The role of media in developing a public transport policy through public involvement: the case of the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

摘要

The media have an important role in reporting transport news, but they can also engage in transportadvocacy and shape transport policy and planning. The paper examines the campaign by The SydneyMorning Herald newspaper which developed a long term public transport plan for Sydney Australia,independent of the state government, through an Independent Public Inquiry. The process of publicinvolvement including public meetings, submissions and a team of transport professionals producedcomprehensive Preliminary and Final Reports. The campaign is positioned in the context of civicengagement and social capital models. Analysis of the reporting of the Independent Public Inquiry inthe Herald shows that the newspaper did not make as full a use of its sponsored Inquiry as it couldhave, indicating dual reasons for the campaign of both content generation and readership, and civicengagement and social capital building.