update april 2008

Friends of the ABC (NSW) Inc.quarterly newsletter

April-May 2008 Vol 16, No.6

friends of the abc

The ABC’s Managing Director, MarkScott, believes that the ABC’s bestdays are still to come, which is not todevalue the 75 wonderful years whichhave already passed, but reflects agreat optimism about the future ofthe National broadcaster. In a meetingwith NSW FABC President Mal Hewittand Membership Secretary ChrisCartledge on Wednesday 3rd April,the ABC’s Managing Director andDirector, Communications, GaryDawson, outlined a vision for thefuture in which the ABC leads allother media organizations inembracing new technology andmaintaining outstanding quality andinnovation in traditional radio andtelevision broadcasting. Whilst thereis a strong commitment to keepingthe best that the ABC does, there isalso a belief that the ABC mustchange in order to remain strong.

Referring to the recentannouncement of the new Division ofABC Resources, Mark Scott reiteratedthat “the ABC is committed in thefuture to being a broadcaster andproducer of its own material as it istoday. That means sourcing the bestquality material at the best price fromboth our own producers and theindependent production sector.”Relatively inexpensive programs(Spics and Specs, New Inventors,Talking Heads) will remain 100% ABCproductions, but co-productions in

“THE ABC’s BEST“DAYS ARE AHEAD”

update

which the cost is shared (EnoughRope, The Chaser, Summer HeightsHigh, Bastard Boys) allow for theproduction of more material at lowercost, whilst maintaining highproduction quality and greaterleverage from the ABC. Scott restatedhis strong support for internalproductions by the ABC, with its highlevel of efficiency and effectiveness.

Recent press reports highlighted theplanned introduction of automatedstudio systems in television newsstudios, requiring significantly lessstaff. “The savings generated throughthese measures will allow the ABC toproduce more content, includingmore news content, for our audiences,and we plan to set aside some of thesavings to fund additional TVproduction from outside Sydney andMelbourne.” In discussing the

evolution from traditional broadcasterof radio and TV to the delivery ofinformation and entertainmentthrough the internet, Mark Scottpointed out that there were 20million downloads of Radio Nationalproducts last year, 50% of these fromoutside Australia, and spoke of thenew ABC websiteabc.net.au/greenatwork where theABC will be on show as a role modelfor the reduction of its own carbonfootprint.

On the matter of advertising on theABC, the Managing Director repeatedhis undertaking that there would beno advertising (other than internaladvertising of ABC programs) onradio, TV or abc.net.au but indicatedthat there is a grey area with ABC –linked websites such as Countdown.Friends of the ABC will be seekingassurances from Minister Conroy that,if necessary, existing legislation willbe strengthened to ensure that theABC remains totally advertisement-free in all of its activities. Clarificationwas sought from Mark Scott on therecently announced ABC Shopdownload facility, where materialcurrently available for purchase

Mal Hewitt reports:

insideThe President’s Report 2

Branch News 4

Have the Friends of the ABC lost their teeth? 6

Scott delivers Aunty’s medicine 7

From Cultural War to Cultural Democracy: Its your ABC 8

What can we expect from Labor? 10

Good reasons for optimism about the ABC’s future 10

Come clean on commercialisation of the ABC 11

(Continued on Page 3)

– Mark Scott

FRI 001 Newsletter 10/4/08 10:08 AM Page 1

I am grateful to the members ofCowper Branch of Friends of the ABCfor recently producing a paper whichhas been circulated to all NSW FABCbranches, in which they question howeffective Friends of the ABC has been asa political lobby group in recent years,and raise some very importantquestions about our role in the new

the fact thatAustralia still has apublicly fundednational broadcasteris a sign of the success of past FABCcampaigns, given the number ofmembers of the Howard governmentwho were prepared to go on recordstating their belief that the ABC shouldbe privatized. Undoubtedly, 100,000supporters in Sydney domain, or 15,000supporters on the Opera Houseforecourt, or even 250,000 ABC listenerswho joined in ABC birthdaycelebrations last year are notinsignificant expressions of publicsupport. How do you evaluate thesuccess of public campaigns? Wecertainly were not taken the way ofNew Zealand or Canada, towards partialor complete privatization, by a hostileHoward government, but it must beremembered that the governmentincluded strong ABC supporters (especially from theNational party) as well as detractors.

The truth is that we still have RadioNational’s insightful and thought-provoking programs, we still have “TheChaser” boys able to expose the utterstupidity of the whole APEC circus(would they have had any chance ofgetting it on commercial TV???), we stillhave exposes on Lateline and FourCorners (even though many programsare bought rather than ABC-produced),we still have the wonderful world ofABC for Kids– I could go on with thejewels that are still there for us to selectfrom. We would like the ABC to be ableto do more of it, and have more moneyto do it with. That is where we needdiscussion within and between FABCbranches and members as to how bestto do that in a new political context,but I believe that the ABC hasmaintained quality and independencethrough tough times (and we mustremember that the Hawke/Keatinggovernments could hardly beconsidered generous to the ABC either!)

FRIENDS OF THE ABC’s CAFÉSOCIETY IMAGE

We are an organization primarily madeup of well-educated, middle class, over-50 Australians, with most of thoseinvolved in positions of responsibilityretired from full time employment. Inthis respect we are not dissimilar frommost other community organizations

political environment of a Rudd Laborgovernment. I will attempt to addresssome of the issues raised by theCowper paper

HOW EFFECTIVE HAS FRIENDSOF THE ABC BEEN AS A LOBBYGROUP

Could I remind you all of the natureand style of the government (andPrime Minister) that we have beendealing with in Canberra for the last 11years, a Prime Minister who greatlyadmired Margaret Thatcher, of ‘thelady’s not for turning’ fame, and agovernment which:

• ignored half a million people on thestreets of Sydney, comparablenumbers in other capital cities, and70% of the entire population tellingthe government not to get involvedin the Iraq war

• ignored virtually the entire legalprofession in its opposition todraconian anti-terror laws, whichchallenged the very foundations ofcivil liberties in this country

• ignored the combined welfare armsof every mainstream church (and allthe Catholic bishops) in theiropposition to changes to Centrelinkprocedures, in fact told those verywelfare agencies to “stay out ofpolitics”

• ignored all of the scientific evidencerelating to climate change, in factmade it clear that the CSIRO couldforget government funding if it madetoo much of the climate change issue

So who has been able to lobby thepast government successfully? Perhapsthe coal industry, the mining industry,the timber industry, all majorenterprises which saw action onclimate change as a threat to theirprofitability, all of which spendmillions of dollars maintainingpermanent lobbyists in Canberra.Certainly NOT the Australian filmindustry, major arts organizations, theuniversities, all of whom have beeneffective lobbyists in the past, all with alot more resources than FABC to fundtheir campaigns.

The truth is that nobody knows howeffective FABC campaigns have beenwith this government or itspredecessors. It could be argued that

A word from the NSW President

Update is published four times a year byFriends of the ABC (NSW) Inc. (FABC), PO Box 1391 NORTH SYDNEY 2059.

Printpost approved PP245059/00002To become a member phone (02) 9990 0600or email to <[email protected]> or access our website www.fabcnsw.org.au. Extracts from newspapers and otherpublications appearing in Update do notnecessarily reflect the views of the members of FABC. Update is distributed to all members of FABC,as part of the membership fee. Update is alsosupplied to journalists, politicians and librariesacross Australia. It is edited and produced inSydney but contributions are welcome fromNSW country and interstate branches. Material may be quoted or reproduced fromUpdate provided the source is acknowledgedand reproduction is sent to the President FABC.

Would you like to receive Updatemagazine electronically?Save the planet's trees and The Friends printingand postage costs and read Update magazineon your computer.Each quarter, when Update is published, youwill receive an email with a link to the latestissue (each magazine is around 3MB).You can try this now by going to our website atwww.fabcnsw.org.au and clicking on Update.If you prefer this delivery option for futureUpdates please send an email to theMembership Secretary.

Who to write…Anyone seeking basic information about writingto persons of influence might find it helpful togo to the FABC NSW website www.fabc.org.auwhere there are some menu items under "BeActive" leading to pages of information: Whocan I write to? What can I say?

FABC (NSW) Executive Committee Office Bearers

President - Mal HewittPhone: 9637 2900Email: [email protected] & Treasurer - James BuchananPhone: 9371 5621Email: [email protected] Secretary - Chris CartledgePhone: 4226 2323 or 0408 655 882Email: [email protected] Update Editor - Mal Hewitt PO Box 1391 N. Sydney NSW 2059Email: [email protected]

Membership Line: 9990 0600

Update Publication Information


across the country. It is also unrealisticto think that FABC is going to attractyoung members to most of its meetingsand activities. This does not mean thatthe younger ABC audience should nothave a voice in Friends of the ABC. Wesimply have to ensure that ourcommunication methods andopportunities for dialogue with thisaudience must take into account thepreferred communication vehicle foryounger people – the internet. Theremust be dialogue with young people,and this is an area where branches canand should share ideas and resources. Itwill certainly be an agenda item for thisyear’s FABC state conference.

CO-ORDINATED NATIONALACTIVITY

There are historical reasons why Friendsof the ABC is a state-based organization,however every two years there is aNational Conference, with reportingback to the branches from thatconference. The 2007 conference didproduce national approaches andrecommended strategies for branches toadopt in the leadup to the election.Again, it is impossible to establish theeffectiveness of these strategies ininfluencing the election outcome, but Iam certain that the enormous effortwhich ACT Branch put into the seat ofEden-Monaro had some influence onthe result in that seat, and FABCmaterial reminding voters of theimportance of their vote in the Senatereached a very wide audience. Also, the2007 National Conference elected aNational Spokesperson in ProfessorAlanKnight from Queensland, who has beenable to gain significant media coveragefor the voice of Friends of the ABC on anumber of ABC related issues over thepast ten months.

GETUP CAMPAIGNS

Past NSW President Gary Cook wasresponsible for the GETUP campaign in2006, which collected nearly 80,000signatures in support of the ABC, andwas the most successful GETUPcampaign to that point. Recentdiscussions with GETUP suggest thatthere needs to be a significant issue,perhaps relating the importance ofpublic broadcasting to the right of theAustralian people to be served by mediafree of both commercial andgovernment influence. This may well bea task for a working group at stateconference.

RELATIONS WITH NEWGOVERNMENT

The new Minister for Communications,Senator Conroy, has already met adelegation involving FABC presidentsfrom Queensland, NSW and ACT. Itwas apparent from that meeting that,along with Friends of the ABC, theminister has to fight for any increase inABC funding against the demands ofevery other minister in the context of afinite amount of money in the budget.However, what was established in thatmeeting was the importance ofmaintaining dialogue with the ministerin what will be a long process ofpressure and lobbying in order that theABC is able to fulfil its charter in everyway. Input from Friends of the ABCwill be sought to the whole budgetplanning process for the 2009 budget, acritical year for the ABC as thecommencement of the next triennium,with the ultimate aim of convincingthe Finance Minister and Treasurer –another working group task for stateconference.

Two things were very clear from thatmeeting, though – that we cannotexpect largesse for the ABC in the 2008budget, as Kevin Rudd made no pre-election promises relating to the ABC,and that Minister Conroy has apassionate commitment to ensuringthat the ABC receives increasedfunding in the future to better enable itto be the medium through which “theAustralian story can be told to theAustralian audience.”

NSW Friends of the ABC has thedual role of informing and educatingthe public and lobbying politicians onbehalf of the ABC, whilst maintainingopen communication with ABC staffand management and constructivedialogue with the minister of the day.The branches throughout NSW are anessential element in effectivelymeeting these responsibilities,particularly those of informing,educating and lobbying, and the workof many of our branches in these areasis quite outstanding. However, I acceptthe challenge put out by CowperBranch that we can do better. The2008 NSW FABC State Conference inWollongong in August will provide aforum in which branches andmembership will shape the future ofFriends of the ABC, a future whichmay well be very different from thepast. I look forward to yourparticipation in this process.

“THE ABC’s BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD”(Continued from Page 1)

through ABC shops will be able tobe downloaded for a fraction ofthe cost of the purchase price.Programs which are currentlyavailable at no cost on the ABCwebsite, including podcasts,vodcasts, news and current affairs,will remain accessible free ofcharge.

Whilst it was clear from ourdiscussion with Mark Scott andGary Dawson that much energywithin the ABC is focused uponmaking the available dollars gofurther, largely throughembracing new technologies, itwas also clear that the ABC will beseeking a significant increase infunding from the RuddGovernment for the next triennialfunding period, commencing withthe 2009 Federal Budget. Includedin this request will be funding forABC 3, the digital children’schannel which, Mark Scottassured us, is ready to commencebroadcasting as soon as the fundsare available.

Friends of the ABC will activelysupport ABC management as itseeks a significant increase infunding to enable the ABC toraise the Australian content of itsprogramming, both “in house”and through co-productions, andensures that the ABC remains atthe cutting edge of digitalbroadcasting technology. The roleof FABC branches will be vital,both in applying pressure to localFederal Members of Parliament,and in keeping the public awareof the importance of adequatefunding for our nationalbroadcaster. This will be top ofthe agenda for NSW Friends ofthe ABC throughout 2008 and atthe State Conference inWollongong in August, and MarkScott accepted our invitation toattend the conference as ourkeynote speaker.


Illawarra Activity

The Christmas season is always a busytime for the Friends of the ABCIllawarra. It starts with the KiamaSeaside Markets, where each yearvolunteers staff a stall takingmembership enquiries and renewalsas well as selling the full range ofFriends merchandise.

The Christmas Party takes the formof an afternoon tea with a specialguest speaker. This year just on ahundred members attended to hearpopular local ABC radio host SteveParsons talk about his experiences inthe media.

Steve recently celebrated 40 years inbroadcasting. Much of that time spent

and more recently spent 5 years inradio management before joiningABC Illawarra.

Steve is a trivia wiz and writes thequestions for ABC Illawarra’s ‘babyboomer quiz’ heard each weekdaymorning on 97.3FM. His tenquestion quiz for the Illawarra’sChristmas party which was based onABC Illawarra was a lot of fun and agreat hit with members.

in the Illawarra where he hosted thenumber one breakfast program for 25years. He was also the breakfastpersonality at 2GB in Sydney for 3years when the News/Talk format waslaunched in the 1970's.

Steve's television career includestime at TCN 9 during the early daysof colour and ten years as a sports andnews presenter on Prime TV. He haswritten a weekly newspaper column

In the Northern Rivers region,Janelle Saffin won the seat of Page forthe ALP and Justine Elliott held herseat of Richmond for the ALP.

On 26 January in Lismore, membersof the Northern Rivers branchaccepted a nomination for anAustralia Day award following thesuccessful exhibition "ThroughAustralian Eyes" held at the LismoreCity Library in 2007 and visits to theregion by ABC foreigncorrespondents. Neville Jenningsaccepted the nomination on behalf ofthe branch in the Arts / Culturalcategory.

Northern Rivers branch membershave expressed concern about theproposed change top the ABC logo.They look forward to seeing QuentinDempster resume his rightful place onthe ABC board and would supportany move to have commercialadvertising banned from SBS in linewith the ABC's non-commercialstance.

The next branch meeting will beheld at the Lismore Workers Club onWednesday 5 March at 6 pm.

Neville Jennings

Branch News

Mid northcoast branch

RetreatMid north coast branchFABC is holding a Forum to be held at Falls Forest

Retreat, Johns River on 17th May.

The Retreat is set in beautifulGondwana Rainforest Sanctuarywith walks to waterfalls. JohnsRiver is 40 minutes south of PortMacquarie, 3.5 – 4 hours northof Sydney.

The agenda is a report from eachbranch, brainstorm on issues ofconcern, come up with a planfor 2008 and actions forbranches to follow up.

Keynote speaker, ProfessorAlan Knight, is FABC NationalSpokesperson.

There will be space to stayovernight if you choose, but bein quick – $50 per head.

Catering – Lunch, afternoon tea,dinner $50 (or by arrangement).Self-cater breakfast on 18th May.

Enquiries please ring 02 65838798 or 0431 598125

From left to right are Ed Bennett (Treasurer),Neville Jennings (President), Doug Myler (VicePresident), Sue Sawkins and Steve Sawkins(Committee Members). The photo was taken atTrinity College Lismore.

Steve Parsons and part of the audience at the Illawarra Christmas Party.

Northern RiversActivity

At the end of 2007prior to the Federalelection, the Northern Rivers branchheld two "Meet the Candidates"rallies. All candidates expressedsupport for the ABC but there werevariations in policy over the methodof making appointments to the ABCBoard. Some 5000 postcards providedby the Illawarra Branch andsupporting the ABC were distributedby letter box drop or handed out atpolling booths on the day of theelection.


ValeNancyShortOn 19th February, after a long illness,much loved friend Nancy Shortpassed from this world. She was afounding member of FABC in 1976,and was the main instigator of thefounding of the mid north coastbranch when she moved to PortMacquarie in the 1980s.

Tributes were many – “small instature but big in everything else,especially her spirit” was one fromformer President of mnc branch JohnNeilson. Former President of FABCNSW, Walter Bass, said “anextraordinary worker, attended everymeeting of FABC in Sydney beforemoving north and supporter of150,000 different causes”. This is mytreasured memory of Nancy too. Ifirst met her on a Peacedemonstration in Port and sharedwith her (though she put in moretime and passion then me) thefollowing interests – Reconciliation(she walked across the SydneyHarbour Bridge with the multitudes in2000); Rural Australians for Refugees;Dune Care; environmentalconservation; Greens (attending thefounding meetings of the Three Rivers

Greens branch which serves theMacleay, Hastings and Manningcatchments); music (she was anaccomplished pianist) and culture ofall kinds. Everyone always knewabout these passions – she alwayswore the t-shirts and badges!

I’m sure there are some interestsI’ve forgotten – but the one we’remost interested in here is the Friends.I’m sure her name is well knownamongst those of a certain age atUltimo. She brought Phillip Adamsto Port in 1998 and 200 attended adinner at the RSL. She rang localnon-attending members every 2months or so to urge them to come tomeetings. She rang me at least 10times before I made time to attend aBBQ. Within a year I was Treasurer ofthe branch, and later President. Butshe was the one with the ideas and Iwent along, reigning her inoccasionally. She was also a dearfriend and since her illness I’vemissed her heaps. It was such a shockwhen she was no longer able toattend our meetings and functions.

Vale Nancy. Good on you for a lifeethically and well-lived. And howlike you to hang on to see the LabourParty victory in November and theapology on Sorry Day, less than aweek before you succumbed, aged 94.

Drusi MeggetPort Macquarie 21.3.08

Central CoastActivity

The Central Coast Branch wasparticularly fortunate to have JeffMcMullen as our guest speaker onFriday evening 29 February, when 120members and friends attended to hearand question a dedicated journalist, apowerful advocate for Australia’sindigenous people and an informedanalyst of the seriousness of globalwarming.

Jeff began as the youngest foreigncorrespondent with the ABC andbegan reporting from PNG. From thatbeginning he has had a wide range ofexperiences in many regions of theworld where tragedy and sufferinghave occurred and still demonstrateman’s inhumanity in many areas ofconflict. Not only are people at warwith one another but at war with theearth and Jeff contends that waterwill be the greatest challenge tomankind along with speciesdestruction.

DNA tells us that we are allmembers of the human family anddespite Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, IdiAmin and others, the human race canrise above these brutalities and offerhope for the future.

Life style illnesses are becomingevident on a global pattern andthreaten to reduce life expectancy butthis has always been the situationamongst the aboriginal communitieswho suffer from heart problems,diabetes and renal failure, all of whichare preventable. Indigenous mothersoften have more than one of theseillnesses which impact on theirchildren, creating markedly reducedlife expectancy. Jeff’s answer to theseproblems is education. Researchsuggests that one extra year ofeducation can add 4 years to lifeexpectancy. Amongst the indigenouspeople of North America, the lifeexpectancy has been raised to within3 to 5 years of the white populationcompared with 12 to 16 years inearlier days. Many Australianindigenous children do not see a bookuntil they go to school.

Jeff expressed strong objection toany move to urbanise indigenouspeople. They must be supported in

their smallcommunities withall the necessaryfacilities to maketheir lives healthyand meaningful,and to give theirchildren theopportunities forhigher education.

Only 7% of whiteAustralians know anaboriginal familyand Jeff’s injunctionto us is to join in with aboriginalprogrammes, to invite families intoour homes and to make financialcontributions to help with theeducation of aboriginal people. A“Literacy Back Pack” at a cost of $100per year can make a significantdifference to the learning

opportunities for an aboriginal child.

Jeff’s talk was most inspiring,presented completely without notes,and demonstrated the totalconviction that he and his familyhave to the cause of equalising theopportunities for indigenous peoplein the Australian society.

Members Klaas Woldring & Pat McDonnell with Jeff McMullen


Shortly after the election of theHoward government, the ABC, and itsfriends, faced a great challenge.

Despite an election promise tomaintain ABC funding, thegovernment cut ABC funding by 12%.By the start of the 21st century a newManaging Director, Jonathan Shier, waswreaking havoc internally. The ABCwas suffering from a double whammy,a hostile Managing Director and acrippling lack of funds.

They were dark days. As the thennational spokesperson for Friends ofthe ABC I summarised our immediateaims the Spring 2001 edition of ourquarterly newsletter, BackgroundBriefing. They were:

• Restoration of ABC funding to its1995-6 level, plus funding for the ABCto fully participate in the digitalenvironment.

• Advertising to be prohibited on ABCOnline.

• An end to the stacking of the ABCboard.

• Replacing Jonathan Shier

It didn’t look likely at the time, butwe have won on most of these issues.

Today the Shier regime is no morethan a bad dream. He left under ablack cloud.

Today government funding of theABC is well above its 1995-6 levels.Adjusted for inflation governmentfunding has risen from $747.1 millionin 1995-6 to $802.5 million in 2006-7.(Source: Commnwealth ParliamentaryLibrary).

While we rarely saw eye to eye withRichard Alston when he was Ministerfor Communications, a delegation ofFABC representatives from SouthAustralia, Victoria and the AustralianCapital territory had a positiveresponse from the Coalition’sBackbench CommunicationsCommittee. National Party members,and Liberals from regional areas, knewhow important the ABC was in theircommunities.

While all FABC organisations werepart of this long drawn out fundingcampaign, Garry Cook, the formerPresident of FABC NSW deserves specialmention. Gary played a key role ingetting the Get Up organisation to

our National Resource Centre websitecontains more than 170 separatedocuments. They range from letters tothe editor and media releases throughto detailed submissions toparliamentary inquiries. Included are18 complete editions of our nationaljournal, Background Briefing.

The NSW and Victorianorganisations, which are of course ourlargest, each produce their own regularnewsletters. From Adelaide Joan Laingedits Background Briefing, a regularnewsletter shared by FABC groups inWestern Australia, South Australia, theACT and Queensland.

We lost no time in meeting with thenew Minister, Stephen Conroy. Adelegation comprising Jill Greenwell(ACT), Mal Hewett (NSW) and AlanKnight (QLD) had a positive meetingearly in the year. While it was apositive meeting in most respects, therewas no good news on budget issues.The government is concerned aboutthe sub-prime crisis. Our focustherefore will be on the next fundingtriennium, which begins in 2009.

FABC (ACT and Region) hasmaintained the contacts ourParliamentary Lobby Group hasestablished with Federal politiciansinterested in communications policy.In the last year they have been incontact with members of the SenateCommittee on Communications issues¬Stephen Conroy, Dana Wortley (ALP),Bob Brown, Rachel Siewert, (Greens),Lyn Allison (Democrats)¬before theSenate Estimates hearings last Octoberand in May this year. Issues they havelobbied them on include aspects of theABC’s 2006 budget, fears aboutadvertising, the end of ABC talkingbook production, the new ABCeditorial guidelines.

What are the major issues for thenext few years? At this stage I thinkthe major issue is ABC3, the proposedkids channel. This is closely linked tofunding.

This should be a popular issue withthe public. It is literally a motherhoodissue. The Howard governmentpromised to fund it, but Labor hasbeen silent so far. I believe we are wellplaced to make this a major publicissue over the next twelve months aswe move towards the start of the nextfunding triennium.

partner with us in a petition to thegovernment. Seventy thousandsignatures sent a powerful message toCanberra.

Did these changes come aboutbecause the coalition governmentwanted to be rid of Jonathan Shier, orbecause that government wanted togive the ABC more money? Clearlynot. They happened because of publicpressure, and the Friends of the ABCplayed a crucial role in the creation ofthat public pressure.

Today Friends of the ABC policy onthe method of appointment to theABC board is official governmentpolicy. Our early efforts to persuadeLabor to adopt a system based on theNolan Rules in the U.K. failed. Laborinitially gave us a blunt no, but wepersevered, and after years ofpersistence managed to persuade theLabor Party’s new Shadow Minister forCommunications to adopt our policy.

The Rudd government has alsoadopted our policy that there should bea staff elected director on the ABCboard.

These are real and substantial gains,but we have had only partial successwith ABC Online. The Act has notbeen amended to prohibit advertisingon ABC web sites. Moreover, while themain ABC web sites are advertisementfree, subsidiary sites, like theCountdown site, are runningadvertisements.

Funding is still a major issue. TheABC is better funded that it was in1995-6, the last year that Labor was inpower, but by any reasonable measurethe ABC is still under resourced. TheABC struggles to survive financially.This year another round ofredundancies is likely.

Advertising and other commercialinfluences have the potential to distortthe ABC’s priorities. The growth ofadvertising on the SBS, withadvertisements now interruptingprograms, is an ominous precedent.

How then are we equipped to meetthese challenges? While we areseparate organisations in the differentstates and territories, we co-operatetogether. We also co-operate with SaveOur SBS.

Every state and territory organisationnow has its own web site. Moreover

Have the Friends of the ABC lost their teeth?Darce Cassidy


Margaret Simonswrites:

Hard to imagine thesober personage ofABC ManagingDirector Mark Scott

singing karaoke, but if he did the tunewould surely be A Spoonful of Sugar.It's a handy ditty as the politicallyadept ABC chief tries to do more andmore with no more resources - whilelimbering up to ask for a bigger shareof the public purse.

Two weeks ago Scott announced anarray of new ABC services. It wasmostly a case of slicing and dicingexisting content in new ways, but theannouncement was neverthelessconvincing evidence of Auntie movingwith the technological times.

Yesterday came the medicine. Newtechnology saves money. Thebroadcasting industry is going throughwhat newspapers did twenty years ago,when technology eliminated hundredsof printers' jobs. In London agencyreporters tell their stories direct torobot cameras, operating their ownauto queues with their feet. The samehas been happening for years here inAustralia at Sky News.

Auntie is moving with the timeshere too, and as a result there will bean unspecified number ofredundancies at the ABC in productionstaff due to the automation oftelevision studios. This pill waswrapped up in a bigger pill with theannouncement of a new way ofcounting that will reveal - probably forthe first time - the true cost of makingtelevision in house at the ABC. Thiswill enable comparisons withcontracting out. Meanwhile ABC staffwill be encouraged to market any sparecapacity to outsiders.

While Scott says the ABC remainscommitted to a mixed model withsome in house production, the longterm implications are both profound,tough on ABC staff, and probablyinevitable.

Adding to the predictable angst,Scott is being very short on specifics.We don't know how manyredundancies there will be, when they

"If we want to ask for more moneyin the future, and we do, then we haveto have a robust answer to thequestion of how we use the money wealready get," he said.

What will he be asking for? "Toosoon, too soon," he responds, but givessome headlines. More high qualityAustralian content in drama anddocumentary, more money for multi-channelling, and more opportunitiesto use the ABC's internet presence todeliver content - fitting hand in glovewith the Rudd Government's emphasison fast Broadband infrastructure.

Expect more over the next fewmonths as Scott uses every forum,including Kevin Rudd's 2020 summit,to begin singing a new tune.

To quote Abba "All the things I coulddo, if I had a little money. Money,money, money."

http://www.crikey.com.au/

will occur, how much money will besaved or how that money will bespent. As with all things to do withcontracting out and efficiency, thedevils and angels are likely to lurk inthe yet to be announced detail.

Scott talked to Crikey yesterdayevening and revealed a bit more of histhinking. Would the savings be spenton more reporters on the beat? He saidhe "aspired" to do this. Hmmm.

How many redundancies? Hewouldn't say, but he pointed out that"traditional old" production studiosneeded eight or nine people tooperate, whereas the new ones beingused in Sydney and Melbourne needonly two or three. The precise numbersof redundancies will depend on howmany people are able and willing to beretrained and redeployed, he said, andthis will be worked out inconsultations about to begin.

As for the perennial outsourcingissue, Scott said that by outsourcingproduction, the ABC was able to domore with less. External productionmeant that other money, such as filmcommission funds, made Auntie'sdollar go further. He claimed that overthe last two years every $1 million ofABC money spent on Australiancontent has resulted in $3.4 million ofmaterial going to air.

This alone means that outsourcingwill continue and grow. At the sametime, it seems that the popular cheapand cheerful studio based programslike New Inventors, Spicks and Specksand Talking Heads will continue to bedone in-house.

This is probably for two reasons.They wouldn't attract extra outsidefunding in any case, and the ABC iscompetitive in making them - asdemonstrated by the fact that ABCstaff are presently making Good NewsWeek under contract for Channel Ten.

All this takes place in the largercontext of the ABC's triennial fundingsubmission, presently in preparationand due to be delivered toGovernment late this year. Scott freelyadmits he is preparing the ground -demonstrating that the ABC is usingits present allocation to the max.

From www.crikey.com.au/

Scott delivers Aunty's Medicine

Friends of theABC (NSW) Bi-Annual StateConferenceThe next State Conference willbe held in Wollongong on 9-10August 2008.

The Illawarra Branch of theFriends of the ABC is celebratingtheir 10th year and has offeredto host the next StateConference. The inaugural StateConference (2002) was held inWollongong and was a greatsuccess. It was at thisconference that the Constitutionwas changed to formalise thecurrent branch structure.

Branches will be asked tonominate delegates and submitagenda items in the near future.In the meantime put the datesin your diary and if you haveany ideas for the agenda please send them to ourPresident Mal Hewitt (contactdetails on page 2).


by Tony Moore (Centre for Policy Development)

Many supporters of theABC felt relieved whena hostile conservativegovernment wasreplaced by a socialdemocratic one whichclaims to be friendly.

Since the election, some have calledfor Howard Government appointeesto resign from the board and for theABC to be properly funded. Thechange of government, however, is noguarantee that money will pour intoAunty's coffers and a left-wing ABCBoard will arise from the ashes of theculture wars.

Perhaps we need to be morecreative in what we wish for.Obsessing about individuals and theirbias is not the best way to stop theboard from being a politicalplaything, and it is not the solutionto the ABC's governance problems. Aprogressive response should reject

thinking about how publicbroadcasting needs to change toremain relevant to emergingaudiences with different, and in manyways more exacting, expectations ofmedia.

I suggest that the ABC needs radicalchange, and I offer up a plan forcreating a non-partisan and fairersystem for selecting the board.

Cultural warriors such as KeithWindschuttle or Janet Albrechtsen areno more likely to resign with thechange of government than Laborappointees were when the Coalitionwas elected. Attention should insteadbe directed to Labor's election pledgeto surrender the government's right tomake appointments and adopt the'arm's length' Nolan Rules,<http://friendsoftheabc.org/labors-abc-policies-advance-and-retreat>recently confirmed by SenatorConroy, used for choosing membersof public boards in Britain.

Under the Nolan Rules, vacanciesare advertised and a selection panelindependent of the Minister draws upa short-list based on merit from whichthe Government must choose. Thiswill mean a vast improvement to thequality of all public boards to which itis extended, as mates, dates, assortedparty hacks and ideological axegrinders make way for the qualified orthose with deep communityconnections. In the interests oftransparency we can only hope thismeritocratic innovation is adopted bystate governments, beginning withboard appointments in patronage-crippled NSW. With regard to theABC, Rudd Labor also promised torestore the staff-elected director to theboard. A board member who knowssomething about broadcasting will bea welcome addition and thisconcession to workplace democracycan only improve governance andespirit de corps.

But as part of the ALP's promise to'further increase the transparency anddemocratic accountability of theABC', why not extend the principle ofelection further, and allow theelection of one or two non-partycommunity representatives, and arepresentative from the cottageindustry of independent producerswho provide so much of the ABC'scontent? Many Labor insiders,

score settling, and instead ask how to enhance public participation in the ABC.

The ABC is grappling with how totransform itself from a paternalisticpublic broadcaster catering to a loyalif passive audience to a multi-channelnarrow-caster, engaging diverse andconditional audiences that have anexpectation that they will participate,or at least be consulted, in contentcreation. While many innovatorswithin the ABC are rising to thischallenge, the wider public debate hasbeen a sterile contest between thoseneo-liberals who loath a statebroadcaster which they imagine to bea nest of radicals, and those socialdemocrats and old-style conservativeswho uncritically love an 'Aunty' thatis no more. Unfortunately, longopposition to the HowardGovernment's savage funding cuts,bullying of staff and stacking of theBoard have led to a negative siegementality that stops people who valuethe ABC from doing some hard

FROM CULTURE WAR TO CULTURALDEMOCRACY: IT'S YOUR ABC


accustomed to the predictability ofparty pre-selections, are opposed toelection of boards, arguing thatdemocratic control is already exertedby parliament, or that people willvote for celebrity lightweights. Due toa century of grounding in producervalue and worker's rights, the ALPculture is comfortable with workplacedemocracy, but still suspicious of callsfor consumer democracy. However I'mconvinced strong candidates will getup and that the debates surroundingelection to the Board will increase therelevance of the ABC to a changingcommunity and enhance the public'ssense of ownership. Election willensure some ideas entrepreneurs andmavericks who may be knocked backby the Nolan process get to maketheir case.

Crucially, the Rudd Government isentitled by precedent to dissolve thecurrent Board and inaugurate a newone in a clean sweep as part of itspromised reform of the selectionprocess. The passing of legislationmandating the Nolan Rules for theappointment of directors, incombination with election of one ormore positions, will be on a par withthe reforms introduced by Hawke in1983 in response to the Dix Report, atwhich time the old Commission wasdissolved and the new Corporation'sBoard took over. This is preferable tothe dysfunction of a Board dividedbetween political appointments andthose selected by fairer means. In thisway the terms of the last of the oldstyle political appointments can endearly with minimal acrimony.

But reforming the Board by itself isinsufficient. Few realise that the ABCAdvisory Council, the officialmechanism by which the communitycommunicates directly with the ABChierarchy, is appointed by the Board. Iwas a member of the then 'National'Advisory Council in the mid 1980s,appointed on the basis of aninterview with Board DirectorsVeronica Brady and Neville Bonner ata time when the ABC encouragedpublic activism by the NAC viacommunity forums and research. Butwe have not heard much from theAdvisory Council during the pastdecade of turmoil. The AC is unlikelyto be a conduit for independent ordissenting advice unless it is elected

even offering up their own programsfor comment, You Tube style, aschildren already do on the just-launched Rollermachewww.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/kidstv/rollermache.htm site.

Where the ANAO lamented atendency for Shier-era bureaucrats tomanage up the pyramid, to theManaging Director, the ABC's digitalinitiatives are orientating programmakers in the other direction, towardstheir diverse audiences. This is ademocratic and creative trendcollapsing the barriers betweenconsumers and producers, and itshould be a priority for resourcing bythe Rudd government which haspledged to ensure that the ABC is'able to exploit the potential of newtechnology'. Senator Conroy said inFebruary that the ABC and SBS wouldbe exempt from the one-off 2%efficiency cut intended for all Federalgovernment agencies. This is goodnews, but will the ABC get a fundingincrease from the Rudd Governmentin the next budget? The ALP went tothe election only promising 'adequate'funding of the ABC, and an increaseseems unlikely in the coming belt-tightening budget, despitecommunity expectations to thecontrary. However, a targeted grant toassist the ABC to continue its groundbreaking initiatives in digitalnarrowcasting would be money wellspent by a government interested ininnovation and 'democraticaccountability'.

Through his Australia 2020 Summit,Kevin Rudd has signalled that theGovernment is open to new ideas andsolutions, rather than the ideologicalorthodoxies that have dominated theagendas of right and left for the pastdecade. Applying this type of thinking,progressives should move beyond theculture wars and the funding fetish,and towards bigger ideas about aculturally democratic ABC.

Original article:http://cpd.org.au/article/culture-war-cultural-democracy-its-your-abc

This article was previously published bythe Centre for Policy Development, apublic interest think tank. For morearticles on Australia's media policy seehttp://cpd.org.au

or chosen under the Nolan Rules. It isalso a cause of concern that the oncevocal state-based Advisory Councilswere abolished in 1989 ahead of thecentralisation of production andcommissioning in Sydney, that beganwith the demise of the state-based7.30 Reports. These valuable statecommunity forums should be re-established as part of the RuddGovernment's overhaul of the Board.

Representative structures only go sofar towards democratising the ABC. In2002 the Australian National AuditOffice (ANAO) investigation foundthe ABC wanting in the area ofqualitative audience research. TheAuditor felt that reliance on thecommercial ratings system wasinappropriate for measuring howsuccessfully the ABC was meeting itscharter requirements. Unfortunately,the ABC persists in over-reliance onOzTam or Nielsen ratings and stillfavours executive hunches overaudience consultation, as the recentdebacle<http://www.crikey.com.au/Media-Arts-and-Sports/20080214-New-Logo-taking -aim-at-the-ABCs-rebranding.html>about its watermark logodemonstrated.

But audiences have neverthelessimpressed themselves on their ABCvia ABC Online.

The new Innovation division andforward-looking producers have takenadvantage of the interactivity of thenew medium, and viewers andlisteners are now contributing ideasand comments through the ABC'sforums and blogs. Just as listenershave done with radio talkback,audiences are becoming part of onlinecontent, contributing passionate andinformed discussion alongsideprogram makers and their 'talent'.New media has also liberated the ABCfrom the tyranny of the ratings,allowing audience numbers and usepatterns to be measured via pod andvod cast downloads (17 million in2007, with even more 'hits'). Lo andbehold, as well as the favourite TheChaser, Radio National programs areactually popular, not just in Australiabut internationally. With the moveinto digital multi-channels I predictABC Online will enable audiences toshape content still further,commenting on pilot programs and


As soon as the Howard governmentwas elected, it decided to make theABC one of the main fronts of theculture war it was determined toprosecute. The justification can besummarised like this.

At some time in the past, so it wasalleged, the ABC had been capturedby its staff, who sought to use thebroadcaster, in a Gramscian manner,as a launching pad for culturalrevolution. As part of this culturalrevolution, the ABC for a long timehad supposedly pushed the agenda ofthe Left on issues such as refugees,the republic, multiculturalism,reconciliation, radical feminism,extreme environmentalism, anti-Americanism, gay rights and so on.Because it was supposedly stillinfluenced by Marxism, it was anti-

capitalist, showing little interest in, orunderstanding of, real-worldeconomic.

The ABC had long been dominated,it was claimed, by so-called elites whotried to force their so-called politicallycorrect views down the throats ofordinary people.

Because there was believed to be adisconnect between the ABCprogram-makers, who were said to beleft-wing ideologues, and theirviewers and listeners, who onbalance were liberal or conservative,the short description of the ABC mostfavoured by John Howard in 1996was the one supplied by his adviserGrahame Morris: ‘Our enemy talkingto our friends.’

Although almost every element ofthis case was exaggerated or entirely

It is a truism that oppositions tend tolike the ABC and governments tend toloathe it. If the ABC is doing its jobproperly, perhaps that is how it should be. Governments wield muchmore power than oppositions, andthus require greater scrutiny from the media.

On the positive side it seems thatthe Rudd government is serious aboutreforming the process by whichmembers of the ABC board, andsimilar bodies, are chosen. Labor hasadopted Friends of the ABC policythat board appointments shouldfollow an open and transparentprocess similar to the process adoptedin the UK and known as the NolanRules.

With the terms of two members ofthe ABC board due to expire shortly,some have been disappointed thatLabor has not taken the opportunityto “balance” the right wing tilt of thecurrent board with the appointmentof friendly faces. But if thegovernment is serious about a non

without amendingthe Act. Theminister simplyused his power tomake appointmentsto appoint a person chosen by thestaff. The current government coulddo the same, if it chose. An electionhas been held and the governmentcould simply appoint Dempster assoon as the first vacancy occurs.

In opposition Labor was sympatheticto a funding increase for the ABC. Itpromised adequate funding, but madeno specific funding promises. TheCoalition promised money for a thirddigital TV channel, aimed at children.Despite speculation that it wouldmatch the promise, as it had matchedother Coalition promises, Labor didnot commit itself to a figure.

The chances of additional funds forthe ABC in the May budget are slim.None the less, Friends of the ABC willpursue the issue.

partisan process such a move woulddestroy its credibility. It is worth thewait to do things openly and properly.

Another Labor promise has been therestoration of the position of the StaffElected Director, which was abolishedby the Howard government just as theABC staff had elected QuentinDempster as their representative.

This position is one of two positionson the ABC board which would not besubject to the Nolan Rules process.The second is the position ofManaging Director, which isdetermined by the board itself.

The Howard government changedthe ABC Act to remove the provisionfor a Staff Elected Director. TheCoalition will control of the Senate atleast until July, and possibly beyondthat (depending on independents andminor parties). It is unlikely that therecan be legislation for a Staff ElectedDirector until July at the earliest.

However, the Whitlam governmentappointed a Staff Elected Director

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM LABOR?

GOOD REASONS FOR OPTIMISMABOUT THE ABC’S FUTURE Robert Manne

fanciful, at the time the Howardgovernment came into office both itand its supporters believed somethingneeded to be done.

With the election of the RuddGovernment there is some reason tofeel optimistic about the future of theABC. The culture wars will comeabruptly to an end. Without a friendlygovernment receptive to its biliousviews, the right-wing commentariatwill lose most of its cultural clout.

The absurdity of having people suchas Ron Brunton, Janet Albrechtsenand Keith Windschuttle on the ABCboard will also be instantlytransparent, In time they will bereplaced. If they had any honour,they would resign. As their presencehas completely delegitimised thesystem of governmental control overappointments to the board, acollective sigh of relief will be heardfrom all but the most blinkeredcultural warrior when, as Kevin Ruddhas promised, a new, more BBC-likesystem of non-partisan appointmentsis introduced.

Darce Cassidy


The Newman board has restructuredthe ABC divisions, replacing ABCEnterprises (which managed ABCShops and other related products) withwhat it is calling ABC Commercial.With the ABC Act expresslyprohibiting advertising on ABC radioand television, ABC Commercial wantsto construct a new business planaround cybercast advertising on ABC Online.

Broadcasting is rapidly morphinginto cybercasting. If you miss tonight’sedition of The 7.30 Report, ABC TVNews, or any other ABC copyrightprogram, soon you will be able to goto your computer and play the fulldigital video at any time. People arealready watching the popular TheChaser’s War on Everything and FourCorners’ broadband editions throughtheir internet.

There is nothing in the ABC Act toprevent the Newman board frominserting advertising in and aroundthis content. The spirit of the ABC Act,drafted in 1983 before the internet wasinvented, is clearly against advertising.But the board has helpful legal advicethat because the act is silent oninternet advertising, there is nothingin the act to prevent cybercastadvertising. (Lawyers. Don’t you justlove ’em?).

The Howard government, throughCommunication Minister Coonan,[said it was] a matter for the ABCboard. But the government had nomandate from the Australian people todistort the existing funding base of theABC and, through the commercialimperative this will create, its verypurpose.

Public broadcasters view theiraudiences as citizens in a democracy tobe informed, engaged and challengedthrough innovative, high-quality andcomprehensive programming, not asconsumers to be delivered up toadvertisers.

Both the ABC and SBS boards willsay enhanced commercial returns willmean more Australian programming.This is superficially attractive. But whatsort of programming? Mark Scott, theABC’s new managing director, is aformer editorial director of John

stack of the ABC board and restore thestaff-elected director position in theABC Act. This is most welcome in aninstitution which has been undersustained ideological attack andvilification for more than a decade. Butit is also hard to forget that under theHawke/Keating governments 1983-1996 the ABC was substantiallydefunded. Pressure must bemaintained on the Rudd governmentto rebuild the ABC’s creative capacityand to protect the multiculturalpurpose of SBS.

Where does public broadcastingstand with the change of governmentin Canberra? Please let us know, MrRudd. In the meantime, those whowant the ABC to survive as anadequately funded, independent,mainstream and non-commercialpublic broadcaster will have to fighthard. We must never get tired.

Fairfax Holdings Ltd. We are told hisFairfax experience demonstrates that itis possible to separate church and state– editorial from commercial. This wasrubbish at Fairfax and will be rubbishat the ABC.

Cybercast advertising at the ABCwill be self-defeating. When pushcomes to shove in the pre-BudgetCabinet expenditure reviewcommittee, treasury advisers willmonitor the ABC’s commercial revenueand downwardly adjust the taxpayerappropriation accordingly.

The ABC board should have atransition strategy [following the]change of government. It should betelling the public just what the ABCcan do for Australia through the digitalfree-to-air multi-channel andbroadband revolution. The ABC couldhave an ABC Education division with afree-to-air English and other languageschannel, a technical and furthereducation channel, a dedicatedAustralian-made children’s channeland other nation-building serviceswhich exploit this extraordinary andexciting technology. But the newchairman has not said ‘boo’ on anyimportant topic of strategicimportance to the ABC since hisappointment last year.

The current ABC board cannot berelied on to advocate the cause ofindependent public broadcasting. It isin an ideological and party-politicalbog. If it is out to destroy the so-calledABC culture, introducing advertisingon the ABC should do the trick. Thecurrent threat is insidious.

Our minds must be clear. Laborpolicy … is to prohibit cybercastadvertising, stop the party-political

COME CLEAN ON COMMERCIALISATION OF THE ABC

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update april 2008

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