Displaying media stories related to the ABC.
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The ABC of Australian Christmas Carols
Lynne Carmichael - ABC Alumni - December 10, 2022
I was 10 years old when my family moved to Australia from England. So my first Christmas here was quite disorienting. All around were decorations depicting wintry images of snow and ice, reindeers and sleighs, along with all the trappings I’d known in the Northern Hemisphere. But I was sweltering in a typical sunny Australian December heatwave.
How I missed, at least in the beginning, my former white Christmases. Imprinted in my memory were the happy days of walking home from school in the early winter darkness, with windows offering ‘squares of a dusky orange-red on either side of the street’ as Kenneth Grahame depicted so evocatively in The Wind in the Willows. And like Mole, I would be observing brief glimpses of other lives on these tiny stages.
ABC in the Coalition’s crosshairs
Chris Wallace - The Saturday Paper - December 3-9, 2022
ABC managing director David Anderson faced hostile questioning at a senate estimates committee hearing in Canberra this week regarding three of his leading journalists.
Victorian Liberal senator Sarah Henderson led the charge against Norman Swan first, then Patricia Karvelas and finally Louise Milligan, with Anderson pressured at times to produce the kind of employee management information that’s normally the province of private HR processes.
Editorial director Craig McMurtrie signs off after 30 years at the ABC, defends impartiality and importance of national broadcaster
Craig McMurtrie - ABC - November 25, 2022
The ABC has always received its share of brickbats, much of it directed at its unflinching and often award-winning current affairs programs. Of course, the national public broadcaster is more than that — it's also Bananas, Costa, Bluey, the Hottest 100, quizzing hard, cricket in summer, singing songs to lyrics from car manuals, teens and elders jumbled together, original Australian sitcoms and drama, local radio, emergency broadcasting and more.
In my more than three decades of journalism at the ABC there have been moments that have demanded a single-minded focus — reporting rampant bushfires at home, uprisings and disasters abroad, and at Ground Zero in New York on 9/11.
Mother and Son: ABC to reboot beloved sitcom with comedians Denise Scott and Matt Okine
Amanda Meade - The Guardian - November 24, 2022
A reboot of the great Australian sitcom Mother and Son, starring comedians Denise Scott and Matt Okine as Maggie and Arthur Beare, leads the ABC TV programming lineup for 2023.
Almost three decades after the original show ended its successful 10-year run on the ABC, Okine has collaborated with the original writer, Geoffrey Atherden, to create a new program which explores ageing and changing family dynamics, with the added twist of the migrant experience brought by Okine, who is half-Ghanaian.
ABC reveals 2023 programming slate, Leigh Sales to host Australian Story
Wenlei Ma - news.com.au - November 24, 2022
Leigh Sales has revealed she will return to TV screens in 2023 as the anchor of Australian Story.
Sales will become only the second host in the program’s history, after Caroline Jones. Sales acknowledged the honour in following Jones, who died in May this year.
ABC in 2023 – Bright, bold and simply brilliant
ABC - November 24, 2022
ABC is proud to showcase its 2023 programming slate. Next year, audiences will be treated to a line-up of unrivalled Australian content from across the country. Whoever you are or wherever you are, there’s something for you on ABC in 23.
ABC Managing Director David Anderson says “In 2023 the ABC will bring to our audiences everywhere more of the brilliant and compelling programs they love and rely on. No other network or streaming service features Australian stories and voices as much as the ABC, ABC iview and ABC News.
ABC wins 2022 Gold Walkley Award
ABC - November 18, 2022
The ABC’s journalism has been richly awarded at the 2022 Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism, including winning top honour the Gold Walkley.
Anne Connolly, Stephanie Zillman and Ali Russell took the Gold, as well as the award for Public Service Journalism, for their gripping investigation “State Control”, the year-long investigation into Public Guardian and Trustee agencies, which control the lives of around 50,000 Australians.
ABC launches Australia Calling: The ABC Radio Australia Story
ABC - November 17, 2022
The ABC has released an official history of Radio Australia, Australia Calling: The ABC Radio Australia Story.
Written by long-time ABC Radio Australia journalist and presenter Dr. Phil Kafcaloudes, Australia Calling tells the story of the radio service’s evolution and change through the decades as geopolitics and the media landscape shift across the region and the world. It charts the push and pull of the service from pressures on the ABC budget over the years and as political support for the value of international broadcasting has ebbed and flowed within Canberra.
2022 Federal Budget response – Australian and international ABC audiences benefit from funding boost
ABC - October 25, 2022
ABC audiences around the country and across the Indo-Pacific region will directly benefit from the increase in funding announced in the Federal Budget.
The increase of $83.7m in operational funding and $32m for international services across four years ($20.9m and $8m each year respectively) will allow significant investment in services across all platforms. It will also help the ABC to deal with rising costs affecting the media industry and support the sustainability of ABC services.
ABC sweeps 2022 AACTA Award nominations
The Mirage - October 24, 2022
The ABC’s depth of quality Australian content has been honoured with an incredible array of programs and personalities nominated in the 2022 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA).
From our unrivalled slate of drama, comedy and entertainment to our documentaries and kids content, the ABC has nominations in almost every category of the industry voted awards. These awards are voted on by AACTA members who are drawn from across the screen entertainment industry.
ABC to shift spending from TV and radio to digital in bid to win youth audiences
Zoe Samios - SMH - October 23, 2022
Australia’s national broadcaster is considering reducing the amount of money it spends on traditional television and radio broadcasts and allocating the funding to its digital sites such as ABC iview as part of a refresh of the five-year strategy it unveiled in 2020.
Media sources familiar with the changes, who requested anonymity to speak freely about confidential meetings, said ABC staff were reviewing the five-year plan with intention to provide more rigor around efforts to engage younger audiences.
The ABC: time for all-party support
Geoffrey Whitehead - ABC Alumni - October 21, 2022
With the world at another of its historic tipping points, and since foreign policy essentially begins at home, its timely for Western governments to start building all-party declarations to the world that they see their traditional national public service broadcasters – like the 90-year-old ABC – as important democratic institutions having a focus on serving their people’s needs as citizens rather than their wants as consumers, and so helping us meet the new challenges we all face.
I say this as a former journalist with 20 years’ experience in Britain, mostly spent as a Westminster and Whitehall political correspondent, firstly reporting events in Britain to the world for Reuters news agency and then reporting them to its own people through BBC radio and television.
ABC warns national anti-corruption commission could investigate journalists’ work
Paul Karp - The Guardian - October 19, 2022
The ABC has warned it could face corruption complaints for its journalists’ work under the national anti-corruption commission and has called for editorial work to be excluded from the commission’s purview.
The ABC made the request in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry on the Nacc, saying that the definition of corruption – which includes the “misuse of information or documents” – could capture confidential government information or documents being sent to an ABC journalist in “the normal course of the journalist’s work”.
The ABC has rolled out three new TV chat shows. This one gets it right
Debi Enker - SMH - October 19, 2022
When they’re firing, TV talk shows make it look easy. The host sets the tone. He or she will be convivial, relaxed and delighted to see us; the atmosphere will be inviting, and the conversation will flow as it might at a great dinner party. The ease, of course, is an illusion. Like a good dinner party, it requires careful planning and preparation: the topics on the menu, the mix of guests, the seating arrangements, the pacing.
When things unfold as hoped, it all blends together as though there’s a serendipitous alchemy. And the results demonstrate why viewers will habitually return to interview programs, welcoming them into their homes like friends. From “Parky” to Andrew Denton, from David Letterman to Graham Norton.
Royal Australian Mint to release commemorative $1 and 20-cent coins to mark 90 years of the ABC
Chantelle Al-Khouri - ABC - October 5, 2022
A coin-sized family portrait of the ABC will be released to commemorate 90 years of the national broadcaster.
The Royal Australian Mint has designed and produced two collectibles — a $1 and a 20-cent coin — that feature ABC programs, characters and icons dating back to 1932, when the organisation was formed.
ABC Radio Perth presenter Geoff Hutchison to step away from Drive program later this year
Alicia Bridges - ABC - October 3, 2022
After more than 40 years of keeping Australians informed and entertained, respected Perth broadcaster Geoff Hutchison announced on Monday he will hang up his headphones as presenter of ABC Radio Perth's Drive program later this year.
"This is not retirement, it's just time away — to talk a little less and think a little more," Hutchison said.
'Unforgettable' long-time Play School presenter, 'Naughty' John Hamblin dies aged 87
ABC - September 21, 2022
Beloved actor and long-running Play School host John Hamblin has died at age 87.
Mr Hamblin was a fan favourite presenter on the children's television program for almost 30 years.
She’s Ms ABC, so why has it taken so long for Zan Rowe to host her own TV show?
Louise Rugendkye - SMH - September 15, 2022
You can learn a lot about people from the music they love. That’s the remarkably simple concept behind Take 5, Zan Rowe’s radio segment turned award-winning podcast, which is finally making the leap to TV after 14 years.
Why has it taken so long?
ABC snags Koala’s Sally Phelps for its new head of media role
Emma Shepherd - Mumbrella - September 15, 2022
The ABC has today appointed Sally Phelps as its new head of media and will commence in the role effective immediately.
Phelps is a media professional who joins the ABC most recently from Koala, where she had been the director, of media and performance.
ABC statement on John Tulloh
ABC - August 21, 2022
The ABC is saddened by the news that distinguished journalist John Tulloh has died in Sydney at the age of 82. Tulloh, affectionately known as “JT”, was the ABC’s international news editor from 1985 to 2000 and then head of international operations until 2004.
Tulloh began his career in newspapers in South Australia before striking out for London in the 1960s, where he joined the international TV news agency Visnews. He was based at various times in Ho Chi Minh City (then called Saigon), Singapore, Hong Kong and New York, helping to shape how television audiences around the world saw major news events.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls for greater ABC voice in the Pacific to protect national security
Paige Cockburn - ABC - August 5, 2022
The Prime Minister says it is a matter of national security that the ABC makes more content that projects Australian values and interests to the Indo-Pacific region.
Anthony Albanese delivered an address at the ABC in Sydney on Friday night to celebrate the broadcaster's 90th anniversary.
Only ‘ideology or fear’ would push a government to attack ABC, Anthony Albanese says
Amanda Meade - The Guardian - August 5, 2022
Only a government ruled by ideology or fear would attack the ABC, Anthony Albanese has said at the 90th birthday celebration of the public broadcaster in Sydney.
In a thinly veiled attack on the former Coalition government’s fraught relationship with the ABC, the prime minister on Friday evening said a strong independent broadcaster was vital to democracy and brought Australia together as a nation.
ABC appoints former Coalition media adviser Fiona Cameron as ombudsman
Amanda Meade - The Guardian - August 1, 2022
The board of the ABC has appointed media executive and former Coalition adviser Fiona Cameron to the newly created role of ABC ombudsman.
The new role was recommended by an independent review that found the public broadcaster’s internal complaints unit was “efficient” but could benefit from the addition of someone to handle appeals and reviews.
ABC to move 300 staff from Ultimo to Parramatta after securing lease on new Sydney studio
Amanda Meade - The Guardian - July 28, 2022
The ABC has secured a lease for its new flagship studios in Parramatta where 300 TV, radio and news staff will relocate from inner-city Ultimo to western Sydney in 2024.
The ABC managing director, David Anderson, told staff the new home of Aunty, at 6-8 Parramatta Square, will be a “state-of-the-art fit out” that will put the ABC “at the centre of a dynamic, purpose-built precinct” in Sydney’s western suburbs.
Beyond Bluey: Does Australian children’s TV have a future?
Meg Watson - SMH - July 17, 2022
Australian kids TV is having a real moment on the world stage. ABC series like First Day, Hardball and Bluey have all won International Emmys in the last two years – with the latter becoming a global sensation.
But that critical success has masked the fact that the children’s TV sector is currently in a state of flux, with industry figures saying it’s never been more difficult to get content in front of Australian kids.
The ABC's move to a new digital content management system is almost complete
Liam Phillips - ABC - July 14, 2022
It was a crisis moment. ABC News, one of Australia's biggest websites that is visited by millions of people each day, had completely crashed.
There had been technical glitches before of course, but nothing like this. They usually resolved themselves pretty quickly, but this time something was clearly very wrong.
From Kerry O’Brien to Leigh Sales: Have ABC send-offs become too self-indulgent?
Neil McMahon - SMH - July 1, 2022
The ABC may be marking the grand age of 90, but the old girl doesn’t do low-key celebrations like it used to.
As Leigh Sales departs the broadcaster’s most high-profile anchor role this week, her send-off is accompanied by all the bells and whistles of modern TV celebrity: farewell interviews, a promotional campaign celebrating her years in the 7.30 chair, and a half-hour tribute special airing on Friday night.
Andrew Olle lecture: Without stronger press freedoms and protections for public-interest journalism, democracy is at risk
Ita Buttrose - ABC - June 17, 2022
Over the years, I've seen a lot of changes in journalism and the media more broadly. But, no matter how great the changes, fundamental things still apply.
Good journalists always will be society's fact-seekers and truth-tellers. The job takes courage. We are reminded of this today as journalists risk their lives to report on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It always takes determination.
‘None of us knew’: How Wil Anderson surprised David Wenham on his ABC special
Kerrie O'Brien - SMH - June 15, 2022
Take one of the country’s most beloved actors as interviewer, add an array of interesting, prominent Australians, and throw in extraordinary archive footage from the past 90 years.
It’s a potent mix, brought together in a six-part series to air on the ABC later this month as part of the national broadcaster’s 90th anniversary celebrations. Called The ABC of... , the actor-turned-journo is David Wenham and his interviewees include Ita Buttrose, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Garry McDonald, Sarah Ferguson, Wil Anderson and John Howard.
Digital News Report: Australia 2022
Sora Park and others - News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra - 2022
This year’s report contains positive signs for the Australian news industry. After years of stagnation, paying for news has increased. Print news consumption has risen for the first time in six years, and the use of regional and local newspapers is up as well. Trusted traditional and public service broadcasters remain the most popular sources of news and there continues to be a strong audience appreciation for journalistic values of impartiality and independence.
Australians are also becoming more cautious about mainly getting our news from social media platforms, which bucks the global trend. This is partly driven by Australians’ greater concern about and experience of online misinformation, particularly about Covid-19. Younger news consumers are now turning to traditional news more often, with fewer in Gen Z and Y saying it is their main source of news.
You Can't Ask That co-creator Kirk Docker on what happens behind the scenes and the most brutal question he's had to ask
ABC - June 1, 2022
Over seven seasons, You Can't Ask That has given a voice to misunderstood and marginalised Australians who front up to answer the most brutal and probing questions you can imagine.
The latest series features bogans, gay men, models, porn stars and people who have experienced post-natal depression, juvenile detention, prescription drug dependency and addiction, and dementia.
ABC announces Executive Producers of Four Corners, 7.30 and Foreign Correspondent
ABC - May 30, 2022
The ABC has announced the new leaders of three of its key editorial teams, with Matthew Carney to take over as Executive Producer of Four Corners, Morag Ramsay as Executive Producer of Foreign Correspondent and Joel Tozer as Executive Producer of 7.30.
All three are accomplished journalists and producers whose outstanding public interest journalism has been recognised with multiple awards.
Why a “digital-first” BBC should worry us all
Scott Bryan - New Statesman - May 27, 2022
With the BBC celebrating its centenary this year, the world’s oldest and most respected public service broadcaster should be in a celebratory mood, but it doesn’t feel like it, especially to its staff. A matter of months after Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, announced that the cost of the licence fee was to be frozen for the next two years, before rising with inflation, Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, has announced another round of cuts, on top of an existing £1 billion of savings. While previous cuts have focused on everything but programming, this time the resultant changes to the BBC’s output are stark. BBC News and BBC World News are to merge their output. BBC Four, CBBC and Radio 4 Extra are to move online to BBC iPlayer in a few years’ time. One thousand more jobs are to be cut, after years of existing rounds of redundancy. Even BBC Radio 4 Long Wave is to be phased out, raising questions about the future of the much-loved Shipping Forecast.
Plan to deliver a digital-first BBC
BBC - May 26, 2022
The BBC has today set out the blueprint to build a digital-first public service media organisation.
In a speech to staff this afternoon, Director-General Tim Davie said the BBC must reform to stay relevant and continue to provide great value for all.
Caroline Jones remembered as trailblazing journalist and generous mentor
ABC - May 21, 2022
Former ABC journalist Caroline Jones has been remembered as a groundbreaking broadcaster who embraced her role as a mentor to others later in her career.
Jones died this week aged 84.
'Public service journalism has to deliver for the audience': Sarah Ferguson to replace Leigh Sales as host of 7.30
Natasha Johnson - ABC - April 29, 2022
ABC News has appointed multi-award-winning investigative journalist Sarah Ferguson as the new host of its evening current affairs program, 7.30, replacing Leigh Sales, who is leaving the program at the end of June.
"I'm delighted to take on the presenter role at 7.30," says Ferguson.
ABC signs on for news-streaming service after ending talks with Foxtel’s Flash
Zoe Samios - SMH - April 4, 2022
Australia’s national broadcaster has struck a deal to make its news video available on a new video streaming platform, but the content will not appear on Foxtel-owned Flash despite previous talks of a tie-up.
The ABC will give access to video content to LeadStory, an on-demand news platform launched last year by former Sky News and Seven journalist, Cameron Price, for the next three years. It is the latest commercial deal for the ABC, which was holding talks with Foxtel about a licensing deal for its content late last year.
A Federal Election is imminent and media matters
Noely Neate - Independent Australia - April 3, 2022
Australians will vote soon and contrary to popular opinion on Twitter, a swing against the sitting Government as being shown by recent polls won't decide who runs the country.
As we have found in the past, those swings only affect very marginal seats — they are not Australia wide. A big chunk of "punters" will make decisions based on the vibe and another big chunk of voters will make decisions based on their own electorate.
Greg Wilesmith: Who Needs the ABC? A book review
P&I Guest Writers - Pearls & Irritations - April 3, 2022
This is a book review of ‘Who Needs the ABC’ by Matthew Ricketson and Patrick Mullins, published by Scribe. It was first published on the ABC Alumni website.
Even on a wet and wild weekend with limited other options, there was trepidation about diving into this analysis of the dark forces threatening the ABC. What would I really learn about my former long-time employer – and more importantly its essential place in Australian society – from the research of journalism academics, Matthew Ricketson and Patrick Mullins, neither of whom had ever worked for the ABC?
Justin Stevens appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations
ABC - March 31, 2022
The ABC is pleased to announce Justin Stevens has been appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations.
Justin brings extensive journalism experience and editorial leadership to the position built across two decades and senior editorial positions in current affairs.
What has gone wrong with Australian journalism’s commitment to free speech?
Paul Malone - Pearls & Irritations - March 14, 2022
It’s not good enough to say you are committed to free speech. If you are in the media you have to be willing to provide a platform for the views of those you disagree with.
In announcing the club’s decision, CEO Maurice Reilly said the club was a vigorous champion of media freedom and strongly condemned the media censorship in Russia. Under new laws in Russia both local and international journalists faced charges of high treason and 15 – 20 year jail terms for reporting the facts. This situation should not be tolerated and had no place in a democratic society. He said the invitation was issued at a different stage in the conflict in Ukraine before allegations of war crimes and bombing of civilian targets. The Board now considered it inappropriate to continue with the invitation to the Ambassador. The Club stood by its principles of encouraging free speech and promoting a balanced national discussion of the big issues of the day and reserved the right to revisit this decision at a later date.
Sally Neighbour to depart Four Corners
ABC - March 14, 2022
After a distinguished and award-winning career with the ABC, including seven years as Executive Producer of Four Corners, Sally Neighbour has decided to leave the public broadcaster later this year.
Neighbour’s other roles with the ABC have included reporting for news and 7.30, overseas postings in Beijing and Hong Kong, presenting Lateline, working as a senior investigative journalist on Four Corners and being Executive Producer of 7.30.
SBS boss says no strategic or cost benefit to merging with ABC
Zoe Samios - SMH - February 21, 2022
SBS managing director James Taylor has emphatically rejected the case for a merger with the ABC and has hit out at social media behemoth Facebook for failing to strike a commercial deal for use of its content.
Mr Taylor said there was no strategic and cost benefit to bringing the two organisations together, arguing there was still a role for the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service in a modern media climate.
ABC can take hits and still make hits, as long as you’re in its corner
David Anderson - SMH - February 19, 2022
Many Australians who care about the ABC are concerned about its future. I am not surprised by this, given the way in which our critics conveniently overlook, ignore and disregard the totality of the ABC’s contribution right across the nation, every single day.
We know that for democracy to flourish, a nation’s citizens must have an independent source of truth that is unbiased and committed to providing the accurate, relevant information they need. This is the core role played by the ABC. And any attempts to interfere with, or undermine, the independence of the ABC, by either political or commercial players, must and will be resisted at all costs.
ABC Managing Director, David Anderson, opening statement to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee
David Anderson - ABC - February 15, 2022
I thank the Committee for the opportunity to provide some opening remarks.
The ABC entered 2022 with the value of its services widely recognised and appreciated across the Australian community. Against the backdrop of a challenging year, the ABC achieved its highest reach in a decade in 2021.
One for you … one, two for me – Minister Fletcher’s ABC funding confidence trick
Quentin Dempster - ABC Alumni - February 11, 2022
The ministerial announcement this week, outlining ongoing funding for the ABC, was clearly pitched to convince voters of a ‘strong government commitment’ to supporting the national broadcaster. But as Alumni director Quentin Dempster explains, it’s more spin than substance. The Minister’s budget ‘increase’ is tiny when compared to more than half a billion dollars that’s been cut from the ABC’s budget over the last eight years, rising to around $700 million when defunding of the ABC’s crucial international service is taken into account.
The ABC’s budget hasn’t been restored – it’s still facing $1.2 billion in accumulated losses over a decade
Alexandra Wake & Michael Ward - The Conversation - February 8, 2022
ABC Chair Ita Buttrose is “delighted” and Managing Director David Anderson says he now has “certainty” for planning. However, the Morrison government’s pre-election announcement it would restore the ABC’s budget to 2018 levels doesn’t come close to making up for what has been lost in cuts to funding and staff.
Seven weeks ahead of the budget, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has announced the ABC will receive $3.284 billion over three years from July 2022, while SBS will receive $953.7 million over the same period.
End of ABC funding freeze won’t bring back lost jobs and programming
MEAA - February 7, 2022
Today’s announcement of an $87 million increase in funding to the ABC is a drop in the ocean after more than half a billion dollars of cuts by the Coalition Government since 2014, says the union for Australia’s media workers.
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance says the announcement by Communications Minister Paul Fletcher today merely reverses the indexation freeze of 2019 and continues the Enhanced News Gathering Program for another three years.
ABC welcomes ‘funding certainty’ as Morrison government removes indexation freeze
Amanda Meade - The Guardian - February 7, 2022
The Morrison government will restore ABC funding to 2018 levels, when Malcolm Turnbull imposed an $84m indexation pause, with the public broadcaster to be given $3.3bn for the next three years.
The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, has also announced SBS will receive $953.7m, including an additional $37.5m in ongoing funding to support its long-term sustainability.
Truce with the ABC. But make no mistake: politics is still at the heart of media policy
Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer - Crikey - February 7, 2022
Media policy in Australia, no matter who is in government, is usually about one thing: politics. The government's latest iteration is no exception.
The primary political goal is to look after the interests of the commercial free-to-air television broadcasters who play such an important role in election campaigns. They've been protected from competition for generations -- competition from a fourth television licence, from subscription television, from digital broadcasting and, now, from streaming services that offer viewers the kind of choice and control that the antiquated free-to-air broadcasting model can never match.
Coalition Budget Cuts Cost ABC Half a Billion Dollars, 640 Jobs
The Australia Institute - February 4, 2022
New figures reveal ABC funding has been cut by $526 million since the Coalition took office, with 640 jobs lost. The figures were obtained from the ABC which was asked to provide details on ‘budget reductions’ since the Coalition Government’s first budget in 2013/14, in a QoN at Senate Estimates.
Polling from the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program also finds Australians want ABC’s funding restored and agree the ABC is critical to Australian democracy.
Coalition has slashed $526m from ABC – and most Australians want funding restored
Paul Karp - The Guardian - February 4, 2022
The majority of Australians would support restoring funding to the ABC, according to a new poll, after new figures showed funding has been cut by $526m since the Coalition’s first budget.
The poll of 1,000 voters conducted by the Australia Institute found that 52% want the $84m cut from the ABC in the last three years to be restored, more than double those who oppose it (25%).
Lessons from The Signal as the ABC launches its new daily podcast, ABC News Daily
Stephen Smiley - ABC Backstory - February 4, 2022
If you're anything like me, your first waking reflex is to reach across in the dark for your smartphone that is lying, charging, on a bedside table.
Unfortunately, phone in hand, my next gesture is typically to fumble around seeking the "snooze" button, buying an extra 10 minutes of fitful slumber, a cycle I typically then repeat several times.
TV Tonight Awards: Best of 2021 - Readers choose ABC's The Newsreader & Fisk as Best Drama & Comedy of 2021
David Knox - TV Tonight - January 10, 2022
Readers have voted Kitty Flanagan comedy Fisk and period drama The Newsreader as the best in their field in the TV Tonight Awards 2021.
The ABC shows won best local Comedy and Drama, respectively.
John Howard and the ABC: desire for cuts came up against Liberal support for broadcaster
Anne Davies - The Guardian - January 1, 2022
The ABC’s relationship with the Howard government was never easy, and the 2001 cabinet papers, released by the National Archives on Saturday, reveal tensions between the government’s desire for budget cuts and fear of alienating its supporters who valued the national broadcaster.
Despite having promised during the 1996 election campaign that the ABC’s budget was safe, within four months of coming to office John Howard’s government cut it by 2% and announced a review of the role and scope of ABC services by Bob Mansfield, the founding chief executive of Optus.
Inquiry into Australia’s regional newspapers
Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts - Parliament of Australia - January 1, 2022
On the 22 December 2021, the Minister for Communications, Hon Paul Fletcher MP asked the Committee to inquire into and report on Australia’s regional newspapers. The terms of reference for the inquiry can be found on the terms of reference webpage.
The Committee has developed an online survey seeking the views from Australians’ living in regional, rural or remote areas about how they access local news. The survey is open until 11 February 2022 and takes less than 10 minutes to complete.