‘New and important careers’: how women excelled at the BBC, 1923–1939

From its beginnings in 1923, the BBC employed a sizeable female workforce. The majority were in support roles as typists, secretaries and clerks but, during the 1920s and 1930s, a significant number held important posts. As a modern industry, the BBC took a largely progressive approach towards the ‘career women’ on its staff, many of whom were in jobs that were developed specifically for the new medium of broadcasting. Women worked as drama producers, advertising representatives and Children’s Hour Organisers. They were talent spotters, press officers and documentary makers. Three women attained Director status while others held significant administrative positions. This article considers in what ways it was the modernity and novelty of broadcasting, combined with changing employment possibilities and attitudes towards women evident after the First World War, that combined to create the conditions in which they could excel

The Drosophila melanogaster host model

The deleterious and sometimes fatal outcomes of bacterial infectious diseases are the net result of the interactions between the pathogen and the host, and the genetically tractable fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has emerged as a valuable tool for modeling the pathogen–host interactions of a wide variety of bacteria. These studies have revealed that there is a remarkable conservation of bacterial pathogenesis and host defence mechanisms between higher host organisms and Drosophila. This review presents an in-depth discussion of the Drosophila immune response, the Drosophila killing model, and the use of the model to examine bacterial–host interactions. The recent introduction of the Drosophila model into the oral microbiology field is discussed, specifically the use of the model to examine Porphyromonas gingivalis–host interactions, and finally the potential uses of this powerful model system to further elucidate oral bacterial-host interactions are addressed

Australian media reception histories

As the field of Australian media history expands, so too does the need for a broader and more innovative range of questions, issues and debates. This special issue of MIA responds to that need by considering the sources and research questions raised by media reception historians working on film, radio, television and the press. From print to new media, the papers assembled highlight the ingenuity of Australian historians working to recover the experiences of audiences in urban and regional settings

Histories of user-generated content: Between formal and informal media economies

Debates about user-generated content (UGC) often depend on a contrast with its normative opposite, the professionally produced content that is supported and sustained by commercial media businesses or public organisations. UGC is seen to appear within or in opposition to professional media, often as a disruptive, creative, change-making force. Our suggestion is to position UGC not in opposition to professional or "producer media", or in hybridised forms of subjective combination with it (the so-called "pro-sumer" or "pro-am" system), but in relation to different criteria, namely the formal and informal elements in media industries. In this article, we set out a framework for the comparative and historical analysis of UGC systems and their relations with other formal and informal media activity, illustrated with examples ranging from games to talkback radio. We also consider the policy implications that emerge from a historicised reading of UGC as a recurring dynamic within media industries, rather than a manifestation of consumer agency specific to digital cultures

‘Everything is negative’: Schoolteachers’ perceptions of news coverage of education

Although education is a staple of news coverage, the reporting of school-based education rarely receives attention within journalism and media studies. Scholars in other areas, however, have argued that news coverage of education is highly influential and should be examined. The research consensus has been that education coverage is mostly negative and, further, that teachers are frequently portrayed as the ones to blame for perceived shortcomings in school systems. Such coverage is said to concern and affect schoolteachers. However, to date, very few studies have canvassed teachers’ attitudes towards the reporting of education. This article contributes to this under-researched area by providing the results of a series of interviews with 25 Australian schoolteachers and principals about their perceptions of news coverage of education. The vast majority of the teachers interviewed considered news about schooling and teachers to be predominantly, and unfairly, critical. They described news reporting of education as frequently inaccurate and generally superficial. Many expressed a distrust of journalists and were wary about being interviewed. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for journalism practice and journalism education are outlined

Vocal hierarchies in early Australian quiz shows, 1948-71:Two case studies

This article examines the complexities involved in transferring content and genre from one media platform to another by emphasising the shifting, fragile yet stabilising part that sound can play in such a transformation. Early television is often labelled as a period of 'radio with pictures', and this intriguing designation directs our attention to this 'moment' of changeover. This analysis explores the parameters of sound in television's displacement of radio as the primary broadcasting medium in Australia in the 1950s. We focus in particular on the role of the human voice (host, audience and contestants) in two early quiz shows - Wheel of Fortune and Pick-a-Box - that began on radio and were both successfully remade as television programs