AustLit

'Despite Australia's prosperity, the age of the country and its newspapers, its technological and economic advantage and its ideal "multi-party parliamentary government, its protection of law and a firm basis in private enterprise" (Hachten 1971: 46), the Australian press lacks the force and influence of the press in so-called third-world countries, such as Nigeria. There are many reasons and rewards for comparing the press in Nigeria and Australia. For one, they were both British colonies that achieved independence in the same century. Just as Australian independence from Great Britain took place earlier (1901), 59 years ahead of Nigeria (1960), both countries' print media were born in the nineteenth century, Australia much earlier in 1803 and Nigeria in 1859. Another reason is that this comparison may shatter some of the preconceptions and academic theories about press freedom. For the Western world, Nigeria's robust and ruthless press, which has in turn supported and tamed many a military dictatorship, is a confounding academic exclamation mark.'