Part of its Open Forum series, in a lecture entitled The Future of the Media Industry, Mr Adams will discuss how the era of media barons is coming to a close, leading to a segmentation of the industry.

``When Rupert Murdoch joins Kerry Packer in the proprietorial Paradise with the Citizen Kane's who preceded them, when the Murdoch era of mass media ends with bang and whimper, we'll suddenly realise what we've lost,'' Mr Adams said.

``Yes, monopoly/duopoly media presented major problems. However, the new world of media fragmentation, of Balkanised and ``ghetto'' media, where people only hear the echoes of their own prejudices, represent at least as great a threat to democracy''.

The event is at UWS Parramatta campus, Building EA Room G.19, on Tuesday, November 10 at 5.30pm.