‘Jumps racing’ (steeplechasing and hurdling) has long been a source of public controversy about animal welfare in Australia, and is now conducted only in Victoria and South Australia. Drawing together questions about sport, gambling and rural lives with analysis of human-horse relations, debate about jumps racing reveals much about the shifting terms of ethical debate, the interplay of tradition and change and the role of media in communicating value conflict. This presentation extends a previous study of the diverse frames with which Australian print media represent jumps racing. Focussed on 2008 and 2009, the initial study captured the peak period of equine fatalities when jumps racing seemed on the cusp of collapse due to public and political opposition. The current research focuses on 2012 and 2013, a period that proponents of jumps racing characterise as one of resurgence. A sample of regional and national print media sources is analysed to identify how this resurgence is interpreted and communicated, and to compare and contrast the two periods. The findings concentrate on ways in which media representations of horse lives and deaths shape and are shaped by broader public engagement with issues of animal welfare.

Item Type:	Conference Extract
Keywords:	jumps racing, animal studies, media analysis, thoroughbred horses
Research Division:	Studies in Human Society
Research Group:	Human Geography
Research Field:	Social and Cultural Geography
Objective Division:	Environment
Objective Group:	Other Environment
Objective Field:	Environment not elsewhere classified
Author:	Davison, A (Associate Professor Aidan Davison)
Author:	Ruse, K (Ms Karen Ruse)
ID Code:	96266
Year Published:	2014
Funding Support:	Australian Research Council (DP130104933)
Deposited By:	Geography and Environmental Studies
Deposited On:	2014-10-28
Last Modified:	2014-10-29
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