In the wake of war: the rise and rise of Australia's media since 1918

Lost in the traditional stories of Depression and unemployment is the extraordinary technological and media revolution that was taking place in Australia of the interwar years. For it was in these years that we now find the origins of the great media empires of the twentieth century: the houses of Murdoch and Packer. It saw, too, the birth of widespread radio technology and the iconic Australian serial, the Australian Women’s Weekly. Indeed, as Bridget Griffen-Foley demonstrates here, the 1920s and 1930s were far from being just an ago of economic hardship. Rather, this was perhaps the first period in Australian history in which most citizens were afforded the opportunity to experience extraordinary new communications technologies.