As citizens in a democracy we rely on the media to scrutinise the actions and decisions of those in power. We therefore need media that is independent and diverse; capable of putting the public interest above the interests of media owners,  whether those owners are governments or shareholders. As members of the 'imagined community' we call Australia, we also need the media to provide spaces of national conversation: communication channels through which Australians in our myriad differences can find what we have in common by learning about and talking to each other. The failure to reinvent Australia's media policy to meet these needs in a new media age is putting the health of our democracy at risk.