Teenagers And The Fragmenting Media Environment In Asia: An Australian Pilot Study

Jason Sternberg, Christina George & Joshua Green
Queensland University of Technology, Australia

This paper presents preliminary results from a survey of 15- to 17-year-old Australians, exploring television's place within a rapidly expanding multimedia environment. Inspired by Livingstone et al's 1998 pan-European study into young people and media use, the paper finds strong evidence for arguing that Australian youths' media use is currently in a state of flux. While young people generally have more access to a greater range of media than ever before, discussing youth media use involves mapping complex combinations of diverse media and the influences and outcomes of this use. The paper lays foundations for more comprehensive studies of youth media use in Australia that might contribute to international comparisons, particularly with other Asia-Pacific nations.