Fairfax Media has argued the ABC is using its government funding to produce clickbait, outbid commercial competitors and siphon audiences away from the commercial sector.
In its submission to the ACCC’s competitive neutrality inquiry into the public broadcasters, Fairfax said the ABC was undermining the commercial sector.
Fairfax, which publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Financial Review, said the ABC’s growth, particularly in the digital sphere, meant there was not a level playing field for it and other commercial publishers.
“It is Fairfax’s contention that the government funded ABC’s aggressive expansion and promotion of its online digital news service has undermined the level playing field within the highly competitive Australian commercial news sector, which is facing a period of substantial disruptive transformation,” the submission said.
Fairfax cited ABC’s win in a contract to provide newswire content over AAP — a newswire service owned by Fairfax, News Corp and Seven West Media — and its “clickbait” content as “market distorting activities”.
“We recognise the importance of the publicly funded ABC as an integral part of the Australian community,” the submission said.
But in order to maintain the diversity of media required for a functioning democracy, we believe that the government funded ABC online needs to refocus its content on distinctive, high quality content, that is not ratings driven, but that contributes to the national identity and addresses market failure, for example in regional areas that lack scale. This would bring its activities back in line with the spirit of the original charter.
In a piece published by Fairfax last weekend ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie summarised some of the broadcaster’s own submission to the inquiry. The ABC has commissioned economic analysis of the ABC, which it has not released, but says shows that the ABC does not crowd out commercial competitors.
“We reject the argument that by delivering news and other content free on online platforms, we are undermining efforts by some commercial media operators to extract revenue from their digital content,” Guthrie wrote. “Our digital remit is baked into our charter, along with the requirement to do public interest journalism and offer broad appeal and specialist programs, such as for kids and regional audiences. We are digital because that’s where audiences are spending time for their news and entertainment.”
The inquiry was called by the government as part of a deal with One Nation to push through its media reform laws last year.
What do you think about Fairfax’s submission? Should the ABC do less online news or more? Write and tell us at boss@crikey.com.au.
“Fairfax … said the ABC’s growth, particularly in the digital sphere, meant there was not a level playing field for it and other commercial publishers.”
So Fairfax did not see developments in the digital sphere coming, did not divert resources to it and now the ABC is to blame? Auntie was not as hidebound as Fairfax so now Auntie must be cut down to their level?
Australia is now not just anti-intellectual, it argues for being plain dumb and attributing its dumbness to others. Every day I feel greater despair for this country.
In other words Fairfax thinks the ABC should leave the click bait & dumbed-down content to them.
That’s it; you nailed it.
But the ABC online news IS full of click-bait.
What a lot of confected nonsense! The commercial viability of the commercial new media is being destroyed by Stalkbook, Google and their ilk, not the ABC. Does Fairfax present any evidence the ABC vacating ‘digital space’ will result in more subscribers for Fairfax? No. Because there isn’t any.
Sooo, “the government funded ABC online needs to refocus its content on distinctive, high quality content, that is not ratings driven, but that contributes to the national identity and addresses market failure, for example in regional areas that lack scale.“.
If other words, the opposite on the dreck dumped on the public licensed airways by the commercial dinosaurs.
Fairfax might find a little self-examination useful. “Independent”? Hardly. Like News Corp it is a large corporation that puts its corporate interests before its service to paying customers. Hence the retrenchment of quality analysts like Michael West and Michael Pascoe, and the hiring of Liberal shill David Crowe.
Yep, and as a decades-long once rusted on reader and admirer of the SMH, including 10 years as a digital subscriber, I too despair how Fairfax has lost its balls. Nowadays they won’t even print comments of mine that are essentially quotes from their own once frank and fearless articles of ten and fifteen years ago. Go figure. And I find their attack on the ABC particularly puzzling, as just about the only thing keeping me on as a paying customer of the SMH is their occasional, and valuable, investigative collaborations with the ABC. Again, go figure. Ceasing my SMH subscription, and continuing with The Guardian, makes more sense with every passing day. Though it will be like losing a much-loved and mentoring grandparent.