‘Amazing Stories’: Australian Newspapers and Anti-Spy Panic, 1910–1945©

Article

Coatney, Caryn. 2022. "‘Amazing Stories’: Australian Newspapers and Anti-Spy Panic, 1910–1945© ." Media History. 28 (4), pp. 494-509. https://doi.org/10.1080/13688804.2021.1947213
Article Title

‘Amazing Stories’: Australian Newspapers and Anti-Spy Panic, 1910–1945©

ERA Journal ID7407
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorCoatney, Caryn
Journal TitleMedia History
Journal Citation28 (4), pp. 494-509
Number of Pages16
Year2022
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN1368-8804
1469-9729
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/13688804.2021.1947213
Web Address (URL)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13688804.2021.1947213
Abstract

Moral panic has become a popular concept to explain a media frenzy that has provoked public alarm. A largely unexplored area of panic has been the exceptional allegations of pro-Nazi secret agents in Australia during World War II. Moral panics have often been viewed as the outcome of the media acting as a single entity to generate wild reporting and mass hysteria. This article proposes a refinement of the concept by showing that the press published varied reporting about a government crackdown on so-called fascist spies. The article focuses on the British accused spy and self-proclaimed journalist, Adela Pankhurst, and John Curtin, a hard-hitting labour reporter who became Australia’s wartime prime minister. Rival newspapers provided stylised expressions of civility and outrage about the sensational crackdown. The news of a battle against powerful traitors also shaped popular views of Curtin’s leadership and Australia’s need to uphold a democratic British identity.©

KeywordsAustralia; John Curtin; Great Britain; journalism; Adela Pankhurst; World War II
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020430302. Australian history
430399. Historical studies not elsewhere classified
470105. Journalism studies
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Byline AffiliationsSchool of Humanities and Communication
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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