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At The Backbench we're interested in how the views of the Australian
populace are shaped by media coverage. There is little doubt that
tabloids like the The Daily Telegraph are much more widely read than
broadsheets such as The Sydney Morning Herald. The readership
demographics are also different. It's likely that political parties
are much more interested in the views of Tele readers than the SMH
latte set. In a globalised world, it is increasingly important to
understand what's going on in places north of Cape York.
From The Backbench's perspective, we'd like to find out whether
world problems are rated as more newsworthy than the latest drunken romp of
a rugby league player. For example, what does it say about Australian society
if for three days of the week the front page of the Tele concerns the hot location
that Brad and Angelina are practising bedroom gymnastics (not that this isn't
interesting news), while the latest animal bug mutating and spiralling out of control
in China is confined to one paragraph on page 24? Is Australia's exposure
to the world via newspapers really just Hollywood with a few cuts to the latest
terrorist attack or SK Warne's twitching SMS fingers in England?
This is where the Backbench World Problem Index (BWPI) plays its part.
The BWPI is designed specifically to measure coverage of world problems in
selected Australian newspapers. The index covers five world problems as selected by The Backbench:
- International health
- International security
- The environment
- The global economy
- World poverty
Basically, the BWPI will go up when any of these issues are mentioned
in the headlines of selected newspapers, and go down if not mentioned. The
BWPI will fall even further if headlines are dominated by topics deemed non-newsworthy
as selected by The Backbench (for example, Jennifer Aniston's latest hairstyle).
What will the BWPI reveal? We hope it doesn't show that global problems
are on the periphery of newsworthy issues. The BWPI could be a useful tool in
anticipating future themes and trends in political, economic and social spheres
(such as when Brangelina will break up!). All in all, it'll be a pulse on Australia's exposure to the world.
The latest index can be found here.
As always, feedback is most welcome.
The Backbench Team
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