In a media round table on 14 August, the ABC's Managing Director outlined his plans for the ABC. Amanda Meade from the Guardian reports that "if there was a message Hugh Marks wanted to send it was that the ABC is a no-nonsense organisation focused on quality programming."
In a media round table on 14 August, the ABC's Managing Director outlined his plans for the ABC. It followed a town hall with staff where he launched the ABC’s four key values:
Aim High, Think Differently, Take Ownership, Deliver Together.
A memo sent from Marks to staff talked of the need to "demonstrate respect, honesty and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, earn the trust of more Australians, and drive meaningful impact".
Marks wants to move towards a simplified “three product strategy”, with a focus on iView, ABC Listen and News Digital (its online news content). The ABC should be more strategic in its use of other platforms, with a focus on quality over volume, and a culture of excellence.
The homepage will be simplified with the "front door fundamentally driven by news as its main function,” he said.
We welcome Marks' statement that content and the story should come first. He's also talked of enhancing the ABC's TV slate in volume and ambition, increasing its its capacity to commission more high value journalism, and producing more original podcasts. It sounds promising.
Marks will scrap programs that are no longer working and we've seen the effects of that with his early decision to scrap Q+A. Marks assured the assembled journalists that Q+A would be replaced by something else in the same genre.
“We must always be in the town square. We must always have the ability for the public to exchange with those in positions of power. The question is, what is the innovative form of that today?” Justin Stevens added.
Marks is working to improve the ABC's relationship with external partners: "We’ve been renowned as a difficult organisation to deal with for producers," he told the round table. Instead of being fifth or sixth in the rung of where producers pitch their best shows, he'd like the ABC to come close to being the first port of call – and thus the first to receive the best ideas. With his background in the independent production sector, Marks should be well-placed to improve those partnerships. Most of the ABC's production occurs in partnership with external producers.
Marks would also like to improve the ABC's revenue generation by investing more in selected programs. At present, the ABC holds the Australian rights to its programs but international distribution rights are often be held by other broadcasters or streamers. Bluey is a case in point. It's arguably Australia's most popular export but the international rights – and the income they generate – are held by the BBC.
If the ABC believes in the potential of a program, it should be prepared to "make an investment that hopefully will deliver benefits, long term for the ABC and the taxpayer". That is a discussion that we’re having pretty much on most shows at the moment, Mumbrella quotes him as saying. But he has ruled out setting up a new for-profit business as the BBC has done.
Marks has been firm in making sure that the right lines of reporting were in place and respected, and that staff have the space to do their work well so they can "focus every day on their work without unnecessary distraction or lack of clarity of line of responsibility".
ABC Friends president, Cassandra Parkinson and vice-president, Carol Stuart, are set to meet with Mr Marks on 18 September. Watch this space for more news.
🗣️ Want to know more? Hugh Marks will be the guest of honour at the ABC Friends NSW/ACT Spring Dinner on 2 October and the Victorian dinner in November.