Your ABC

[Jerry_Atrick]

I have seen that the Morrison government has stated that it has not cut the ABC funding, but apparently it has.. or at least in real terms. And its real funding levels have dropped over the years.

I know the ABC cops it for biased reporting, so I am trying to gauge what people on here think about the ABC.

It is a personal curiosity more than anything else.

 

Cheers,

JA

[old man emu]

Politicians don't like the approach that the ABC takes to reporting their antics, but you must remember that the ABC broadcasts programming in a lot of different genres. Its rural programs are informative for those working the land. It broadcasts many varieties of music from Classical to whatever is the poison of the Youth of the day. It's magazine type programmes cover an eclectic range of topics. It's light entertainment is not all "reality" or US gunfights. Apart from the entertainment side, the ABC plays a vital role in emergency and disaster situations.

 

So, reduction in funding in real terms is, in reality, retaliation by politicians for the ABC's exposing the dirt under the carpet, and liberating skeletons from closets. Since the commercial media is blatantly pro-conservatism, Australia needs a second voice to even attempt to level the propaganda playing field.

[nomadpete]

I note that over the years, the ABC has copped repeated accusations of political bias. These have come repeatedly from the incumbent party of the day. This confirms my view (also, the view of numerous independent investigation) that the ABC is doing quite well at digging dirt on either of the political parties.

And that is something that media should deliver.

Add to that their essential service to the public, being the most reliable source of vital information during emergencies (bushfires, etc), and I'm surprised that they still function after all the financial pressure imposed over the years.

[Yenn]

I have watched and listened to the ABC for 58 years and don't consider it to be any more biased than any other broadcaster, but then I really wouldn't know as I hardly ever watch any other except SBS. I would rather not listen to any radio, than listen to the commercial stations and the TV is hardly better. At least you can mute the TV during the twenty or so minutes of ads per hour. Sadly the ABC seems to want to put ads in its content and does some horrible self promotions.

[facthunter]

Most of the stuff against the ABC comes from the self interest of a monopoly Murdoch Media Empire which is fading fast... INDEPENDANT people give the ABC the top rating for accuracy. Nev

[Old Koreelah]

[onetrack]

I like the ABC for the variety it delivers, and the total lack of commercialisation. Sometimes the Rabid Greenie-Left-Arty-LGBTQ trend in articles gets a bit over the top, though. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by onetrack

[old man emu]

8 hours ago, onetrack said:

Sometimes the Rabid Greenie-Left-Arty-LGBTQ trend in articles gets a bit over the top, though. 

But that's only a portion of what the ABC broadcasts, just as with the political stuff. No doubt the Conservatives don't like that almost as much as they don't like the independent political reporting. The greatest things that have happened in commercial broadcasting of late are the retirement of John Laws, and Alan Jones' leaving radio. 

 

Jones' station 2GB – part of Nine Entertainment Co, maintained its total lead in the Sydney radio landscape with a 14.8 per cent audience share (up 1.6 percentage points) from February 9 to April 4. At least that means that 85% of the public has enough sense not to listen to him. But the COVID-19 pandemic also saw listeners turn to the national broadcaster for news and information, with ABC Sydney climbing 0.7 percentage points.

[Old Koreelah]

33 minutes ago, old man emu said:

But that's only a portion of what the ABC broadcasts, just as with the political stuff. No doubt the Conservatives don't like that almost as much as they don't like the independent political reporting. The greatest things that have happened in commercial broadcasting of late are the retirement of John Laws, and Alan Jones' leaving radio...

I had the misfortune to ring in to challenge one of Jones' many insulting rants. As I got to deliver my killer blow on air, I was cut off. I suspect the seven second delay has been a godsend for those wanting to edit out uncomfortable facts.

 

How did Laws and Jones get so powerful? What is the difference between a protection racket (where you agree not to cause damage in exchange for a regular payment) and a shock jock with a huge and impressionable audience?

Yonks ago, I recall Laws used to give Toyota a caning on air. Did they simply buy his silence? 

 

Fertile ground for some research; but I doubt our national broadcaster will have the funds to do it.

[facthunter]

They get so powerful you HAVE to deal with them, and like all rentseekers the price for a good, (or even FAIR) deal keeps going up. ASK K Rudd. and M Turnbull. MEDIA and radio have a lot of power. We have near monopoly though Jones never got over the Murray and in QLD there's no other..You need balance and competition.  Nev

[Marty_d]

The worst thing is, Jones wasn't even particularly representative of the conservative voters.  He had a relatively small audience.

What gave him his power was the LNP pandering to him, and the rest of the media giving airtime to his ridiculous views, which in turn made the LNP pander to him even more.

If I were a Liberal voter I'd be p*ssed off that they enabled his egomania.  

[nomadpete]

I'm guessing that Mr Jones isn't your BFF?

[facthunter]

Jones wasn't a favourite with a lot of the station's sponsors either. Mercedes took back the CAR they gave him at one stage as it was affecting their Image adversely. Nev

[Marty_d]

10 hours ago, nomadpete said:

I'm guessing that Mr Jones isn't your BFF?

He's more of a BFW.

[kgwilson]

Murdoch has had politicians in his pocket for years here and especially the US but his empire is rapidly declining and even his great American right wing media giant Fox news (replicated here as Sky News) has begun to lose favour when even the super right redneck mob are getting stung with Covid-19 while his commander in chief mouthpiece is in self destruct stage. 

 

The ABC has a far more balanced coverage of news than any of the commercial offerings. We are lucky to have such an organisation as government funded media in most countries is the mouthpiece for that government.

[old man emu]

Government funding = distribution of money derived from taxation. Who gets taxed? The People. Therefore the ABC is the Peoples' asset, and as such, the People have the right to determine how much of THEIR money it receives. 

 

The People pay for the operation of the other broadcasters. Not by openly handing over money to the broadcaster themselves, but indirectly through the purchase of goods and services of businesses who advertise with those broadcasters. Part of every dollar you spend at a Woolies or Coles affiliate goes to their advertising departments who then pay some of it to the broadcasters in the form of advertising fees, which is where the broadcaster makes its money. And some money it makes, too, in order to pay some of its "stars" exorbitant salaries, many of whom aren't "worth their salt"  (Salary - from Latin salarium "an allowance, a stipend, a pension," said to be originally "salt-money, soldier's allowance for the purchase of salt")

 

It is a shame that the ABC operates in a crowded market. In Sydney ABC radio maintains about an 11% audience share (but I think that's only the ABC's light music and information  as there are several ABC broadcast frequencies). The other 90% of the audience listens to about four other stations accounting for about 60% of the audience. The other 30% or so listen to niche broadcasters like ethnic stations and community radio.

[Old Koreelah]

The ABC has always had the job of national broadcaster, particularly during times of crisis, but I note during the pandemic governments seem to have given a big role to commercial operators.

Auntie is also expected to cater for that part of the market ignored by for-profit broadcasters: regional and remote listeners and viewers. The ABC has always excelled providing quality current affairs, international and science news, as well as playing the sort of music nobody else will -from newly emerging Aussie talent to baroque, classic and jazz.

 

One area where our government has really shot itself in the foot is running down Radio Australia, which long had a huge audience in Asia. Now, like never before, we need ordinary people in China listening to our side of the story.

 

[willedoo]

I like the ABC radio. It's nice to turn it on and hear some intelligent normality. Turn on most of the commercial stations and you will just hear a lot of childish yelling. It's like the presenters are desperately trying to be something they're not.

[willedoo]

And another good thing about ABC radio - it has alternatives. If you're like me and can't stand a bar of Macca on Sunday mornings, you can flip over to Radio National and be done with the boring twit and his bloody recorded magpies. You are never stuck with just the one channel.

Edited July 8, 2020 by willedoo

[nomadpete]

Good point raised above.

Radio Australia is a great way to offer information support to remote nations.

 

Look at the government paying $17 million on crappy "reality" commercial Tv shows, to broadcast to Pacific Islands. Does anyone believe that will help the islanders to let go of China's Belt n roads bribes?

 

Maybe some simple outside news on short wave would do a lot more good for the people.

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

I really liked the story about how many educated people in foreign countries ( like Nazi germany ) listened to the news from the BBC because they only got lies from their own services.

To the extent that this has been taken over in east Asia by the ABC, then it would be tragic to wind it back.

What a wonderful thing to have a broadcaster that tells the truth.   Mind you, the internet is there nowadays and this, together with phone-cameras, has forced the truth into new places where no broadcaster ever ventured before.   

Personally, I dislike some of the ABC greenie anti-farmer nonsense.. ( but those pictures of the distressed sheep on that ship were awful )  But the anti-clearing lobby contributed to the bushfire damage. I also  dislike some of the "pro-indigenous" attitudes which I reckon do aborigines more harm than good. But overall, the ABC is one of the better news providers in the world.

 

[nomadpete]

Many "developing" countries have poor internet. As for trying to present "truth", it requires access to multiple sources for anyone to figure out some semblance of middle ground of all the biases that creep into every source.

 

In years gone by, I used to listen to Voice of America, the BBC, Radio Australia.

Then I'd compare the varied interpretations before making my mind up. There were others on short wave, but I didn't have the language skills to listen to foreign news.

 

Unfortunately Australia is neglecting this valuable resource. For instance, back when Indonesia committed atrocities in Timor,  the government of the day had shut down Radio Australia beaming to the area. This led to a information vacuum which was readily filled by...... Indonesia! There was no local radio broadcast there for years.

 

Even at its worst, our news is nothing like the pure propaganda that many countries have.

Edited July 10, 2020 by nomadpete

[Jerry_Atrick]

The votes are in.. I was hoping for a few more and some to go the other way, but it looks like the statistically important people havecast their vote and are remarkably consistent.

 

I know that each and every press organisation (or maybe production) has their biases, and the ABC is no exeption - it is just that they seem to not show it as much.. maybe they are trained iun the art of deception better?

 

Though, looking at this, surely there has to be a press standards office with some teeth in Australia. Something like this would result in some serious consequences in the UK (start at about 2:30).

 

 

 

Yup.. I think I will defend Auntie as much as I can... warts and all...

 

[edit] I should clarify - there would be no problem here with a journo making those claims if they were justifiable... even thinly... but clear allegations would probably have landed a slander (or libel if it was deemed on durable media) case to boot...

Edited July 15, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[willedoo]

I've seen everything now - former PM Credlin actually admitting she's wrong. But seriously, the press is like a human body made up of many parts. Sky is the bit where all the cr*p comes out. The Murdoch press couldn't lie straight in bed. Their journalism is so poor and biased that sensationalism is their only chance of selling anything. It's a pathetic business model that panders to the gullible.

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, willedoo said:

The Murdoch press couldn't lie straight in bed.

Richard the Third, "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed", was straighter than Murdoch.