Insiders:
Mike Crook writes: Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the show that best represents Howard’s destruction of the independence of the ABC, Insiders.
The Jonathan Shier/Richard Alston gutting of our national broadcaster is one of the tragedies of our time. The ABC was established as an alternative to the commercial media, and was as needed then as it is now. The charter initially prohibited promotion of commercial entities and still does. Why then does the advertising of commercial media organs form the basis of the ABC’s news reporting.
ABC breakfast is a love fest of repetition of ignorant and stupid comments from the commercial media which are portrayed as fact. As regards the Insiders, people such as Piers Akerman, Andrew Bolt et al, all have a very commercial, and thus very right wing bias. Why are commercial opinion creators viewed as “insiders”? Where is the balance?
Formal complaints about the charter breaches have been met with a “but it’s the media, and the rules don’t apply” response. It is time for a Senate enquiry into the operation of the ABC and its’ news gathering, and the reliance on the opinion of commercial entities for its political direction. The commercial media is there to make money for its’ proprietors by selling advertising. Apart from political power and cultural agenda setting, it has no other reason to exist.
Advertising, as you know, is trying to sell something that no one would otherwise want to buy, it is a fantasy and sadly, in Australia, thanks to the commercial media, the lines between fantasy and reality have become horribly blurred.
The carbon tax:
Denise Marcos writes: Re. “The consequences of repealing a carbon price” (Friday, item 1). David Jones downgraded their profit forecast consequently their share price slumped and, apparently, it’s the fault of Gillard’s carbon ‘tax’. Anytime soon Tony Abbott will blame carbon pricing for recent Hendra Virus outbreaks.
News of the World:
Andrew Haughton writes: Re. “Mayne: it’s time for Rupert Murdoch to go” (Friday, item 2). Kelvin MacKenzie, the former editor of The Sun used to refer to The Guardian as “The worst newspaper in the world”. Not now, I think.
@ Mike Crook – Absolutely correct! Its like having the Murdoch press broadcast on ABC radio and TV 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Almost every report begins with “The opposition leader, Tony Abbott said………..”, followed by some snide remark about the PM/Labor Party. Very balanced, NOT!!
An even bigger problem for the ABC is that opinion, comment etc. becomes tangled up with news reports to the extent that I believe there is little information, and lots of propaganda, imparted. As a senior citizen, I mourn the loss of the only unbiased source of news and current affairs of days gone by. When did all those genius types at the ABC decide they could dispense with facts and ridicule the findings of research reports if it didn’t suit their views? Amazing!
At the very least we need an all-encompassing inquiry into the national broadcaster as soon as possible. It should have been put in motion when Rudd first came to power, and he should have removed a few people with “commercial” ideas at the same time.
Denise,
I emailed DJs (via their feedback line) to complain about Zahra’s reported remarks, and wondered why he hadn’t taken the opportunity to allay some of the confected uncertainty which is having an impact on consumer confidence.
Since he was attempting to square off the market, it’s understandable that he would try to grasp any straw available, so kicking the Government was a comprehensible strategy, though no more legitimate for that.
I received a reply which offered some context for his remarks, which made the attack less blatant. Unsurprisingly our ever reliable media emphasised the aspects that could be blamed on the Government.
However, I fear that every price increase, every negative economic straw in the wind in the next two years and beyond will be laid at the door of the carbon price.
Thank the goddess for First Dog for preserving our sanity during these bleak times.