A new book on broadcast journalism has been released. The Australian Broadcast Journalism Manual, written by Gail Phillips and Mia Lindgren, is a book by journalists for journalists.

It aims to introduce new recruits to the realm of broadcast journalism by exposing them to the thoughts and experiences of practising journalists across all the broadcast media – radio, television and the web. Most importantly, the book’s Australian context gives students the chance to relate what they are being taught to their own domestic experience.

Focusing on the skills journalists need to succeed, the book looks at how these skills are applied across the different broadcast media and examines the way that broadcast journalists have to adapt their practice in a convergent, multimedia environment. Radio provides the starting point, and students are introduced to the basic skills required for news, features, and live talk-radio production. Students are then shown how these skills can be adapted to television news and online broadcast news production.

The book is intended to serve as a comprehensive text for a suite of courses ranging from introductory to advanced levels. The companion CD contains examples of the work of practising journalists and gives students the chance to hear them talking about how they do what they do.

Both authors have a long history in the media and are well respected practitioners who have moved on to University training. Gail Phillips is Senior Lecturer in Media Studies and Head of the School of Media Communication & Culture at Murdoch University and Mia Lindgren is Lecturer in Radio and Television, Media Studies program, Murdoch University. The book is published by Oxford University Press.