The SBS Story is described as the first ‘comprehensive account’ of the development and significance of the ‘world’s first multicultural public service broadcaster’, and it is. However, unlike Ken Inglis’s blow-by-minute-blow, two-volume account of the ABC (referred to affectionately by broadcaster Phillip Adams as the Old and New Testament), what the three authors give us here is a very engaging and readable overview of the second public broadcaster, focussing on the particular ‘challenges’ SBS has faced since its inception.

    Each chapter addresses a different aspect of the SBS, illuminated by quotations from almost 80 interviews with
everyone who might have something to say about the SBS, from current managing director Shaun Brown, to George Donikian, the first newsreader. The first chapter sketches the cultural landscape into which SBS radio was introduced in the 1970s, while the last deals with the current, somewhat precarious, position of the SBS in the new digital environment: an environment which might well render its particular eclectic mix of programmes and services obsolescent.

    The intervening sections illuminate the SBS story by focussing on major topics such as the multilingual and
multicultural character of the broadcaster as reflected in the creation of a distinctive world news service. A recurring theme is the ongoing tension between the ethnic, cosmopolitan and popular impulses in the broadcaster’s formation and programming strategy. The chapter on the SBS audience is particularly revealing as it endeavours to struggle with the question of who the SBS is really for. The answer seems to be ‘all Australians in all their cultural diversity’. No easy task.

    Far from being critical of the SBS, the authors appear generally supportive of the broadcaster’s evolving
strategies, including the introduction of advertising which is presented as something of a necessary evil. Advertising has, after all, funded SBS Independent which in turn has funded some outstanding local productions, such as the Oscar winning Harvey Krumpet. Finally, the authors don’t ignore the elephant in the room, and question whether or not the broadcaster’s efforts to become more popular might have diminished its commitment to multiculturalism and cultural diversity. This one they leave hanging since only time, and possibly Shaun Brown, will tell.

    Ien Ang and Gay Hawkins are highly respected academics in the field of cultural studies who have a long-standing
interest in matters media and multicultural, and they can write. This book is therefore one of those rare cross-over creatures which could have a life in academia and in the wider world. Anyone with an interest in Australia’s cultural history would find this a fascinating read on a complex topic. For those teaching and/or working in the field of the media and communications, it will be essential.

Dr Sue Turnbull is Associate Professor and Head of Media Studies at La Trobe University, Vic

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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