Extract from The Guardian
The managing director has strongly defended the ABC and warned against hobbling it to create a ‘market failure organisation’
Australians do not like seeing the ABC being used as a “punching bag”
by narrow political, commercial or ideological interests, its managing
director Michelle Guthrie has said in forceful defence of the public broadcaster.
“As a nation, we could choose not to have the ABC; or we could hobble it so that it becomes the market failure organisation it was never intended to be,” Guthrie told the Melbourne Press Club on Tuesday.
“Inherent in the drive against the independent public broadcaster, is a belief that it can be pushed and prodded into different shapes to suit the prevailing climate. It can’t. Nor should it be.”
In her first considered response to budget cuts and attacks from Coalition ministers about alleged bias in ABC reporting, Guthrie warned that the ABC could not handle any more cuts as all backroom efficiencies had already been found, and any more “whittling away of our funding” would punish audiences.
Citing the “hallowed” names of ABC broadcasters living and past – Mark Colvin, Ian Carroll, Caroline Jones, Alan McGilvray, Chris Masters and Kerry O’Brien – Guthrie said the ABC was one of the great Australian institutions whose value far outweighed its cost.
She also rejected a suggestion that the ABC only represented left-leaning Australians, saying that it reached 85% of the Australian population each month and 72% each week.
“I know that people don’t like me pointing this out, but that is more popular than the two major parties combined,” she said. “So the idea that we are representing an extreme ideological view is inconsistent with the reach and the impact and the relevance we have every day, every week, every month.”
Guthrie said the Liberal party’s vote to privatise the ABC was driven by the same ideology as the Coalition’s competitive neutrality and efficiency reviews of the public broadcaster.
When the Coalition imposed an $84m budget cut on the ABC last month it also ordered an efficiency review on top of the competitive neutrality review which is examining whether the public broadcaster impedes the market for the commercial media through streaming and online news. Both reviews have the potential to curb the ABC’s activities.
“The argument seems to carry a misplaced notion of both privatisation and conservatism,” Guthrie said. “But, more importantly, it completely ignores the public value of the ABC, both in direct dollar terms but also as far as the wider public good remit.”
Guthrie poked fun at the Seven network and the former leader of the National party by saying an ABC drama had been more popular than Barnaby Joyce’s paid interview on Sunday Night with his new partner, Vikki Campion.
“I was one of the 800,000 viewers who chose to watch Mystery Road a few
Sunday nights ago instead of an interview with Barnaby Joyce,” she said. “Who knew Australians would choose a well-scripted and produced drama over the kitchen-sink exploits of a politician?”
Referring to the climate of anti-ABC sentiment sparked by the Young Liberals’ motion on the weekend to privatise the ABC and the publication of a book calling for the ABC to be sold off, she pointed towards what she called “an increasingly febrile debate”.
Her strident defence came just days after Melbourne broadcaster Jon Faine complained that the managing director and its chairman, Justin Milne, had not defended the ABC adequately from attacks and budget cuts.
In a question following the speech, Faine said he was “pleased” by Guthrie’s speech but criticised her apparent earlier reluctance to publicly defend the organisation.
“We need a champion, we need a public champion, not a managing director who hides from the media or from public engagement,” Faine said.
Guthrie said she did not hide from the media, adding that: “I’m also one of those people that thinks that the more you speak the less you’re heard ... but I think you’ll also be seeing more of me, whether you like it or not.”
In response to a question from ABC News Breakfast co-host Michael Rowland about the “relentless and ill-founded daily assault on the ABC by the Australian newspaper,” Guthrie responded that ABC 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales had more Twitter followers than the Australian had readers, so “I think we’re OK”.
Sales has about 353,000 Twitter followers, to the Australian’s 300,000 weekly newspaper readers and 636,000 readers of the Weekend Australian. The latest report from Enhanced media metrics Australia (Emma) showed the Australian had a monthly unique audience across print and digital of 3.3 million people.
Guthrie backed up her argument with new research the ABC has commissioned from Deloitte Access Economics that shows the ABC contributed more than $1bn to the Australian economy in the last financial year.
The research showed hundreds of people were employed as a result of the ABC, she said. However, she didn’t mention that the ABC itself had laid off more than 1,000 people since 2014.
The ABC receives $1.1bn a year in funding, including $200,000 fixed transmission fees.
“Of that $1bn, more than a third is economic support for the broader media ecosystem,” she said. “Far from being Ultimo-centric, the ABC is boosting activity across the country. Recent examples include the filming of [TV drama] Mystery Road in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, and the production of [TV comedy] Rosehaven outside Hobart.
“Far from being a drain on the public purse, the audience, community and economic value stemming from ABC activity is a real and tangible benefit,” Guthrie said.
“What price do you put on public trust in an independent, commercial-free news organisation at a time of fragmentation and disruption?”
“I think the public regards the ABC as a priceless asset, more valuable now than ever in its history. I can appreciate that the ABC would fetch a high price in a commercial market.”
Guthrie said funding of the ABC was down dramatically in real terms: 30 years ago the ABC had five platforms and employed 6,000 people compared to 4,000 staff operating six times the number of platforms today. New services include ABC News Channel, iview, triple j, Unearthed and Double J.
“I think we really have reached the point where further cuts will really impact content, services, and ultimately jobs,” she said. “We’re 12 months out from that being a reality.”
“As a nation, we could choose not to have the ABC; or we could hobble it so that it becomes the market failure organisation it was never intended to be,” Guthrie told the Melbourne Press Club on Tuesday.
“Inherent in the drive against the independent public broadcaster, is a belief that it can be pushed and prodded into different shapes to suit the prevailing climate. It can’t. Nor should it be.”
In her first considered response to budget cuts and attacks from Coalition ministers about alleged bias in ABC reporting, Guthrie warned that the ABC could not handle any more cuts as all backroom efficiencies had already been found, and any more “whittling away of our funding” would punish audiences.
Citing the “hallowed” names of ABC broadcasters living and past – Mark Colvin, Ian Carroll, Caroline Jones, Alan McGilvray, Chris Masters and Kerry O’Brien – Guthrie said the ABC was one of the great Australian institutions whose value far outweighed its cost.
She also rejected a suggestion that the ABC only represented left-leaning Australians, saying that it reached 85% of the Australian population each month and 72% each week.
“I know that people don’t like me pointing this out, but that is more popular than the two major parties combined,” she said. “So the idea that we are representing an extreme ideological view is inconsistent with the reach and the impact and the relevance we have every day, every week, every month.”
Guthrie said the Liberal party’s vote to privatise the ABC was driven by the same ideology as the Coalition’s competitive neutrality and efficiency reviews of the public broadcaster.
When the Coalition imposed an $84m budget cut on the ABC last month it also ordered an efficiency review on top of the competitive neutrality review which is examining whether the public broadcaster impedes the market for the commercial media through streaming and online news. Both reviews have the potential to curb the ABC’s activities.
“The argument seems to carry a misplaced notion of both privatisation and conservatism,” Guthrie said. “But, more importantly, it completely ignores the public value of the ABC, both in direct dollar terms but also as far as the wider public good remit.”
Guthrie poked fun at the Seven network and the former leader of the National party by saying an ABC drama had been more popular than Barnaby Joyce’s paid interview on Sunday Night with his new partner, Vikki Campion.
“I was one of the 800,000 viewers who chose to watch Mystery Road a few
Sunday nights ago instead of an interview with Barnaby Joyce,” she said. “Who knew Australians would choose a well-scripted and produced drama over the kitchen-sink exploits of a politician?”
Referring to the climate of anti-ABC sentiment sparked by the Young Liberals’ motion on the weekend to privatise the ABC and the publication of a book calling for the ABC to be sold off, she pointed towards what she called “an increasingly febrile debate”.
Her strident defence came just days after Melbourne broadcaster Jon Faine complained that the managing director and its chairman, Justin Milne, had not defended the ABC adequately from attacks and budget cuts.
In a question following the speech, Faine said he was “pleased” by Guthrie’s speech but criticised her apparent earlier reluctance to publicly defend the organisation.
“We need a champion, we need a public champion, not a managing director who hides from the media or from public engagement,” Faine said.
Guthrie said she did not hide from the media, adding that: “I’m also one of those people that thinks that the more you speak the less you’re heard ... but I think you’ll also be seeing more of me, whether you like it or not.”
In response to a question from ABC News Breakfast co-host Michael Rowland about the “relentless and ill-founded daily assault on the ABC by the Australian newspaper,” Guthrie responded that ABC 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales had more Twitter followers than the Australian had readers, so “I think we’re OK”.
Sales has about 353,000 Twitter followers, to the Australian’s 300,000 weekly newspaper readers and 636,000 readers of the Weekend Australian. The latest report from Enhanced media metrics Australia (Emma) showed the Australian had a monthly unique audience across print and digital of 3.3 million people.
Guthrie backed up her argument with new research the ABC has commissioned from Deloitte Access Economics that shows the ABC contributed more than $1bn to the Australian economy in the last financial year.
The research showed hundreds of people were employed as a result of the ABC, she said. However, she didn’t mention that the ABC itself had laid off more than 1,000 people since 2014.
The ABC receives $1.1bn a year in funding, including $200,000 fixed transmission fees.
“Of that $1bn, more than a third is economic support for the broader media ecosystem,” she said. “Far from being Ultimo-centric, the ABC is boosting activity across the country. Recent examples include the filming of [TV drama] Mystery Road in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, and the production of [TV comedy] Rosehaven outside Hobart.
“Far from being a drain on the public purse, the audience, community and economic value stemming from ABC activity is a real and tangible benefit,” Guthrie said.
“What price do you put on public trust in an independent, commercial-free news organisation at a time of fragmentation and disruption?”
“I think the public regards the ABC as a priceless asset, more valuable now than ever in its history. I can appreciate that the ABC would fetch a high price in a commercial market.”
Guthrie said funding of the ABC was down dramatically in real terms: 30 years ago the ABC had five platforms and employed 6,000 people compared to 4,000 staff operating six times the number of platforms today. New services include ABC News Channel, iview, triple j, Unearthed and Double J.
“I think we really have reached the point where further cuts will really impact content, services, and ultimately jobs,” she said. “We’re 12 months out from that being a reality.”
No comments:
Post a Comment