The Forum > Article Comments > Sell ABC TV! > Comments
Sell ABC TV! : Comments
By Ken Lovell, published 24/1/2008The ABC has become a pointless exercise in self-indulgence.
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Same way people may think restaurant food tastes better, but find themselves eating McDonalds more frequently.
Even though they may watch news on the commercial networks, they still like to know that they have the better quality providers available, especially given the incredibly low cost.
It's not a matter of the big words, and being afraid of being tarred a philistine.
There's also the benefits that accrue to society in general by having superior news network providers who maintain a standard of journalism. Four corners has broken a number of signficant stories during their time, and the interviews on lateline have often caused a ripple effect in terms of revelations imparted.
EC: "It can’t matter from a democratic point of view because at election time, due to ratings figures, the majority won’t be watching it anyway (and thus not enlightened with ‘pravda’) and will just be voting according to whatever their shock jocks suggest."
ABC outdid most of the networks on election night in terms of ratings. I clearly recall one commentator pointing out in the aftermath, that evidently elections are one of the rare occasions when it would appear people do still want the 'boring' figures and analysis instead of the gimmicks that were trawled out by the commercial providers.
EC: "If you believe people want to finance the ABC though their taxes then it obviously follows that they would instead finance directly through subscription. Even those who don’t watch but just want to know it’s there. The majority of adults in Australia are a LOT of subscribers."
In theory, yes, in practice, no. Whether it's inertia or laziness, I don't know. However, a majority of taxpayers wish for it to be kept.
What I do know, is the clear majority of people support the ABC, and it costs next to nothing.
At the end of the day, these two arguments are pretty damn compelling.