THEIR ABC: Time To Kill

The Australian perfectly summed up the real issue with the ABC. Politicisation of the board is irrelevant. It's what goes on in the offices and corridors.

I have had the misfortune of visiting the ABC here in Melbourne a number of times, on one splendid occasion jousting with Jon Faine and pushing him off his nag. One other time to privately meet with Madam Virginia Trioli to inquire of her whether her family political and business affiliations were causing a conflict of interests which she needed to disclose to her superiors. I declined to shake her hand afterwards because of her deceptions, something she seemed greatly troubled by, poor witch.

Aside from those two - whose leftard credentials are very well established - the vibe from all the black-wearing alternative types is unmistakable. My lefty radar is very good, after battling them for so long, triggered by even some unusual suspects like Labor Unity's own Ms Roxon. But in the ABC building, it goes off the radar. One is truly behind enemy lines there. Other than the security guards, there's not a patriot in sight.

And as this leader below makes very clear, the staff are the permanent fixtures. They regard the board as being a total irrelevance and a nuisance at most, only a change of government away from getting the chop.

The ABC is the kind of place where leftist Guy "Gee" Rundle (now in exile in London) got the boot not for his politics but because his oafish ways offended the feministas in there. Guy Rundle sacked for not being left-wing enough, it's truly bizarre.

But that is what it is. A parallel universe. And it is probably true what the ABCistas say that "this is the culture of public broadcasting". Which is exactly why no more public money should be expended on the maintenance of such a public broadcasting bureaucracy.

If the community feels it desperately needs to have state-funded programming, of the news or kids programming or whatever worthy thing occurs to them, then why not fund the programming and bury the bureaucracy. I personally doubt there is any credible market failure argument for this, but hopefully such a scheme would quell criticism of beheading Aunty.

They could buy the time on the free to air channels or on subscription or just whack it online.

The money saved on actually operating their vast evil empire could produce more 7.30 Reports and kumbayah singing on kids programmes than you could ever watch.


ABC's balancing act
A bipartisan approach is unlikely to put an end to bias

KEVIN Rudd's proposal to seek bipartisan support for the appointment of the ABC chairman and for board members to be selected by an independent panel is laudable in its intent. Mr Rudd has said that his policy, which is modelled on a British system used to make senior appointments to public bodies such as the BBC, is intended to put the ABC beyond the reach of frontline culture warriors of any political persuasion. The trouble is that to a large degree the ABC is staffed by cultural warriors who are hardly influenced by the comings and goings on the board.

The ABC board has been the creature of the ruling government of the day for many decades. Under the Hawke and Keating governments, Labor appointees to the board included former Labor pollster Rod Cameron and former South Australian Labor premier John Bannon while under John Howard conservative columnist Janet Albrechtsen (who writes for The Australian) and conservative historian Keith Windschuttle have been given seats at the table. What is remarkable, however, is that regardless of who is appointed to the board, the perspective that dominates the ABC tends to be that of the newsroom collective. From the environment to international affairs, the ABC slant seems to be more in tune with Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle than any mainstream political party, either Labor or the Coalition.

The Australian regularly criticises the persistent ABC bias, which is a betrayal of the vast majority of Australian taxpayers who resent funding programs that reflect the views of a small minority. But in some ways, the failure of the ABC to be true to its charter has had an even more devastating effect. The ABC's responsibility to provide incisive and relevant current affairs coverage is particularly important in regional Australia. The decision to pull back on state coverage of current affairs in key programs such as The 7.30 Report has had a significant impact in states such as South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland. It always seemed an odd priority to spend taxpayers' money on a show like The Glass House while neglecting coverage of news and current affairs in Adelaide or Hobart. The ABC should give primacy to excellence in current affairs coverage rather than frittering away funding on quiz shows and comedies that are readily funded by the commercial sector.

To be blunt, it is time Aunty grew up. The main task for the ABC board is to encourage the ABC to embrace the challenges of the modern media landscape and free itself from a centralised public service culture more suited to the middle decades of the last century. SBS has shown that an imaginative public broadcaster can tap revenue from the private sector without falling captive to it. The ABC hardheads must adjust to a world that is focused on wealth creation instead of wealth redistribution.

Game on.