Hi Joe,

How can you say progressives are in some kind of quagmire over such issues as Islamist-fascism (ISIS terrorism) homosexuality (gay marriage) and freedom of speech (the bigoted right to hate speech).
I cant find any support from "leftists" for terrorism. Gay marriage become an issue when religious conservative made it an issue, which is not a political issue. Those who want to engage in bigoted hate speak are using freedom of speech to cloud that objective/issue.

p/s When I was referring to the forums 'Usual Suspects' (those who take a predictable line every time) you did not readily spring to mind, you tend to be a bit of a maverick. Sometimes you confuse me on issues, particularly the Aboriginal issue, as to where you are coming from, then astound me by making a great deal of sense.

A program like Q&A should be 60% anti government of the day, 40% questioning of the opposition. As it is the government in power that is setting the political agenda and direction (hopefully), while the opposition is more or less responding to that agenda and direction. In general I would expect a perceived bias against the government from the political pundits and those debating the issues, including the ABC. Get very little of that from private media outlets, they tend just to peddle the particular political philosophy of the proprietor and nothing else, but that may not be 100% in support of any particular party, although in Australia it is mostly in support of the conservative Coalition.

"A program like Q&A should be 60% anti government of the day, 40% questioning of the opposition"

Then Q&A would easily exceed your biassed expectations.

However, the great majority of the public expects the independent, balanced, factual service promised by the ABC, that is variable or even missing in some programs.

It must be damned hard for the ABC staff of yesteryear to watch and endure what the ABC has become. Many of them would have been squeezed out by the 'networking' (aka favouritism) of the leftist Emilys Listers and the toadying Hipsters who hang from their coat tails.

That some of them openly boast about using their networks to take jobs underlines the prevalence and apparent acceptability of favouritism. How times have changed.

Times have certainly changed for some.

I remember the days when we could keep politics out
of discussions and debates. When no one liked
abusive, illogical debaters. When labelling people
was not appropriate, and the list goes on.

Anything out of news time is entertainment, unless there is a documentary. Wasn,t this discussion repeated some time back.

Leoj, are you some X ABC employee who is privy to the inner secret machinations of the organisation. You pretend to be all knowing, all wise, on all matters, the mouth peace of the silent moderate majority no less. If your not inside the heads of ABC employees your sitting in on Greens meetings, etc, taking notes no doubt! Or is it nothing more than the delusional codswallop of some poor bloke isolated in a bed sit in Prahran, or some other irksome place.

Foxy, about the only thing that has change is voters no longer hurl rotten fruit at prospective polititions on street corners, when they say things before an election that they don't like.

doog, who says nature doco's can't be entertaining, tell that to David Attenborough, as he watches a Red Brested Tit from the concealment of the bushes, down at the beach.

Hi Paul,

As a nature-lover, I can watch those all day. [Now I'll be in trouble with the gay bullies].

If the ABC is supposed to be 'balanced', I'm not sure that 60: 40 is the way to achieve it. My maths is pretty rusty and I certainly agree that a public broadcaster should not tilt more than 50 % towards the government of the day, even if it is getting public funding, but 60: 40 sounds just a bit like tilting the other way.

Thanks to ABC Classic, I've just learnt that today is J. S. Bach's birthday ! Imagine if every composer had lived another twenty years or more, what wonderful music might have been produced. Fifty years for Mozart :)

Cheers,

Joe