Staff Profiles

Professor Balnaves conducted for Telstra Multimedia Australia’s first major adoption and diffusion study of broadband possibilities in Gungahlin, ACT (at a time when the phrases 'narrowband' and 'broadband' were not in the popular lexicon).  This study contributed to the formation of Telstra’s Bigpond.  The studies also contributed to the established of ACTEW’s TransACT, Canberra’s broadband provider. His current work at Curtin University is on e-governance and the role of new media in enhancing the link between citizens and government.  His publications are in audience research, theories of media and the role of the Internet in the public sphere.

Information Commons, Social Media and Citizen Engagement, Audience Research

ARC Linkage. Transitions to a Sustainability City, Geraldton WA.

There are two approaches to decarbonising the economy, one based on economic instruments such as the carbon tax and the other on citizens and end user behavioural changes. The aim of this project, the first of its kind, is to contribute to the under-researched area of citizen end-user alternatives. The project uses techniques in civic deliberation and social media to bring together citizens, government and industry in Geraldton to develop and implement sustainability plans. The outcome of the research will be the provision of sophisticated ways of engaging communities with scientific data to develop local solutions for more resilient, sustainable cities, as well as participatory methods that successfully link governments with communities.

Books (Authored, Research)

• Willson, M, and Balnaves, M. 2011. A New Theory of Information and the Internet: Public sphere meets Protocol. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
• Balnaves, M, O'Regan, T, and Goldsmith, B. 2011. Rating the Audience: The business of media. London/New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Book Chapters (Authored, Research Quality)

• Balnaves, M. 2010. Measuring Audiences and Using Media Research. In Integrated Brand Marketing and Measuring Returns, eds Philip J Kitchen, 144-175. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Refereed Articles (Scholarly Journals)

• Rodan, D, and Balnaves, M. 2010. Media activist websites: the nature of e-participation spaces. Australian Journalism Review 32(1): 27-39.
• O'Regan, T, and Balnaves, M. 2010. the politics and practice of television ratings conventions: Australian and American approaches to broadcast ratings. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 24(3): 461-474.
• Aly, A, and Balnaves, M. 2007. Media, 9/11, and fear: a national survey of Australian community responses to images of terror. Australian Journal of Communication 343(3): 101-112.
• Aly, A, and Balnaves, M. 2007. "They want us to be Afraid”: Developing a Metric for the Fear of Terrorism. International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations 66(6): 113-122.
• Aly, A, and Balnaves, M. 2005. The Atmosfear of Terror: Affective Modulation and the War on Terror. M/C - A Journal of Media and Culture 8(6).

Fully written papers (Refereed Conference proceedings)

• Balnaves, M, and Hartz-Karp, J. 2011. Social Media, Climate Change and Schools: the impact of collaborative governance. World Planning Schools Congress 2011: Planning's Future - Futures Planning: Planning in an Era of Global (Un)Certainties and Transformation, 04/07/2011. Perth, WA: University of Western Australia.
• Balnaves, M. 2011. The Ratings Intellectual. ANZCA; Communication on the Edge, 06/07/2011. Hamilton, NZ: ANZCA.
• Balnaves, M. 2011. The social mood reader: Mapping citizen engagement using the semantic web and supercomputing. Refereed proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association conference: Communication on the edge 2011, 06/07/2011. Hamilton, New Zealand: ANZCA.
• Balnaves, M, Leaver, T, and Willson, M. 2011. The Ubiquity of Information Filtration. Australian and New Zealand Communication Association conference: Communication on the edge 2011, 06/07/2011. Hamilton, New Zealand: ANZCA.
• Wood, D, kriyantono, R, and Balnaves, M. 2010. A Critical Ethnography of Crisis management Dealing with a Mudflow Crisis in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. Global Management 2010, 08/11/2010. Oviedo, Spain: International Association for Scientific Knowledge.
• Balnaves, M, and Allen, M. 2010. E-government and social media: the Queensland Government’s MYQ2 initiative. EDem10: 4th International Conference on eDemocracy, 06/05/2010. Krems, Austria: Austrian Computer Society (Osterreichishe Computer Gesellschaft).
• Balnaves, M, Willson, M, and Leaver, T. 2010. Habermas and the Net. 60th annual meeting of the International Communication Association, 23/06/2010. Singapore: All Academic, Inc.
• Balnaves, M. 2010. Internet Aggregators: The Impact of the Classifiers on Open Communication. Communication Policy Research Forum, 15/11/2010. Sydney: Network Insight Institute.
• Balnaves, M, and O'Regan, T. 2009. Comparing television ratings conventions: Australian and American approaches to broadcast ratings. Communication, Creativity and Global Citizenship, 08/07/2009. Brisbane: Australia and New Zealand Communication Association.
• Balnaves, M, and Rodan, D. 2009. Democracy to come: Active forums as indicator suites for e-participation and e-governance. First International Conference, ePart 2009, 01/09/2009. Linz, Austria: Springer.
• Balnaves, M, and Allen, M. 2009. E-Governance as Digital Ecosystem: a new way to Think About Citizen Engagement and the Internet?. International Conference on e-Government (ICEG): 5th Conference, 19/10/2009. Boston, USA: Academic Publishing Limited.
• Nelson, L, and Balnaves, M. 2009. RSVP and the role of computer mediated communication and digital personae in social media. Communication, Creativity and Global Citizenship, 08/07/2009. Brisbane: Australia and New Zealand Communication Association.
• Balnaves, M, and O'Regan, T. 2009. Survey Wars: The explosion of audience measurement. Communication Policy Research Forum, 19/11/2009. Sydney: Network Insight.