I think we are all being a little harsh on the ABC. All we have to do is vote on OLO for the bits we don’t like, and then we can send a petition to Mark Scott asking for the necessary changes.

I would vote for getting rid of the endless stream of documentaries that cover dying polar bears, wind farms, melting glaciers, increasing natural disasters of every type and rising sea levels.

Then we could dispense with the school kids on ABC News 24, who, after every ALP policy announcement, subject us to a sixth form ideological sales pitch to tell us just how good this is for us.

Next would be to retire Tony Jones, Barrie Cassidy et al. Not just because they are rude, but because they reflect poorly upon journalistic professionalism. The added bonus of closing down these programs would be that we don’t have to put up with the guest journalists from the newspapers we chose not to buy.

After this we should cancel the ABC’s entire News and Current Affairs franchise until such time as they can demonstrate their ability to deliver News and Current Affairs instead of “opinion”.

If we removed the adverts from some of their radio programs they would be some value in what’s left.

We should leave the ABC staff just enough money to run one blog and close the rest down, it is an embarrassment to the nation.

You miss my point MarcH, the ABC well and truly caters to the whole population and should be held 100% in public hands. Similarly many other formerly public assets should be reacquired. Privatisation has shown itself to be a dismal and unconscionable failure.

Spindoc,
I think ABC content is excellent, in itself but especially in contrast to the commercial bilge on offer.
The only change I'd make to the programming is I'd get rid of counterpoint; it's the only thing the ABC need feel embarrassed about.

Dear Squeers,

I am also among those who enjoy the ABC, so it is not a question of quality - because I think most Australians do enjoy it, but rather a moral issue where I am as guilty as anyone:

What right have I to tax others for my entertainment?
The only term I can find for such behaviour is robbery!
I too am benefitting from the proceeds of robbery, shame on me!

I hope the ABC remains in public hands, I will be personally very sad if it falls into the hands of commercial companies because the moment they place the first ad, that channel as far as I'm concerned is banned. The best outcome, therefore, is if the ABC turns into stations voluntarily supported by those Australians who enjoy them. Contributions by the public towards its operations will be rewarded with a vote about the contents.

I hope the ABC remains in public hands,
Yuyutsu,
I think just about everyone in the country would agree with you on that one. That's why some of us want it to change back to normal savvy people running it rather than the nepotistic gang that's running it now.

Squeers, since when did anyone contrast a public broadcaster like the ABC against a commercial broadcaster? That's a bit like saying Mubarak was OK really, compared with Gaddafi?

No, that won't wash.

Yuyutsu,
Like you I’m devoutly non-commercial, and feel protective of the ABC.
But there’s no need to feel guilty about your indulgence. My indulgence is mainly Radio National; for my littlies it’s Play School and Sesame Street; for my prepubescent’s its Dr Who and Mr Bean; for my teens its Triple J; for my wife it’s Spicks and Specks, the Cook and the Chef, and Agatha Christies; for my father it’s the News and the 7.30 Report if the troglodytes object to British programming, pay more tax for Australian content!).
The ABC and SBS are as eclectic as they can “afford” to be, and aim at the whole demographic—those who haven’t sold their souls to junk-content providers.
You say, <What right have I to tax others for my entertainment?>
I’m mainly a cyclist and pedestrian but road funding still comes out of consolidated revenue! I don’t use public health much but my tax dollars still maintain it. And so they should! And just as surgical procedures are not vetted by government, neither should the national broadcaster be. It’s an inconvenient fact that ABC personnel are university “educated”, and hopefully awake to the corporatist makeover of reality that’s been under construction lately, and ergo have a more up-to-date, realistic and critical view of our culture than benighted souls like Hasbeen and Spindoc.
I would certainly rather pay subscription fees than lose the ABC, but the ABC is an ecumenical church and “is” taken up by a broad demographic. And if it does go to subscription-only, a) how is that going to fund quality content? And b) what about the poor devils subsisting only on commercial gruel, who might one day see the light?
It shocks me that so many people are so eager to hand their lives (that’s what it amounts, we live these days by proxy) over to commercial opportunism!
It shocks me even more that the ABC is seen as having a leftist bias; to me it’s far too compliant and conservative!
OLO has an ideological bias too, but that’s got nothing to do with public funding.