Tag: ABC
The national broadcaster has faced savage budget cuts every year since 2013. Its operations are now threatened by further cuts and at least 200 job losses. Dr Martin Hirst discusses whether it’s too late to save the ABC.
We need to get Aunty out of that abusive relationship. Guaranteed funding that the government can’t interfere with is a step in that direction.
Finally, we need to protect the ABC and defend it because privatising it is on the IPA’s “to do” list and they must be stopped at all costs.
As much as the ABC annoys me, I am committed to defending it and fighting for it to have an increased budget. The question is: How do we go about defending the ABC when it won’t defend itself?
The coronavirus emergency has dramatised this. In the US, people have poured into state capitals to demonstrate against pandemic precautions derived from the advice of public health experts. Antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists have been front and centre at the events. Facebook has played a crucial role in allowing the anti-lockdown movement to organise at a local level. And frequently people are coming to state capitols from the same rural areas where newspapers have been supplanted by cable news and partisan websites.
This perfect informational storm has driven the US slightly mad. Its effects have been fractal. Shattered local news ecosystems have made local communities easy prey for ideologues and grifters; at the same time, a polarised national media landscape makes any resolution of the country’s abiding problems difficult to envision.
Now the storm is settling in over Australia.
Mike Seccombe: ‘ It sounds like a marketing slogan, almost a cliché: in times of national crisis, Australians turn to the national broadcaster. But over the past six months or so, it has proved profoundly true.First came the bushfire crisis, when the ABC’s network of regional reporters distinguished themselves not just in reporting the disaster as it unfolded but also warning those in harm’s way. Then came the current coronavirus crisis….Continue Reading
Take the Nielsen Digital Content Ratings, which measure online interaction. In December last year, on the back of its bushfire coverage, the broadcaster surged into second place with a “unique audience” of more than 10 million – passing Nine and just behind news.com.au, which both fell.
By January, the ABC was No. 1 in the country, with an audience of 11.2 million, well ahead of the Murdoch news site. The most recent figures, for March, showed its audience up to 15.2 million, a 53 per cent gain in a single month, and almost three million ahead of its closest rival.
In one sense, this is unsurprising. Innumerable surveys over the decades have shown the ABC to be the most trusted media outlet, and one of the most trusted institutions in the country.
On another level, though, it is remarkable that the ABC has done so well during these particular crises – given that it has been working while grievously wounded. Since the current government came to power in 2014, the broadcaster has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and about 1000 jobs.
Staff members reveal the significant pressure they are under as the public broadcaster continues to face budget cuts of more than $100 million a year.
Staff members reveal the significant pressure they are under as the…
Staff members reveal the significant pressure they are under as the public broadcaster continues to face budget cuts of more than $100 million a year.
AN INTRIGUING development in Australia’s media landscape this year is that it appears ABC’s Insiders, a substantial television program paid for by taxpayers, has become a vehicle for the rehabilitation and promotion of Rupert Murdoch’s tawdry media empire.
The ABC should be our center for information and instruction (ODT)
The other lessons of the Spanish flu for Australia? One is that social distancing is essential and must be enforced “because it’s probably the only weapon we have got” for the time being, at least.
Rait says: “We will lose control of the virus if we don’t take social distancing seriously, and that’s how Italy got to where it is today.”
Kelly is welcomed on Sky but Morrison bans him from the ABC (ODT)
Scott Morrison banned Liberal MP Craig Kelly from the ABC’s Q&A program
Key points:
- Major newspapers feature “censored” front pages to show the impact of government secrecy
- It follows a television campaign launched on Sunday night
- Media organisations want greater protections for journalists and whistleblowers
LNP SEEMING TO CONTINUE ITS POLICY OF AVOIDING ACCOUNTABILITY ON THE PEOPLES MEDIA OUR ABC (ODT)
“I can’t answer for Ken … Ken made the decision, or someone made the decision, that Ken was not going to be appearing tonight and I’m disappointed Ken was not able to be here.”
Related Article
Anthony Albanese: “It is clear to me that enshrining that voice in the constitution is what must come first.”
Journey from the heart
Indigenous ‘voice’ to Parliament ‘must come first’: AlbaneseBurney affirmed Labor’s commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart – “in its entirety, including to the Voice”.
She declared: “Our position is very clear at the moment.”
In an era when Labor’s old light on the hill has been replaced with a candle in the wind, this is the caveat to watch for: “At the moment.”
via The most interesting thing on Q&A was who didn’t turn up
Has the ABC entirely capitulated?(ODT)
The Australian people are sold short by the dishing up of such tripe. But as we saw with Emma Alberici, factual analysis is no longer welcome at the ABC.
Did it ever occur to you Andrew, that by refusing to split the tax bill, it is actually the Coalition who is blocking tax cuts?
ABC is now modelling Sky News (ODT)
Since when did negotiation to make something better become a weakness?
And why on earth does a tax cut that will not come into force until after the next election (or two) have to be legislated now?
Why is it considered irresponsible to wait and see how the economy is doing?
Where is the modelling about the economic outcomes of the three stages of the tax cuts?
Where are the questions about what cuts will be made to compensate for the loss of $158 billion in revenue?
The Grattan Institute released analysis during the election which outlined the government would be forced into making $40bn in spending cuts to meet its forecast surplus and tax cut promises, which the government immediately rejected yet failed to come up with any evidence to counter the institute’s research.
Whilst commentators like Probyn may revel in the intrigue of the Game of Wedge and thrive on any perceived party disunity, what he serves up is more like a gossip column than journalism.
The Australian people are sold short by the dishing up of such tripe. But as we saw with Emma Alberici, factual analysis is no longer welcome at the ABC.
Did it ever occur to you Andrew, that by refusing to split the tax bill, it is actually the Coalition who is blocking tax cuts?
AOC knows the archival power of social media. The current President does not.
Now you might argue Trump’s stream of consciousness approach disregards hypocrisy. Maybe. But the wider society (excluding the MAGA cultists) does not. They have the opportunity to look at the evidence and see his thousand-and-one backflips,
Conclusion: The Role of Independent Media
Governments’ reactions to critical coverage clearly shows that it hits a nerve. Whether Spud screams media bias, or Trump screeches ‘fake news’, this should encourage us. We should continue to speak truth to power. They know they are losing the war and so they screech louder. Forward, my friends. Let us show these dinosaur politicians the true power of the information age.
via Politicians and The Information Age – » The Australian Independent Media Network
It seems to me there is a concerted right wing push to take us back to the intellectual Dark Ages under the guise of Free Speech reasoned or unreasoned there is no difference. They believe the lecture hall need to be thrown open to debate whether or not Andrew Bolt is an Indigenous Australian. That every aspect of campus life need be deregulated and privatised and a free market reducing Sydney University to a a precinct for shouting babble in which the loudest and most powerful win. So much for the Ramsay Center and why it ought have no place on or in a multicultural campus.
Courses in Western Civilisation already exist on campus along side studies on Nazism Islam and Revolution. None of which demand the structure within which they are taught needs dramatic changing or any takeover by assimilationists of Right-Wing Culture. The ideas on the benefits of coal and CO2 are already present on Campus as are their opposites. The fact that they have a larger say and want an even greater one is the very reason the tail wagged and keeps on wagging the Liberal Party dog ensuring Australia has no effective government.(ODT)
“Sydney University is a global centre of religious superstition that would make the Spanish Inquisition look like a model of tolerance and empiricism,” Cameron says.
“Free speech would be exhibit A.”
Unsurprisingly, Spence rejects this. It is not clear the two men will ever be able to “disagree well”. But there might be a way to settle things.
Cameron wants to book Sydney University’s renowned sandstone Great Hall and deliver a public lecture on why Trump may be the greatest US president since Abraham Lincoln.
The university says that would be absolutely fine – as long as Cameron pays the venue hire fees, including the costs of any extra security.
As Australian Federal Police officers swooped on ABC headquarters at 11.30am on Wednesday morning, the broadcaster’s head of investigative journalism was waiting.
Reaching for his phone, John Lyons would respond to the raid in a uniquely modern way: he live tweeted the whole thing.
‘The AFP have just realised I’m live tweeting’: ABC journalist lays bare police raid
Trump followed Abbott but he doesn’t have the ABC that got in the way of Abbott. Murdoch was there for both of them and made $$$ CRITICAL THINKING has made the difference it’s our RIGHT (ODT)
TV ‘Get Krack!n’ Is The Perfect Antidote To Trashfire Breakfast TV Like ‘Sunrise’ by Cameron Colwell 4 April 2019 Get Krack!n Sunrise The relentlessly cheerful, one-dimensional view of life offered by Australian morning television is one based on denial: denial of the reality of bodies, of bigotry, and of racism, and it’s a denial that is perfectly depicted by Get Krack!n, which has just finished its second and final season on ABC. Related I Decided To Review A Week’s Worth Of ‘Sunrise’ And Oh God What Have I Done The last few years have offered a number of examples of the aura of niceness slipping from breakfast TV’s mask to reveal the privilege and social division that is so often glossed over and simplified for the benefit of ratings. Karl Stefanovic used the t-slur on-air before offering a heartfelt apology (which led him to getting an award for being ‘a good ally’). Sunrise held a debate on whether or not Indigenous children should be removed from their parents. Yumi Stynes was hounded when she called out Kerri-Anne Kennerly’s racism during a discussion on Invasion Day. Get Krack!n’ perfectly satirises these moments by expertly mimicking the reality festering at the cor
We’re Looking For Australia’s Fiercest Fighter. Tell Us What You’re Training For To Win
Not only are we seeing “captain’s calls” and Ministers jumping overboard but we are seeing a rush to appoint mates to positions, some favours owed others that will help to trip up any government that just might surplant them. (ODT)
Accompanied by the Liberal Party’s IPA stalwart Mitch Fifield, Morrison approached peak unctuousness as he welcomed Ms Buttrose to the top job.
In fact the appointment is a classic example of the dark art of psyops, practiced by this Government’s finest exponent, the Minister for Communications and Arts Mitchell Peter Fifield.
I assume most of the readers of The AIM Network know the meaning of psyops, but for the uninitiated it is characterised by this definition: “Psychological operations (PSYOP) convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behaviour of governments, organisations, groups, and individuals”.
via Twilight of the sods – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Chinese Media is a threat but Murdochian Media isn’t a threat to Democracy. How does that work when Chinese media is paid for and broadcast on Foxtel and News Corp core effort in Australia is to shut down the ABC? (ODT)
In September 2018, billboards adorned with kangaroos and pandas began popping up around Australia’s capital cities as part of a $500 million advertising campaign urging viewers to “see the difference” on China’s Central Global Television Network (CGTN) — available on Foxtel and Fetch TV.
How pathetic is this MSM Fairfax article distancing itself from this abject neo-Nazi attack in the heart of Western Sydney. It’s this that enables troll courage. (ODT)
Cowan MP Anne Aly’s electorate office was targeted overnight with “It’s okay to be white” posters, a slogan she described as a “white supremacist neo-Nazi mantra”.
The phrase was at the centre of an embarrassing gaffe by government senators in October when they accidentally voted for a motion proposed by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson to acknowledge “the deplorable rise of anti-white racism and attacks on Western civilisation” and that “it is okay to be white”.
‘Words matter’: Anne Aly targeted in ‘It’s okay to be white’ campaign
And thank god for Aunty
‘White supremacist’ signs appear outside MPs’ offices
but never really Independant. Turnbull’s son claims he’s been used
Australia needs an opinionated seabird to come to the defence of the ABC because you people are so terrible at it
Some sources do say there is leadership stirring going on in Liberal ranks. (Certainly, News Corp appears to be helping fuel the situation — it’s a nice irony that a lot of trouble is coming from the Government’s favourite media organisation, not the one it so dislikes, the ABC.)
Are they going to allow a toxic combination of revenge politics, anti-climate change ideology, panic over the Longman result, and sheer muddle-headedness kill the chance of giving certainty to energy investment and tear down or mortally wound their Prime Minister?
Tony Abbott says “Emissions targets that made sense three years ago when all countries were supposed to be in Paris and we didn’t need policy change and wouldn’t face economic dislocation do not make sense now. @TurnbullMalcolm take note.
Sureley this in itself reveals that all Abbott is doing is stirring the pot of personal political revenge. Here he’s calling for flexibility in the National Interest which would best be by regulation. Any change by Legislation would lock Australia in to a far more rigid position.The man’s simply out to destrot the LNP and if he wins this it will be for a very long time.(ODT)
Cutting the ABC and Concentration of Private MSM spells the era of Fake News is growing, Australia needs teh ABC more than ever (ODT)
“This proposed merger means it is about to get even more concentrated,” Ms Rowland said, declaring it “beyond belief” for Senator Fifield to proclaim his government supported media diversity.
“Democracy suffers if you have too few media voices, workers suffer when mergers inevitably lead to job losses and citizens, consumers and communities get less diversity, less coverage and less choice.”
via Nine takeover of Fairfax Media welcomed by Malcolm Turnbull
The most destructive organization in Australia (ODT)
Australia has a big problem. The democratic processes and freedom of the press is under threat. Not content with having an out of control Murdoch-owned media, the Institute of Public Affairs is now attempting to destroy the only balanced mainstream media outlet in the country: the ABC.
This deplorable organisation is made up of some of the wealthiest people in Australia. The IPA was founded in 1943 by none other than Rupert Murdoch’s father. It is a pressure group, and increasingly is now enmeshed into the political system itself, with over a dozen politicians in parliament affiliated with this partisan, extremist group.
via IPA: Institute of Pathetic Authoritarians – » The Australian Independent Media Network
THE ABC EARNS around $100 million a year from its commercial activities (mainly ABC shops). Its annual operating budget is more than a billion dollars.
The organisation would not exist without the triennial funding provided by taxpayers (not by Treasurer Scott Morrison, who this week ludicrously claimed that he funded the ABC). You can’t privatise a business that doesn’t make a profit. So let’s call the demand from last weekend’s Liberal Party conference for what it really is; effectively a proposal to close the ABC and sell off its assets, the prime of which would be its broadcast spectrum.
But even that is hardly practical, or likely. Ironically, while the ABC haters with their ideological objections to public broadcasting would like to see it happen, there would be little or no appetite from the commercial television sector for starters.
via It’s not about privatising the ABC, it’s about destroying it
ABC radio and television broadcasts focus on genres that are far removed from commercial output. We have no interest in reality TV formats, chequebook interviews and the music genres of commercial FM – programming that draws the biggest and therefore most lucrative audiences for commercial media. Nor are we in competition for rights to any of the marquee sports events. Instead, we complement the market as the trusted, independent source of Australian conversations, culture and stories.
via A move to curtail the ABC would only ‘punish Australian audiences’: Michelle Guthrie
Ms Guthrie cited a forthcoming report by Deloitte Access Economics, commissioned by the ABC, which she said would reveal the broadcaster contributed $1 billion to the national economy last financial year – about a third of which fed into the broader media landscape. In addition to its 4000 employees, the ABC helps to sustain more than 2500 full-time equivalent jobs across the supply chain – such as artists, writers and technicians – Ms Guthrie said, citing the Deloitte research.”Amid the debate over the ABC’s purpose and its funding, we should all remember that there are 2500 jobs outside public broadcasting at risk in any move to curtail our remit and activities,” she warned.
Admonishing the ABC’s critics in government, Ms Guthrie asserted there was a sinister agenda at work involving overtures to the Coalition’s base.Related Article Footage from Liberal Party meeting reveals who voted to sell the ABC “In a complex world it is too easy for the powerful to do their work in dark corners: t so-“Good journalists call that out. Today, I want to channel some of that skill and emphasise real facts in what has become an increasingly febrile debate over the value and future of the ABC.”
Source: ‘We are not your punching bag’: ABC boss Michelle Guthrie hits back at the Liberal Party
Israel not only spreads propaganda but actively tries to interfere with the world’s media that doesn’t report it. It invests in and uses world media like MEMRI TV to put out fake news on their behalf hiding their investment.
Mainstream media around the world didn’t express any level outrage in Israel’s massacre NYT actually apologized for under reporting of over 120 Palestinians killed in fact they whitewashed the wounding of 13,000 +, leaving over 300 in intensive care and 27 amputees and Israel isn’t satisfied. How stupid drawing attention to themselves yet again.When no injuries occurred and rockets were fired by both sides.
Israel’s agents in Australia have erupted on the behalf of the Zionist state simply because they didn’t get the attention they felt they deserved to make Israel’s actions look justified. OMG you should have heard what the Palestinians were yelling from the death side of that fence in Gaza that alone justified the sniper bullets of death. No Israel through its agents have demanded the attention they think they deserve to justify their fishbowl slaughter.
I’m sorry Hamas can’t control all its agents just as Israel can’t control all their snipers who decided to kill,press medics nurses children and women. We know however the order to kill was given carte blanche but we don’t know that was the same for the firing of rockets by Hamas. Again we know the order to retaliate was given by Israel’s top brass. Is Israel the only country in the world that is given the get out of jail free card and allowed to simply say “oops” and hope nobody will notice when people are butchered? Do they deserve front page attention only when nobody is hurt? Good on the ABC they made the right choice. (ODT)
AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said the public broadcaster had exhibited a “serious lack of balance” by declining to cover one of the largest rocket attacks against Israel in many years.
Source: Jewish group complains to ABC boss over ‘massive omission’ on Gaza rocket attack
You know the ABC is doing it’s job and doing it well when governments and News Corp are heard complaining (ODT)
The Turnbull government has lodged a second series of complaints to the ABC about the network’s chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici, this time over her reporting on innovation tax credits.
via ABC lodged second complaint from Malcolm Turnbull about Emma Alberici
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