Jill Russell, here! While visting the Australian Film Television and Radio School, we were struck with awe at the fact that such an elaborate and modern school could be fully subsidized by the government. I mean, it just seems totally un-American that the government would fund a school for media. In my American-bred mind, the thought of governmental interference in media is terrifying.

While Steve Aherns talked about the history of Australian radio, I was kept on guard about the whole idea of this school. I kept thinking, “OK. Government subsidized…what’s the catch?” We quickly learned that there was no catch. The Australian government is totally aware of something that our government has yet to understand. The media are very powerful entities.

Steve Aherns, the director of radio at the school, lectures the class on the nuances of Australian radio. (Photo by Nate Hulings)

In America, our culture and our history has taught us to seek freedom from governmental control. In Australia, the government finds media so important, so crucial to its culture, that it willingly allocates money to create a school for the cream of the crop to harness their skills, ensuring a very hopeful future for Aussie storytellers.

--Jill Russell