Nice work. There can rarely have been an OLO article that argued so convincingly against its own case. Even the so-called 'Murdoch demon' would be better than the biased pap the author describes the ABC as presenting.

By the way, which Cabinet Minister leaked the details of the tender process so that the whole thing could be 'compromised'?

Given the wealth of comprehensive, 24-hour news coverage available to the "target" countries, neither the ABC nor Sky News has anything significantly new to offer that market. The author's plea for "detailed coverage of Oz news" would deliver further irrelevance to all viewers except expats. And if he feels starved of serious local news content (as I often do - and I live here) he can always access the internet.

If the idea is to promote Australia as a tourist destination, then news coverage is irrelevant. But that function surely does not belong to a government-subsidised broadcast channel.

Whichever way you look at it, as it is presently constituted, Australia Television International is an anachronism, and not a single dollar more of taxpayers' money should be allocated to it.