Sydney is home to a thriving media industry (information is indeed considered one of the major commodities produced and processed in the city) and the city has over time developed into the virtual media capital of Australia, and perhaps even the wider Asia Pacific region. Evidence for this is to be found in the fact that almost every major media house in Australia is headquartered – or at least strongly represented in Sydney.
If you wake up in Sydney on any given day, the major newspapers to be looking out for will include the Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald – which are the city’s main dailies. Both are published in the city, as are some of the Australia’s influential national dailies – the ‘Australian Financial Review’ and a paper simply called the ‘Australian.’
And if you are visiting Sydney or planning on relocating there – you will find yourself having the choice of some good free to air television channels, and some good cable TV channels too, if you want that extra content. Australia’s national government broadcaster – ABS has its headquarters in Sydney, as well most of the Nation’s commercial television stations, including MTV Australia (for that dose of music), Optus and Pay TV Foxtel. There are some specialty TV broadcasting services here too – including Christian TV (the Australian Christian Channel), Sports TV (Sports TAB) and even a channel entirely dedicated to parliamentary proceedings, if politics is your thing.
Being the home of major production houses, Sydney also has a thriving film industry – and is the cradle of numerous movies and television series. The film industry in Sydney is highly monetized – and while some people have raised issues with this, with arguments like ethical issues and that too much commercialization erodes artistic standards, but there is also no denying that it helps in keeping the industry sustainable through the best and rough times, as it is a commercial venture.
Sydney also has radio for all tastes – with most stations either being community, government or commercially sponsored. If you, for instance, love those stations that people phone in and talk about various issues, be sure to tune in to 2GB while in Sydney, and who knows, you could even start an interesting discussion on it. 2UE is yet another radio station in Sydney known for its engaging phone in sessions. If what you want is uninterrupted music however, the station to tune in is 2Day on FM or Triple M or you can even try Nova Fm. The music on these stations is hip – and meant for the young and the young at heart. Other radio stations that target this demographic include Mix FM and Vega FM. WS FM is the place to go for those timeless classics, but if you love underground music by up and coming artistes – and the so called alternative content generally, you can try the eccentric FBi Radio or Tripple J. And if you’d love to hear a broadcast in your vernacular, you should consider doing a random scan (or asking from members of your community living in Sydney) as there could very well be a community-sponsored radio station broadcasting in your very own mother tongue.
