A brief history of literary journalism in Australia

This chapter provides an overview of the history of literary journalism in Australia, tracing its development from its beginnings in the colonial era through to the status it enjoys with readers today in magazines, newspapers, and online. In particular, it considers the role played in the shifting fortunes of this narrative storytelling form as a result of advancing technology, the increasing commercialization and professionalization of journalism, and changes in the economic and political climates in Australia over time. Literary journalism has always enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with emerging technologies, from the telegraph and mass printing presses in the nineteenth century to the internet in the late twentieth that decimated legacy media’s business model. While Australian literary journalism continues to find new audiences by using innovative layouts on traditional print stories, publishing on aggregation sites, in audio books, and even morphing into podcasts, its future is threatened by shrinking media outlets and job losses in the Australian media market.