Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

In a state such as Australia with strong protections for primary producers and an alignment with a broadly neoliberal agenda, arguments by animal activists can receive short shrift in the public sphere. This is illustrated with the increase within Australia of calls for ag-gag laws and by the public labelling of animal activists as acting to the detriment of the Australian national interest. In this paper we detail the highly effective media communications strategies of “Animals Australia,” a peak national body concerned with strengthening animal welfare policies and practices across Australia. “Animals Australia,” as we show through discursive analysis of their campaigns and mainstream responses, has been able to access and engage both mainstream and alternative media in their communications strategies so as to develop a broad support base of everyday Australians and engage them in a range of large-scale protest activities. They have not just shifted the tenor of Australian attitudes towards livestock animals, but achieved policy change.