ISSUE MANAGEMENT AND THE AUSTRALIAN GUN DEBATE

On April 29, 1996, Martin Bryant shot and killed 35 people and injured 13 others with an automatic rifle at Port Arthur in Tasmania. While t here was immediate national disgust to this crime and tragedy, media a ttention quickly move to focus on the issues of gun control and politi cal conflict. As these three issues remained interrelated and as image s and messages were manufactured and maneuvered into the media to suit both private and public agendas, the Australia gun debate became a ma sterful exercise in issue management. This study examines the rise and fall of media coverage of the issues for May, 1996, to demonstrate th e salience of the issues on the public agenda. At the same time, the s tudy seeks to reveal something of the issue management process that oc curred and the hidden agendas that motivated the political and media a ctivity. The study serves to demonstrate the role of the media in the creation of issue salience and the importance of the issue management function to both business and politics.