Spindoc,
Love the way you write.
Caught a couple of fish yesterday, herring, no they were not red but were a reasonable size.
Take it easy.
SD

Hi Spindoc,

Thanks for this thread.

The ABC - Keep, Scrap or Change?

My vote would go towards - Keep!

Julian Burnside, QC. wrote an interesting article
some time ago on the topic of "Better Media is Good
For Democracy." And in it he pointed out the fact
that although we live in a torrent of information yet there
is such a limited range of available views.

Media ownership in Australia, as we know is notoriously
narrow. The Mainstream Media certainly offers little
diversity and as Burnside says such diversity as there is
runs along predictable lines. He points out the fact that
the economics of print and electronic media tend to drive
opinion in the direction of populism which has unhappy results
now that both major political parties have "abandoned their
founding principals and form policies by reference to
media coverage generally, and to news polls and focus groups
in particular."

Burnside states that "Just as Mainstream Traditional Media
is full of voices (mostly strident) telling government what to
do so the blogosphere and social media are full of voices -
more numerous and often more strident - doing the same."

I agree with Burnside that "those of us who are torn between
the desert of Mainstream Media and the jungle of the Internet
need a place where rational but diverse views can be found
on matter of enduring importance."

I find that the ABC is such a place. I watch programs like
"Insiders", "Q and A", "Media Watch", "Midsomer Murders",
"Lateline", just to name a few.
As Burnside states, It would be difficult to agree with
every view expressed on their programs at times, but you do
get a diversity and it would be equally difficulty to disagree
with them all. And it would be impossible to criticise any of
them as irrational or foolish.
We need the ABC to give us the diversity that is so sorely
lacking in our Mainstream Media.

Hi Foxy,

Your vote for the ABC is based on what you like to watch. Given that not one of the ABC programs you enjoy has made it into the top 20 and that not a single ABC news or current affair program gets a top 20 mention, we would have to conclude that ABC programs and content service minority interests (less than 14%), and thus the issue of all Australian taxpayers funding minority interests remains in play.

The media in Australia has polarized politically. It would be a fair but over simplistic perception to say that Fairfax services the left and News Ltd the right. Seven, Nine and Ten and all their variants variously fill the middle ground. SBS is covering social/ethnic and cultural formats.

Apart from general programming, the ABC is duplicating and competing with the service space that is currently covered by Fairfax and SBS.

So is the case for keeping the ABC in its current form, that we need more of the left, the right or the centre? I don’t understand the need for duplication, or for publicly funding that duplication, or the need for government funded competition with media outlets that already both saturate and cover the full spectrum?

As said earlier, general programming funding has declined at the ABC because they are increasingly investing their budget in news and current affairs. I used to enjoy ABC general programming but it is losing out to the disproportionate funding being transferred to N&CA.

I love your passion and your willingness to show your hand and open up to debate however, this debate is not about personal preferences, it never started as a debate about bias, it was always about the public funding for minority and already duplicated interests.

I am less interested in bias than I am about the ABC’s censorship, I might put some examples together to shift the debate back to its origins.

Thanks for your comments.

Suseonline/wobbles/Shaggy/Saltpetre/Belly/GR/Paul1405/Tony Lavis and the rest of the ABC’s St. Judes Club,

A small sample from just 4 weeks in UK media. Energy Crisis, Industry going offshore, Green Taxes being cut, political conflict, Low Hurricane count, Little Ice Age and political blame game? A ripping CAGW media debate and coverage. Not to mention the EU and the USA.

Multiply this by 12 to get a “years worth” idea of the ABC censorship of the stuff we don’t need to know?

Under-Fire Cameron Calls For Roll-Back Of Green Energy Taxes - The Times, 23 October 2013

David Cameron Pledges To Cut Green Taxes Next Year Despite Lib Dem Objections - The Daily Telegraph, 22 October 2013

High Energy Prices: Grangemouth Petrochemical Plant To Close - BBC News, 23 October 2013

Ineos Blames High Energy Cost For Plant Closure - Financial Times, 6 September 2013

Jim Ratcliffe: ‘Heavy Energy Users Will Relocate Or Disappear’ - Financial Times 14 October 2013

BBC: Real Risk Of A Maunder Minimum 'Little Ice Age' Says Leading Scientist - BBC Weather, 28 October 2013

New Paper: Solar Quiet Spells Can Trigger Little Ice Age - The Register, 1 October 2013

Solar Activity Drops To 100-Year Low, Puzzling Scientists - MINA News, 19 September 2013

Atlantic Hurricane Season Quietest In 45 Years, Experts Say - Reuters, 25 October 2013

David Cameron Plans To Halve Green Energy Taxes To Cut Fuel Bills - The Times, 25 October 2013

Cameron’s Green Dilemma: New Energy Bill Means Green Energy Costs Will Rise Significantly - Mail on Sunday, 27 October

James Forsyth: Clegg Starts To Melt As Dave Turns Up The Energy Price Heat - Mail on Sunday, 27 October 2013

Reality Check: Lib Dems Resist Tory Plans To Cut Green Taxes - The Guardian, 27 October 2013

Labour Party Ready To Overhaul Green Tax On Energy Bills - The Times, 28 October 2013

FT Editorial: Britain’s Energy Market Needs Perestroika - Financial Times, 28 October 2013

Christopher Booker: 'Green Dave’ Cameron As Much To Blame As 'Red Ed’ Miliband For Energy Crisis - The Sunday Telegraph, 27 October 2013

Hi Shaggy,

I thought it a little unfair that you were criticized by your friends for knowing when to “hold ‘em” and knowing when to “fold ‘em”.

So many on OLO don’t have the backbone for any form of reassessment. There is something genuine and gentle about you that I cannot ignore, so much so that I feel genuinely obliged to say to you, I am truly sorry for going overboard with my smart arsed commentary directed at you.

No excuses, it got personal but you turned the other cheek like the genuine Christian I believe you are, you smashed me with your humility. You are spot on when you say that face to face we might find much common ground. Sorry Shaggy.

I have since written another post that included you as an addressee. Please click on your name and delete yourself from that post. You can, I can’t.

Just on the subject of Herring, Albert Park near me has a small tidal city lake. Whilst walking past the tidal outlet I saw about half a dozen Giant Herring at about 2m long. A fly fisherman’s delight in the middle of the city?

Enjoy your feed of fish (Red Herrings or otherwise).

Billions of taxpayers' dollars go into public broadcasting. It is difficult to justify the apparent redundancy of the ABC and the SBS, one saying it is there to 'inform, educate and entertain' Australians and the other to 'deliver services which celebrate Australia’s multicultural environment'.

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/BudgetReview201314/Broadcasting

Why can't the one do both? Put the savings towards improving rail or whatever in country areas.