Welcome to our News Email - Checking the Pulse - providing you with useful and informative ABC Friends SA/NT News bites. Below you will find links to interesting reads/webinars, online events coming up and ABC TV productions you may enjoy.

Informative update from Our ABC - what would we do without Our ABC! (and RN’s Fran next year!) 

• Labor makes ABC independence an election issue with 5 year funding pledge here.
  
  
• Earlier this month - ABC announces funding injection for regional bureaus. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has provided a public undertaking that our budget would not reduce, says ABC MD David Anderson  here. Earlier this week an announcement that ABC regional radio funding in Victoria is being curtailed. More in the article  here.

• Statement from Ita Buttrose, ABC Chair on ABC complaints handling process and Senator Bragg calling a separate Senate Inquiry here  and the original Inquiry announcement last month here  An interesting article on this unfolding from Quentin Dempster here.

• Just in case you missed it - a webinar discussion Covering COVID -  Media in the age of the pandemic  with Dr Norman Swan and cosponsored by ABC Friends ACT here 

Informative Reads

• And ABC’s annual report for 2020-2021 can be found here

Dates to put in your Diary

• Thursday 25 November (6:30 pm SA, 5:30 pm NT). A livestream event – The Community Independents Project & Australia’s political future  - Simon Holmes à Court, Convenor of Climate 200, together with journalist Kerry O’Brien and former independent member for Indi Cathy McGowan will bring their political nous to the topic of “How we got to this political juncture. And what next?”   Note: you must register for the event here (The start time mentioned on the Community Independents Project website is NSW/Vic.) 

On behalf of your ABCF SA/NT 2021-22 Committee

Sue Pinnock - President

Sandra Coopman - Secretary 

Mihir Makwana - Treasurer

Nick Carroll, Roselie Copley, Andrew Johnston, John Pezy, Shelley Pezy, Daryl Regan and Richard Ruffin - Committee Members