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This section looks at how journalism and fiction’s functions and values have evolved from 1950 to 2002 and how these changes have affected boundary crossings between them. Their complexities, oppositions and inter-relatedness are acknowledged. As Buckridge remarks, viewing any institution entails examining its function in the light of its relationships, practices and beliefs:

Each term helps to bring into focus a particular dimension of the complex process of change that occurred in Australia’s literary culture during and after the war; and each of these dimensions is itself quite complex. ‘Relationships’, for example, must include those between writers themselves, between writers and readers, between writers and the market, and between writers and the state. How did these various relationships change? (Buckridge, 1998: 170)

This thesis, of course, is examining more than one institution and one writing form. However, discussion can proceed because both involve such things as storytelling, narratives, themes, readers, profit motives, publishing and attracting and holding readers. Friedman insists that, even if fiction bears no relationship to other types of literature, it does not mean critical questions, in being differentiated, cannot be seen in relation to one another (1975: 3). “The case is exactly opposite: logically speaking, it is only because certain things are related that meaningful distinctions can

be made among them. And it is only when meaningful distinctions are made that the exact nature of the similarities become clear.”

In reference to functions and values it may be instructive to consider some of the institutional ways in which literature and journalism have interfaced during this period. The candidate is mindful of Spearman’s overview of history (1966: 2). She regards all cultural and social phenomena as inspired by a common ethos or outlook, even if germinating from different sources and aims. She cites Malinowski’s belief culture integrates various elements that are interdependent (1944). Applied to this thesis the novel, as a form of cultural transmission, merges with newspapers and magazines that critique, promote and excerpt it. When novelists also have written journalistically for those newspapers and magazines the interdependencies become more obvious.

Spearman and Malinowski are, in a sense, acknowledging overlapping functions and practices in newspapers and novels. Of equal importance is Friedman’s challenge: to identify and discuss meaningful distinctions between them (1975: 3). It is a commonplace that journalism purports to value accuracy and fairness and fiction purports to value imagination and creativity. These are key distinctions. But an historical novel can also demonstrate accuracy and a social novel can promote fairness. In journalism, imagination and creativity are important attributes in feature writing as well as in designing pages and writing headlines. It might be more useful to consider whether newspapers and novels are fulfilling their values and functions. As will be seen, fewer Australians are buying newspapers and non-fiction books are growing in popularity compared to fiction (Modjeska 2002; Mordue 2003).

When storytelling functions are not being met new forms and practices arise. This can be seen in the New Journalism of the 1960s, especially in the United States and in the works of writers such as Wolfe, Thompson, Breslin, Didion and McPhee. It combined subjectivity with investigative tools and fictive techniques to tell compelling stories mainstream publications were ignoring or overlooking related to the Vietnam War, drugs, the environment and civil rights. Hartsock says the era shared with the New Journalism of the 1890s and 1930s the impulse to respond to social and cultural crisis (2000: 191-2). This process of altering techniques and practices to satisfy public needs and institutional functions and values also can be seen in more recent Internet-based challenges to traditional media.

Whether in journalism or in fiction, these patterns of textual and thematic responses to cultural transformation and perceived consumer expectations relate to more than Buckridge’s relationships, practices and beliefs. They are underscored by the sine qua non that publishers of newspapers and novels make profits. Economies of scale and technological advances have produced more publishers and novels than ever before. From 1960 to 1975 Australian Book Publishers Association membership grew from 40 to 91 (Bennett, 1998: 246). But Buckridge finds such growth has not been uniform (1998: 184). For instance 612 books were published in Australia during 1961. This represents an increase of just 117 titles in 21 years. In the next 20 years the total jumped to 2790. Putting it another way Australian publishing doubled in dollar value from 1961 to 1965, again in 1970 and again in 1979 (Lawson, Alan, 1987: 271). Bennett calculates an annual average of 183 books classed as “literature” published from 1980 to 1989 (1998: 253-4). This increased sharply to 400 from 1990 to 1995. In the latter period 34 per cent were novels, up from 20 per cent during the 1970s. But Australian novelists must compete with American imports; foreign rights sales for US books worldwide increased 20-fold from 1988 to 1998 (Cowley, 1998: 27).

On a statistical basis alone, this means journalists were more likely to be published as novelists than ever before. But it also means publishers have had to work harder to make money. This has added to the importance of book reviews appearing in large newspapers and may inform the argument publishers see journalists as potential novelists because of their public profiles. In giving exposure to and opinion on books, McLaren concludes from the end of World War II to 1981 readers were well served by periodical-based reviewers although serious criticism did not begin to develop in newspapers until the 1960s (1981: 240-2). According to Bennett after the

Australian was launched in 1964 its book review section became an essential

reference point for literary judgment (1998: 249-50). In 1996 the newspaper began receiving an Australia Council subsidy to publish a monthly supplement, The

Australian’s Review of Books.

Bennett also cites an increased media interest in literary figures and topics in the late 1990s. Writers festivals were drawing large crowds and several state governments, including Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, were offering cash prizes for literary competitions. In 2002 the Brisbane City Council inaugurated One Book One Brisbane, a campaign encourage citizens to read and discuss a

designated text. This mirrored a successful campaign by the City of Chicago. These developments suggest the glamour factor that attracts some people to journalism might later attract those same people to the novel. In addition, it is instructive to observe note that some awards for writing, such as the Pulitzers in the United States, include prizes for both journalism. In Queensland, the annual Premier’s Literary Awards include both journalism and fiction. In 2003, Courier-Mail reporter Hedley Thomas and Australian reporter Rosemary Neill were short-listed for best literary or media work advancing public debate (Sorensen, 2003b: 2). In other words, the category recognises that journalism and fiction can perform similar functions.

The continuing symbiotic relationship between newspapers and novels is recognised by novelist Drusilla Modjeska. Although the Australian book industry grossed more than $1 billion in 2002 (Waldren, 2002: 4) she sees the novel in decline:

Publishers will tell you that it is non-fiction that’s selling; it’s literary non-fiction they and readers want. Publishers also will tell you how hard it is for first novelists to make a mark. The media, they say, is less likely to be interested in an Australian novel than they were five years ago, unless there’s an angle or an issue to pin it on. It’s harder to be noticed, and when the press is full of government fictions and lies and corporate fictions and lies, it’s hard for a novel to compete. There’s less and less room in newspapers for books of any kind as literary pages get squeezed between comment on the one hand and lifestyle and entertainment on the other. (Modjeska, 2002: 1)

In citing Modjeska’s observations, Mordue agrees a renaissance in Australian non-fiction is occurring and speculates fiction has lost its connection with readers (2003: 4). This, he believes, is exhibited in sales figures for Best Australian Essays

2001, which outsold Best Australian Short Stories 2001 by two to one in 2002.

Mordue wonders if it reflects widening divisions between “art and engagement in the community”. This echoes the debate between those who prefer literature based on imagination to experiential “dun-coloured realism”. Mordue suggests Australian fiction’s decline relates to its inability to “commune with a public it had somehow forgotten or left behind”. He notes journalist Jack Marx’s claim “there’s a real ‘us’ and ‘them’ thing going on in the publishing world: we literati versus those scummy journalists who want to be novelists”. Such views do not address the research question that , for marketing purposes, publishers see journalists as potential novelists.

Given its close historical relationship to literary production it may be useful to review Australia’s magazine market during this period. Although small by comparison to the American market Australia has experienced massive growth in magazines, especially since 1985. In the United States, the number of magazines trebled in the half-century to 2000 (Jackson, 2001: 15). There are similar figures for Australia. The 19th edition of Margaret Gee’s Media Guide (Gee 1985) lists 55 pages of general interest magazines and 32 pages of trade and specialist publications. The 69th edition in 2002 lists 142 pages of general interest titles and 114 trade and specialist magazines (Gee 2002). More than 3000 overseas and domestic titles are available, and Australians are ranked as the most avid magazine readers, per capita, in the world (Bonner, 2002: 188). These are primarily commercial magazines that tend to rely on entertainment values but some national titles have been forums for fiction and serious journalism. Although the contemporary Bulletin is nothing like its 1890s forbear it still publishes special editions containing short fiction.

Although a small part of the overall mix, literary magazines have obvious connections with fiction. Usually produced with government subsidies, they have provided useful commentary and criticism on novels, poetry and short stories. Journalistic influences can be identified in them almost as readily as in the commercial ones. They also highlight Buckridge’s argument regarding institutional relationships. For example Brisbane Courier-Mail sub-editor and poet Clem Christesen founded Meanjin in 1940. He helped establish post-World War II values in Australian writing by expanding Sartre’s concept of writers’ responsibility to their moment in history to include responsibilities to Australia, readers and literature (Buckridge, 1998: 179). Given other views that literature is more about self- expression than public outcomes, it is pertinent to compare Christesen’s philosophy with the MEAA Code of Ethics (MEAA 1999). In speaking of journalists’ public responsibilities and accountability and the public’s right to information its preamble reflects the historicity of the occupation’s functions and values.

Journalist-poet Kenneth Slessor also created an institutional bridge between journalism and literature. He was appointed editor of the literary journal Southerly in 1956, the same year he became president of the Sydney Journalists Club. Slessor was

Southerly editor until 1961 and Journalists Club president until 1965. According to

164). He set about improving its layout and popular appeal in terms of content. In addition, journalist Frank Hardy was prominent in the creation of the Melbourne- based Realist Writer. Springing from it in 1954 was Overland, which was founded by journalist Stephen Murray-Smith (McLaren, 1996: 33-4). In South Australia, journalist James Allen founded the state’s first literary periodical, South Australian

Magazine, which was published from 1841 to 1843. Queensland-born journalist Alan

Riddell founded the Scottish poetry review, Lines, which he edited for seven years during the 1960s and 70s (Wilde, et al, 1985: 639, 586).

In 1973 journalist Frank Moorhouse edited the annual short story collection,

Coast to Coast, the first volume of which was edited by journalist Cecil Mann in

1941. Moorhouse’s version was a “stunning departure” from previous anthologies in content and formatting (Lever, 1998: 314). Moorhouse was also a driving force in the creation of the magazine Tabloid Story, whose title has an obvious journalistic flavour. Hergenhen says the magazine was part of a strategy to encourage magazines such as the National Times and Nation Review to publish short stories (1981: 230-31). They did so as a consequence of Tabloid Story. The magazine also fought for improved conditions for writers. As Moorhouse told Hergenhan: “We broke that haughtiness and contempt and discourtesy still found in literary magazines by recognising contributors as the source of life for a little magazine.” Peter Craven had done “bits of journalism” before co-founding Scripsi in 1981 (Wyndham, 2002: 8-9). The journal stopped publishing in 1993 and Craven wrote a column for the Australian during much of the 1990s. In 2002 he was a high-profile book reviewer for the Age and a board member for the Australian Book Review.

In terms of organisations, journalist-novelist Dal Stivens chaired a 1961 meeting at which the Australian Society of Authors was formed and became its first president (Buckridge, 1998: 181-3). It included delegates from Hardy’s Realist Writers Group. The ASA effectively supplanted the Fellowship of Australian Writers, which had formed in 1928. Besides Stivens its presidents have included journalist- novelist Donald Horne (1984-85), who also co-edited Quadrant from 1963 to 1966 (Who’s Who, 1991: 258). The Commonwealth Literary Fund was established in 1908 to assist retired and disabled writers. After being restructured in 1939 to incorporate government subsidies for Australian literature, its chairmen included Vance Palmer and its board included Kylie Tennant. In 1952 Hardy helped establish the Australasian

Book Society. In 1957 Australia’s most prestigious literary prize, the Miles Franklin Award, was established pursuant to the terms of Franklin’s will. Although Franklin, Palmer, and Tennant are not regarded as journalists in a career sense they did produce journalistic work for newspapers.

Literary journals and groups provided a transitional entrée to literature for journalists such as Moorhouse just as fiction did for some who entered journalism, such as dramatist Barry Oakley. He gained a journalistic profile as the Australian literary editor from 1987 to 1997. Similarly, novelists and poets without journalistic backgrounds commonly contribute critiques and commentaries to newspapers and magazines. These examples are not intended to conflate journalism and fiction. Rather, they aim to demonstrate relationships between them. Under mass communication’s broad umbrella, they also suggest there may be as much uniting as dividing them in terms of functions and values.

According to Davis, the novel was the “first rearing” of the mass media’s head (1987: 4-5). This may be true in the sense the early novel, more than newspapers, targeted national and international readerships. In his view, it took over religion’s role in mediating between self and the world. But because the novel, with overt aims and a hidden agenda, was based on the marketplace “the distinction between fact and fiction, self and other, inner and outer began to collapse…” In more contemporary times, Iser (1993: x) and Lasch (1984: 133) find the mass media have compromised literature’s functions and values. Iser argues that, because literature is now on a par with other media, it has lost significance as a cultural epitome. It provides information, documentation and entertainment: “… but these have now been distributed among many independent institutions that not only compete fiercely with literature but also deprive it of its formerly all-encompassing function”. Lasch says reality is no longer “real” in terms of people’s shared understandings. This is because their impressions of the world are derived more from rapid mass media dispersals of information than from direct experience and observation. As key mediators of these impressions journalism and journalists have powerful roles in depicting “reality”. These depictions inevitably are flavoured by their professional values, practices and techniques.

From 1950 to 2002 newspapers, magazines and novels in Australia, the US and the UK lost some of their authority to inform, educate, advocate and entertain to

other forms of mass communication. New technologies and socio-economic factors meant more people in time-poor, information-heavy societies were having their needs met by television, radio, films and, from the 1990s, the Internet (Stone, 2000: 37; Kerry Green, 1999a: 236; Ledbetter, 2000: 2; Fulton, 1996: 19; Fulton, 2000: 2; Pavlik, 1997: 30; Hunter and Gross, 1980: 4; Cohler, 1985). This does not mean that because book and periodical publishers were losing readers they also were losing money. In many cases they were absorbed into larger corporate entities. Their operations were rationalised in “economies of scale” to meet market demand and pay take-over costs.

The convergence of disparate media is exemplified by corporate history’s biggest merger, which involved news and infotainment. The $US124 billion marriage in 2001 of Time Warner and America-Online produced a corporation that owned 10 cable television stations, including CNN, 33 magazines, including Time and People; seven book publishers; four movie and television production companies, a major music company; and two Internet service providers. Other media monoliths that originated as newspaper corporations also diversified. Australia’s biggest newspaper proprietor, News Limited, and its parent company, News Corporation, branched into book and magazine publishing, cable and network television and on-line activities. This trend may be an advantage if a News Limited journalist has a novel published by HarperCollins, which is owned by News Corporation. According to Hammond et al, media groups that keep readers/audiences linked to in-house products have a competitive advantage (2000: 17).

These new technologies accelerated during a half-century that saw the print media’s dominance already in decline. In Australia the average daily sales for metropolitan newspapers fell 63 per cent from 1946 to 1994 when post-war immigration was pushing up the population. According to the NABA (2000: 1), the average circulation per issue for Australia’s metropolitan dailies dropped from 227,028 in 1998 to 223,971 in 1999. Only eight regional dailies increased sales between 1990 and 2000. Television news, which almost invariably gained viewers each year, began to see declines during the 1990s. A Sydney-based survey showed that from 1991 to 1997 Networks 7 and 9 together lost 280,000 viewers from their weeknight news (Alysen, 2000: 1-21). The first ratings survey to include pay television showed, in 1999, it had captured 7.3 per cent of household viewing time. In

the United States evening news audiences fell from 60 per cent in 1993 to 38 per cent in 1998. Market fragmentation tells part of the story. In the past 50 years in the United States, FM radio stations increased tenfold and television stations multiplied 16-fold (Jackson, 2001: 15).

This diffusion of audiences, together with declines in circulation, encroachments from broadcast media and imposition of new multi-media technologies, suggest newspapers in some respects were becoming less viable as training grounds for would-be novelists. Comparatively fewer print journalists were being hired and their texts were becoming more “commercial” through the growth of advertising-based supplements. Also, adaptations to new technologies and understaffing meant they had less time to focus on form and content. Ownership changes meant a diminution of job security, putatively reducing journalism’s attractiveness as an occupation.

As media consumers have fragmented and ownership consolidated, it may be