Extract from The Guardian
Four
Corners, Lateline and Australian Story face cuts and five Radio
National shows to go after Coalition cut $254m from public broadcaster
Some of the ABC’s top TV news programs, including Four
Corners, Lateline, Australian Story and Landline, will have their
budgets slashed as the news division loses 100 jobs after the Coalition’s $254m budget cut.
While cuts to Four Corners, Australian Story and Landline will be relatively modest, Lateline will take the biggest hit with all its staff put on a redundancy list pending a skills audit. Foreign Correspondent has lost 10% of its budget.
The big changes in the news division include cutting all radio news bulletins except 7am and 7.45am from 10 to five minutes, and reducing the size of the fact-checking unit.
Half the features producers on Radio National will be made redundant and five programs will be decommissioned: 360 Documentaries; Into the Music; Poetica; Hindsight and Encounter. Experienced program-makers will be replaced with freelancers. Bush Telegraph, the rural news and features program commissioned in the Howard era after complaints the ABC was too city-centred, has also been axed.
As tipped on Guardian Australia, the ABC has commissioned a new program hosted by a conservative voice, the former opinion editor at the Australian Tom Switzer.
“In a media environment saturated with opinion – much of it repetitive in its perspective – Tom Switzer would filter through that, pointing the audience to new and different takes on the big issues, sometimes including his own analysis,” the ABC said in a statement to staff.
News director Kate Torney briefed the 1,500 news staff on the details of the changes on Monday afternoon. She said 70 new digital positions would be created as more resources were poured into online and mobile news. But those positions will be lower paid, sources said.
The 100 redundancies announced across the news division are not voluntary. Journalists whose programs have been targeted for job losses will be measured against an objective “skill set”, sources said. Those deemed not to have the required skills for the remaining positions will be made redundant.
The same process will apply to staff in Radio National. “Plenty of room for discrimination there, and no transparency,” one source said.
A national Friday edition of 7.30 will be launched following the cancellation of the eight local editions. Local current affairs coverage will be included in specials and across the 7pm News, ABC News Sunday, News 24, local radio and local digital sites, as reported by Guardian Australia.
Lateline has survived the axe but will be moved to a fixed timeslot on News 24 and will have a makeover, the details of which have yet to be announced. Management said Lateline would also focus more on its digital audience.
In international news gathering, the Auckland bureau will close and New Zealand will be covered from Australia.
The Tokyo, Bangkok, Delhi and Jerusalem offices will be closed and the camera crews made redundant, as reported earlier this month. Teams will be replaced by video journalists working from home with the help of a local producer. Staff were told that precautions would be taken to protect video journalists working alone.
Bigger bureaux will be established in Washington, London, Beijing and Jakarta, and the number of foreign correspondents will stay the same. A new role of chief foreign correspondent will be created.
The president of the Community and Public Sector Union, Michael Tull, accused the government of lying.
“After promising not to cut, the government has cut millions from the ABC’s budget and forced it to slash one in 10 jobs from its workforce. It is now abundantly clear that the government’s cuts will seriously impact the quality of programming, despite assurances by Malcolm Turnbull to the contrary.”
While cuts to Four Corners, Australian Story and Landline will be relatively modest, Lateline will take the biggest hit with all its staff put on a redundancy list pending a skills audit. Foreign Correspondent has lost 10% of its budget.
The big changes in the news division include cutting all radio news bulletins except 7am and 7.45am from 10 to five minutes, and reducing the size of the fact-checking unit.
Half the features producers on Radio National will be made redundant and five programs will be decommissioned: 360 Documentaries; Into the Music; Poetica; Hindsight and Encounter. Experienced program-makers will be replaced with freelancers. Bush Telegraph, the rural news and features program commissioned in the Howard era after complaints the ABC was too city-centred, has also been axed.
As tipped on Guardian Australia, the ABC has commissioned a new program hosted by a conservative voice, the former opinion editor at the Australian Tom Switzer.
“In a media environment saturated with opinion – much of it repetitive in its perspective – Tom Switzer would filter through that, pointing the audience to new and different takes on the big issues, sometimes including his own analysis,” the ABC said in a statement to staff.
News director Kate Torney briefed the 1,500 news staff on the details of the changes on Monday afternoon. She said 70 new digital positions would be created as more resources were poured into online and mobile news. But those positions will be lower paid, sources said.
The 100 redundancies announced across the news division are not voluntary. Journalists whose programs have been targeted for job losses will be measured against an objective “skill set”, sources said. Those deemed not to have the required skills for the remaining positions will be made redundant.
The same process will apply to staff in Radio National. “Plenty of room for discrimination there, and no transparency,” one source said.
A national Friday edition of 7.30 will be launched following the cancellation of the eight local editions. Local current affairs coverage will be included in specials and across the 7pm News, ABC News Sunday, News 24, local radio and local digital sites, as reported by Guardian Australia.
Lateline has survived the axe but will be moved to a fixed timeslot on News 24 and will have a makeover, the details of which have yet to be announced. Management said Lateline would also focus more on its digital audience.
In international news gathering, the Auckland bureau will close and New Zealand will be covered from Australia.
The Tokyo, Bangkok, Delhi and Jerusalem offices will be closed and the camera crews made redundant, as reported earlier this month. Teams will be replaced by video journalists working from home with the help of a local producer. Staff were told that precautions would be taken to protect video journalists working alone.
Bigger bureaux will be established in Washington, London, Beijing and Jakarta, and the number of foreign correspondents will stay the same. A new role of chief foreign correspondent will be created.
The president of the Community and Public Sector Union, Michael Tull, accused the government of lying.
“After promising not to cut, the government has cut millions from the ABC’s budget and forced it to slash one in 10 jobs from its workforce. It is now abundantly clear that the government’s cuts will seriously impact the quality of programming, despite assurances by Malcolm Turnbull to the contrary.”
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