years across the industrialised world in response to parents refusing to vaccinate their children. Australia’s federal and state governments have been at the forefront of meeting vaccine refusal with harsh consequences; our case study demonstrates how media actors conceived and advanced these policies. The experiences, skills, attributes, and strategies of Sunday Telegraph Deputy Editor Claire Harvey facilitated her policy entrepreneurship, utilising many classic hallmarks from the literature and additional opportunities offered by her media role. Harvey also subverted the classic pathway of entrepreneurship, mobilising the public ahead of policymakers to force the latter’s hand.

Keywords: Policy entrepreneurs; Policy entrepreneurship; Media actors; Media and policy change; Vaccination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11077-024-09522-z

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