Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane's experiment in press freedom: A quantitative evaluation through media system dependency

Andrew D. Pritchard

Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 2016, vol. 49, issue 2, 101-114

Abstract: The relatively isolated circumstances of colonial Australia provide a natural laboratory for examining the establishment of press freedom there in 1824. A quantitative content analysis of newspapers from 1821 to 1825, guided by media system dependency (MSD) theory, suggests publishers were more concerned with exploiting the end of their dependence on the government as censor than with addressing their remaining dependence on the government as a well-funded advertiser. Findings also reveal considerable variation among publications and between colonies. The analysis also demonstrates the value of MSD theory in historical research.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/01615440.2015.1094384

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