Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society December 1975 [antikvár]

Yol. 61 DECEMBER 1975 Pt 4 The Provinciai Press and Politics in the New England Region of New South Wales, 1856-1930 GRANT HARMAN Modern demoeratie political systems require elaborate apparatus for communication between governments and people. The decisions of governments need to be communieated to the electorate if they are to be known and understood, while eiti-zens need to be able to eommunicate effectively with those who determine public policy if they are to inílucnce decision-making. Generally information and messages are conveyed by a variety of channels: individual persons, pressure groups, political parties, official bodies and the mass média. The relative import-ance of different channels of communication varies between nations and states, and over a period of time within any nation or state. Today one form of mass média, the provinciai press, is relatively unimportant in Australia as a channel of political communication, both nationally and in country districts.1 This is largely because country newspapers have greatly declined in number in recent years and, with the rapid development of other forms of mass média, now play a mucii smaller role in country life. Consequently in country districts other forms of mass média and other structures in the political system are more convenient and effective vehicles for conveying political information and messages. Yet in earlier periods the provinciai press in Australia played an influential role in politics. This paper aims to examine the political role of the provinciai press in one country region of New South Wales, New England, over a period from the establishment of the fírst newspaper in the region to the end of the great period of the country press. For the purpose of this paper the New England region is defined in a wide sense to include the Liverpool Plains and the eastern part of the north west slopes as well as the northern tablelands. Politics refers here to colonial/state and national politics only, and not to local government politics. The rest of the paper falls into two parts: a discussion of the growth and characteristics of the provinciai press in New England to the end of the 1920s, and an analysis of its role as a vehicle of political communication and influence.