Jonathan Holmes, Chair of the ABC Alumni and former Executive Producer of Four Corners and host of Media Watch, presents his thoughts via video on the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) wish to see the ABC privatised.

Evidence and implications are discussed, to which one could add that a privatised ABC might change the primary focus of the national broadcaster from journalism for the good of the Australian public (current owners) to that of profits for future private owners.

ABC Friends have partnered with the ABC Alumni to produce a video to counter misinformation about the ABC from the IPA.  To go straight to the video, please click on - Jonathan Holmes & the IPA.  Or you may want to first read an overview provided by Jonathan Holmes (refer below).

From Jonathan Holmes ...

As we approach government decisions about the ABC’s triennial funding, the IPA has launched a 5 episode attack series titled ‘Their ABC’.

The series includes misinformation, driven by ‘push polling’ to suggest the ABC is on the nose with Australians. Nothing could be further from the truth – the ABC remains the most trusted news source in Australia.

Misinformation is like a virus that infects and spreads. The best response is to inoculate people against it with a healthy dose of the truth. I know a bit about that from years of producing Four Corners and hosting Media Watch.

So ABC Alumni, made up of former ABC staff members like myself, partnered with ABC Friends to make a video taking a good, hard look at this IPA series, its claims and participants.

Now we are relying on you – the ABC’s most steadfast supporters – to be the public broadcaster for our message. Together we can stamp out the IPA’s misinformation campaign.

Coincidentally, many of the participants in the IPA attack series work for NewsCorp, which competes with the ABC for viewers and readers, and which would profit by the ABC’s undoing. Coincidentally, Rupert Murdoch has appeared at IPA events.

We hope now to match the IPA’s undisclosed funders with the combined personal networks of tens of thousands of ABC supporters.

ABC Friends has produced a webpage that makes it easy to share our new expose video with your friends. The video has already been viewed 13,000 times. But with your help, we hope to double that by week’s end.

Please click here to watch the video and broadcast it far and wide.

Thank you for watching and sharing.

Jonathan Holmes

P.S. The IPA loves to pick holes in ABC reporting. The first episode of ‘Their ABC’ claims that: “[Four Corners] also aired a two part documentary, ‘The Big Lie’, on News Corp's Fox News channel’s links to Trump, implying that it fanned the flames of the January 26th insurrection. It was error-ridden and widely criticised.”

However, their own critique makes two gross errors in one sentence. Fox News is not owned by News Corp, but by Fox Corp, a completely separate company - though both are controlled by the Murdoch family. Far worse, the siege of the Capitol in Washington (no small event) was on 6 January, not 26 January. Weeks after its first publication, neither error has been corrected.

It’s tough, this journalism business, isn’t it? Just thought I’d share that with you.