Representations of the ‘region’ in Australian radio research and policy

This paper reviews the relationship between regional Australia, its audiences, and radio research in the 20th and 21st centuries by examining the methods by which regional Australia has been incorporated and acknowledged within radio histories, surveys, and research into broadcasting policy. This paper argues that this research has embraced a wider discourse and narrative focused on ‘saving’ the regions—a sentiment that has been the overwhelming narrative in Australia’s social and economic history. It concludes that regional Australia needs to be better understood and integrated into research that has implications for broadcasting policy development.