Friends of the ABC (NSW) Inc.quarterly newsletterApril-May 2001 Vol 13, No. 9

i n c o r p o r a t i n g

b a c k g round briefingnational magazineu p d a t efriends of the abc

Huge rally in Canberra attracts over 10,000 ABC supporters

Newcastle Town Hall Banquet Room filled to overflow-ing by the hundreds of ABC supporters at inauguralmeeting of Newcastle Friend’s of the ABC(NSW) Inc

Quentin Dempster, Melanie Walker, Convenor of the inau-gural meeting of the Newcastle Friends and PenelopeToltz, President, Friends of the ABC(NSW) Inc

New Branches, New MembersAs well as many individual new members joining,

a number of new groups have formed in Bathurst,Orange, Newcastle, Lismore, Great Lakes and thereis interest in the Central Coast and a revamp of CoffsHarbour. We hope the formation of these groupsencourages you to work out whether YOUR areaneeds its own Friends of the ABC Group.

We have an information pack available by mail oremail and are delighted to assist with information/products/speakers. Let the people in these groupsknow if you have joined and are in their area, or let usknow if you want to start a new group.

Penelope Toltz

National identity, cultural excellence, comprehen-siveness were themes taken up by all the speakers atthe Canberra rally held on Sunday 11 February.

An amazing 10,000 supporters marched on foot,rode bicycles, walked the dog or were transported byhired buses from Regatta Point across CommonwealthBridge and up to Parliament House.

“The ABC holds up amirror to the whole country. Itis a unifying agent, the mostimportant cultural institutionin the country.”

Who said this? Well,Ruth Cracknell told the hugerally of Canberra regionFriends of the ABC that [ABCchairman] Donald McDonalddid - and from that she con-cluded that “DonaldMcDonald sounds like ourvery best friend.” So, Ruthwent on to say, “DonaldMcDonald, put your moneywhere your mouth is!”

“A public broadcasterbroadcasts over the public air

in the public interest, provid-ing a service to the public ascitizens, not as consumers,”said Ruth Cracknell. “Itshould develop and cherishAustralian talent, it shouldarouse our dreams, satisfyour hunger for beauty, helpus to explore worlds beyondour experience.”

This was heady stuff, awonderful affirmation of whatall friends of the ABC holddear - and indeed what all 19million ‘shareholders’ in theABC have a right to expectfrom the Board of Directorsand top management.

background briefing

We, the Shareholders of the ABChave called this

Shareholders’ Meeting Support our ABC

Sydney Opera House Steps Sunday 29 April

11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Show the Pollies, We the People CareWe must act now to protect our investment in

Australia’s most valuable assetBE THERE, SHOW YOU CARE!

Tell your friends to be there, tooRain or shine (bring a cushion, hat and rain gear)Special Celebrity Speakers to be announced

Page 2

Campaign 200114 Things Members of the Friends of the ABC Can Do!

Since last November Friends of the ABC hasattracted many new members. Some of you maywonder what you can do to assist the ABC to stayindependent...to receive the funding it needs to con-tinue supplying Australians with quality radio and tele-vision which not only entertains, but informs and edu-cates.

Chris Cartledge, our Listmaster, has pro v i d e dsome "how to" information for what you can do as anindividual, and what groups can do together. Wehope it is helpful. Develop a plan for events for the forth-coming 12 months. I f you wish to do something l ike joinour telephone tree, please phone Irenie Rennie on(02) 98184686, or email her at:

i re n i e re n n i @ b i g p o n d . c o m .Join your local (Regional) Group of the FA B C .

Locations may be found on the back cover. Checkout our website:

h t t p : / / w w w. f a b c . o r g . a u / n s wOr phone Barbara McLaren on 02 9498 84171. Help organise and assist at stalls in shopping

centres, malls, at local markets, fairs, festivals, local events etc. You can get information and stickers, tee shirts and so forth from **Frouke de Reuver (02) 9642

6485 or Jason Lowe (02) 9489 1420.2. Attend functions organised by local FABC Gro u p3. Place pamphlets, posters etc on notice boards at

your work, club, school etc4. Speak to friends, neighbours, work associates,

relatives, community groups about the need to support the ABC and encourage them to join the Friends of the ABC.

5 . Organise local events and get-togethers such as breakfasts, dinners, regular coffee mornings etc.

6. Visit your local ABC radio station, ABC Shop. Makecontact with staff and leave your Groups contact details

7 . Talk to your local Federal MP about current ABC issues. Tell him or her how you feel about the ABC.

8. Write letters of comment and/or congratulations to Federal MPs, ABC Board. Email to local news papers etc. If you're writing to pollies do it BY HAND

so they know you're a Real Person and potential or actual constituent and not a cyberclone. - contact details and letter writ ing points are available f rom: http://www. f a b c . o r g . a u / n s w

9 . Call talkback radio programmes and comment on the ABC.

1 0. Produce a local FABC newsletter to keep in touch with members (especially those not on e-mail)>

11. Publicise local and State FABC events: Organise your own local Christmas event eg, picnic etc

12. Promote your local activities through Community service announcements in local newspapers (especially throw-aways)Enter details in the ABC Backyard 'Local Diary' on the ABC website>http://abc.net.au

13. Distribute pamphlets, petitions, political contact lists etc to your local Friends members

14. Get together with other members and/or sympathisers and generate ideas!

Send articles and pics (about your activities) to NSWBranch for inclusion in 'Update' magazine

Are You In a Rural or Regional Area?If you are a Friend of the ABC in a rural or regional

area please look on the back cover and see if there isa group in YOUR area. Please make yourself knownto the contact person.

The larger the group, the more effective you canbe, and the lighter the load for each member.

Members often miss outon events because theydon't know that they areon. To post a letter to eachmember costs us thou-sands of dollars and takesa lot of time. For a longtime we have wanted tobegin a telephone tree andnow we have begun.

The advantage of havinga telephone tree is that, wecan communicate q u i c k l ywith people who are not onthe net and it’s much cheap-er than letters. We have noregular paid staff and all ofus are very involved inmany things. So, a tele-phone tree is a wonderfulway to communicate fast.

Our telephone treeworks very simply. Eachmember of the telephonetree has to ring only twopeople. These two then ringtwo each. Everybody hasonly two calls to makeexcept the those at the endof the line.

1 > 2 > 4 > 8 > 16. By 15 people ringing onlytwo others, we can get amessage from the first per-son to thirty others.

The telephone treephoning list is divided up bypostcode so that in mostcases people rung aremainly in the same geo-graphical area or suburb.

Although the main pur-pose is to spread newsq u i c k l y, we think that peoplemay also find its structureuseful to contact peoplewho, in most cases, live near-by. They can then o r g a n i s elocal events - stalls at festi-vals and fetes, deputationsto federal members etc.

If you have email and arerung, let us know and wecan contact you this way,unless, of course, you pre-fer a phone call.

Branches of FABCalready exist in regionalareas and these will not ofcourse be supplanted bythe telephone tree. Please

contact your local branch ifyou are in regional NewSouth Wales, to establishyour own trees. The bestpart is, once the tree isestablished, most peopleonly have to call two to fourpeople, so it is not onerous.Please join us so we cancontact you all quickly.

SPECIAL NOTETHOSE OF YOU WHOHAVE EMAIL AND ARENOT ON THE LIST,PLEASE SEND YOUREMAIL TO OUR LISTMAS-TER AT:fabclist@optusnet.com.au.Always put a subject matterso the Listmaster can findyou more easily.

ABC Friends Plant A Telephone Tree

President’s ReportSince our last issue of Update,ongoing turmoil at the ABC hastriggered the formation of anumber of new regional groupsof the Friends of the ABC. TheBathurst group is now formed,as is Orange. February 20, morethan 250 people came toNewcastle Town Hall to expressinterest in forming a branch.

Great Lakes have formed abranch and 6th March Iaddressed a meeting at Lismoreand a new branch has now beenformed there.

If anyone is interested inassisting in these areas or informing branches in otherregions of New South Wales, weare here to help.

April 29 sees our ShareholdersMeeting for the AustralianBroadcasting Corporation. Weare holding it at the SydneyOpera House steps andforecourt and there will bespeakers, entertainment, noticesof motion, in short almosteverything that happens at anyAGM.

There seems to be somemisapprehension that the Boardand the Management of the ABCowns it or perhaps thegovernment of the day owns it.Well, that is wrong, WE own theABC and we're not happy withhow OUR COMPANY is beingrun.

Come along from 11 am and telleveryone you know. After all 85

per cent of all Australians listento or watch the ABC each week.Let's fill the area to overflowing.

Keep this time and date free soyou can join us at the SydneyOpera House. We especiallywant representation from ourrural and regional groups. Weknow that the ABC is soimportant to you, and in manyareas, you are upset that a lot ofyour local programs have givenway to networking. The reasonthat this has happened is that itis cheaper to network than havea full staff at many regionalstations.

In his recent speech to theNational Press Club, JonathanShier expressed interest ingetting more regional programsand having more programsmade in other capital cities. Hethen linked that possibility withmore money being given to theABC in the 2001 FederalBudget. He did not say what elsewould have to be cut if he didn'tget the money. He alsomentioned in passing somethingabout some programs needingto be "user pays". The news forMr Shier is that we have alreadypaid via our taxes for a serviceto which we are entitled.

If you are a Friend of the ABCwho lives in any of the areaswhere we now have regionalgroups, please make yourselfknown to the contact person inthe list on P.16. Many of you willhave joined before the group

itself was formed and those inthe new group do not know thatyou exist. Please let them know.The m o re of you there are, thelighter the work for your group.

As well as opening new branchsin the last couple of months, Ihave also spoken at a Politics inthe Pub evening -- after which alarge group occupied the bottomfloor of the ABC in Ultimo,speeches were made, Wedeparted peacefully about anhour later.

Channel 7 and 10 tapes wereshown later on TV. There werecolumns in the Sydney MorningHerald and the Telegraph.

A number of "Friends" from NewSouth Wales attended theCanberra rally which was verysuccessful and we are expectinga busload of Canberrans to ourrally 29th April 2001. (See ourseparate sheet) I also spoke atRotary St Leonards and manyRotarians joined.

On Page 4 of this magazine youwill see an advertisement for aMerchandise Manager forFriends of the ABC. We arelooking at putting our productsfor sale on our web site. If youlive in Sydney and have room tostore some tee shirts, carstickers etc and the time to fillorders taken off the web andpost them to the correct address.Please let us know.

Penelope Toltz

Page 4

Do youuse email? Please letusknow youremail address:

Send us a message fabcnsw@mpx.com.au

What is the fabclist?The NSW Branch of the Friends

has set-up an e-mail list for use bymembers with e-mail. fabclist is likea community notice board. Anyonecan pin-up a notice (e-mail) andeverybody in the Friends community(e-mailers who ‘subscribe’ to thelist) can read the notice (by e-mail).

PS: The ‘subscription’ is free!This is a great forum for late break-ing news, information, opinions anddebate amongst like minds i.e.,lovers of the ABC. To join the list,send an e-mail to fabclist@optus-net.com.au with SUBSCRIBE as theonly entry in the Subject line andyour full name and phone number inthe body of the e-mail. Of course,you can ‘unsubscribe’ from the listat anytime.

If you want more detail call thefabclist Moderator Chris Cartledgeon (02) 4226 2323.

A Classical AfternoonFREE

Sunday 17 June 2001 2.45 – 5.00pm

Refreshments from 4 – 5 pmEugene Goossens Hall,

ABC Centre, 700 Harris St, Ultimo ABC Classic FM Sunday Live concerts are free.A modest charge will be made for refreshments

Join the Friends of the ABC (FABC) and presenter, Marian Arnold once again

for a relaxing drink after the Sunday Live concert

WANTED: Merchandise Co-OrdinatorFriends of the ABC (NSW) are seeking

avolunteer or volunteersto undertake the role of

Merchandise Co-Ordinator(s).This year is a critical one for the ABC and Friendsand the demand for merchandise is already strong.

The role will include:-● Accepting and dispatching orders● Maintaining an optimum level of stock● Receiving payments and accounting to the

Treasurer for such payment● Providing adequate stocks for stalls and events

Ideally, the Co-Ordinator will be conveniently located inSydney, with sufficient space to store the merchandise.Our aim this year is to distribute our merchandise aswidely as possible This is an opportunity to play an important part in theFriends activities.

Please contact Frouke de Reuver on 9642 6485or Jason Lowe on 9489 1420

❝Anyone who doubts the value ofthe ABC to rural Australia would have had those doubts swept away over the past few days of theNSW North Coast flooding disaster.

Continuous broadcasting of flood levels, road condi-tions, SES reports, community announcements, traveland health warnings, and so on, completely replacednormal programming for hours. Even Macca stood asideon Sunday morning for a couple of hours.

What commercial radio station would have been will-ing to sacrifice all that advertising revenue for the sake ofits listeners' safety and welfare?

Onya, ABC rural! Wonderful, live radio journalism!❞

John Neilson Wauchope March 12 SMH

Your Update labelThis is not just a label with - hopefully - your right

name and address. It now shows when your member-ship expires. If any of the information isn't correctplease let our membership message bank know.Phone (02) 9990 0500. Please speak s l o w l y.

Note: Your membership starts from the date whenyour application is processed - usually about 4-6 weeksfrom when you sent it in to FABC - and lasts for 1 year.

From an inaugural meeting inmid-December that drew 130 con-cerned residents to a Forster surfclub, the Great Lakes Friends of theABC group has moved forward fast.

The inaugural meeting passed aunanimous resolution calling on theHoward Government to restore ABCfunding to adequate levels and con-demned the stacking of the ABCboard.

During Opposition Leader KimBeazley's visit to the ALP's mostmarginal seat, Friends waylaid him,were interviewed by Prime TV andfeatured on the front page of theGreat Lakes Advocate.

Liberal Senator John Tierneywas questioned about the ABCconsistently during his visit withFederal Liberal candidate, BobBaldwin.

Great Lakes Friends is writingletters, putting out leaflets, runningstreet stalls and generally keepingthe ABC at the front of the localnews. "We'll continue to do this untilwe get some core promises fromlocal politicians that the ABC will beproperly funded and its total inde-pendence guaranteed, " said public-ity officer Denis Wallis.

A big ‘thank you’ to Illawarra andPort MacQuarie for their help to theGreat Lakes Friends.

New Friends of the ABC GreatLakes Group made their presencefelt when Opposition Leader KimBeazley talked to the media outsidethe Foster Bowling Club

Photo: Shane Chalker.

Page 5

Great Lakes Friends of the ABC Hit the Ground Running

“The ABC and thePublic Good”

Historian and author Ken Inglisrecently delivered the fifth SirHalford Cook Lecture "The ABCand the Public Good". If you wanta copy of the lecture, then emailto ledge@bigpond.com

GUIDED TOURS -ABC ULTIMO CENTRE

Guided tours of the ABC Centre at 700 Harris StUltimo are a great way to increase your appre c i a t i o nof the ABC's activities. The Centre has a dual capacit yto provide broadcasting facilities for the ABC radionetworks and a sound recording facility for musicand the spoken word.

The building includes studios for:* Classic FM92.5, * Triple J -105.7 FM, * Radio National - 576FM, * ABC News Radio - 630 AM, * 2BL - 702 AM

You can see what goes on in the various studiospre-production and during broadcasts! See changein technology as we head towards digital pro d u c t i o n .

The tours start at 10 am and 2 pm for 2 hourswith a minimum of six and a max. of 20 participants.

If your group is larger split it up for sessionsbefore and after lunch.

Adults are $5.50 ea and concessions areavailable ($3.30 ea).

Bookings are essential.I n c rease awareness of the ABC amongst your

f r i e n d s , Rotary, Apex, Probis Club etc. Hand thesedetails on to your club organiser.

Contact the ABC Tour Co-ordinator Carol Smith on(02) 9333 1238 or e-mail smith.carol@abc.net.au

Friends Groups in Sydney

As you know, FABC(NSW) Inchas a number of regional and ruralgroups.

However, some of you inouter Sydney suburbs, or with spe-cial interests e.g., the law, science,environment, medicine have askedus about forming groups for them.

Well, if you wish to start such agroup, it's so easy. Just contact usvia the FABC List, or, send us a noteto PO Box 1391 North Sydney 2059.

Help is always available. We cansend a speaker to a public meeting,we will help you with informationabout the ABC, setting up of anorganisation, setting up street stallsand the like. Remember, all you needis one or two people who want tobegin. All of our regional groups havebegun this way, and suburban andinterest groups can begin the sameway. Just let us know.

Check out this web siteYou can read lots of information

about what is happening to ABC Staff

from the Community and Public Sector Union site on

http://www.cpsu.org.au

MEMBERSHIP BOOMINGIn the last 3 months new

members have been joiningthe Friends of the ABC atthe rate of 10 a day!

In February The Australian con-ducted a far reaching inquiry intothe antecedents of Jonathan Shierand his record as managing direc-tor of the ABC. The series, run overseveral days, was titled Dossier.When we use information from thatseries we will source it to ‘Dossier’for simplicity’s sake.

In the last issue we voiced ourstrong suspicion that ‘Mr Shier isintent on changing the culture ofthe ABC, root and branch’. Shierhas dropped any pretence and nowavows his determination to changethe culture of the broadcaster.

Mr Shier said he would berelentless in pursuing change at thenational broadcaster. He said hewas committed to completing themost far-reaching changes at theABC in more than a decade andhad the full support of the HowardGovernment.

“Every month it will becomeclearer and people will say this isunrelenting,” Mr Shier told Dossier.He speaks the language of war:“When bushfires go off and bombsgo off, your well-trained and profes-sional colleagues deal with them soyou, the boss, keep moving forwardand say, I saw a bomb go off but itdoesn’t alter what we’re going todo here.”

Senior ministers have told theDossier team that Mr Shier’saggressive reform agenda is a‘work in progress’ but they arepleased he has shown a determina-tion to crack an ‘intractable’ ABCculture.You bet they’re pleased. It isclear that when Mr Shier talksabout public supporting him he istalking only to the Liberal party andpleasing only those keen to breakthe ABC and the ‘single sharehold-er’ he identified, the Coalition gov-ernment.

The Dossier team produced anuneven report exposing much thatis discreditable to Mr Shier - forexample, the missing four years ofunemployment on his CV - yet inseeming disregard of this the con-cluding editorial spoke of the need

to give Mr Shier the chance tomake the changes he wants.

Shier and his supporters basetheir argument for changing the cul-ture of the ABC and for ‘reform’ onmyths and misrepresentations.

The myth that ABC staff areopposed to change. The myth thatit is inefficient and that there is stillfat to cut from the ABC. The myththat it is biased and irrelevant. Themyth that it is mistrusted and widelycriticised. The myth that it is out oftouch with the Australian people.There is ample evidence to discreditthese myths, much of which isincluded in this issue.

The misrepresentations arethese: that he is revitalising theABC; that he is fast-tracking greatnew ideas for programming; thatcuts are not being made to the oldABC of radio and television; thatkey decisions that cut to the heartof the ABC have been made by notby Mr Shier but by his managers.

Meanwhile, so many highly tal-ented and committed staff havegone that corporate memory is indanger of being lost, along with theideals of public broadcasting.

Don't shoot Shier He's only the messenger, writes

Hugh Mackay. The real creators ofchaos at the ABC are his masters.

The ABC, long regarded as oneof the cultural icons of the nation, isclearly caught in a downward spiralthat will only be halted by drasticaction.

But what action, and by whom?There's a gathering storm of out-rage directed at the managingdirector, Jonathan Shier, but isn't hethe wrong target? Shier is still anew boy; he could only be creatingsuch comprehensive chaos if hewere under instructions from hismasters to do so.

If you're angry about what'shappening to the ABC, look to theboard that appointed Shier, just 11months ago. The board advertised

the position, scoured the market,weighed and sifted the pick of pub-lic broadcasters from all over theglobe and came up with da-dah! aman few in the local media industryhad ever heard of; a man devoid ofpublic broadcasting experience; aman whose expertise lay in fieldsforeign to the philosophy and oper-ations of the ABC.

It's not his fault. They gave himthe job and, presumably, a policybrief to go with it. So it's reason-able to presume he's in the processof responding to that brief. If he'sdeparting from it, the board has aclear responsibility to pull him intoline; if he's following it ... well, drawyour own conclusions.

But don't blame Shier.

Some people believe theappointment of someone withShier's ruthlessly commercial orien-tation was designed to distract theABC from its traditional charter bypromoting a hunt for new ways ofmaking money in e-commerce, forexample. Others characterise hisappointment as a ploy by a cynicalboard at the behest of a cynicalgovernment. The best way to wreckthe existing ABC culture, accordingto that theory, would be to appointas managing director someone notup to the job, then stand by andwatch him destroy the credibility ofthe organisation through managerialchaos and plummeting morale.

But who needs theories? Thetransparent reality is that the ABCboard has appointed Shier andmust accept absolute responsibilityfor the mass sackings, the ill-advised and hastily revised appoint-ments, and the alternating panicand despair that seem to be grip-ping the organisation.

Hugh MackayFrom an article in The Age 24/2/01

Dossier on Jonathan Shier

Page 6

Anyone tunnelling under the ABC is bound to get leaks.

Ben Laycock

Critics of the ABC claim it is resis-tant to change, that it is old fash-ioned, inefficient and bureaucratic."Auntie is set in her ways" accordingto The Australian's Dossier series.

As for efficiency - the picture iscrystal clear. One broadcast hour ofABC TV costs 36% of the averagecost for the same time on Australiancommercial television. British citizenspay 32 cents per day each for theBBC, Canadians pay 14.5 cents forthe CBC, while Australians pay lessthan ten cents for the ABC.

There are some distinctive fea-tures about the ABC, but is there asingle monolithic ABC culture?According to Ed Breslin, newlyappointed to run Classic FM andTriple J, the two music networks arevery different: ‘There are severalclashes with Triple J and ABC ClassicFM, and they're essentially culturalclashes.’

It's probably necessary that differ-ent parts of the ABC should have dif-ferent cultures. The ABC must bothinform and entertain. It has to bothcontribute to a sense of national iden-tity and reflect the cultural diversity ofAustralia. It is obliged to broadcasteducational programs and broadcastprograms of wide appeal. It mustprovide 'innovative programs' while atthe same time taking account ofstandards set by the AustralianBroadcasting Authority.

To handle this complex jugglingact the ABC employs staff across awide range of professions and crafts.

There are a wide range of cultures, orat least subcultures, within the ABC.

Is there truth in the claim that theABC set in its ways?

We only have to look at theABC's recent innovations to knowthat it is not backward looking. Theinitial impetus for ABC Online camenot from ABC management, not fromsome far sighted board member orsome right wing think tank. The initialimpetus came from long serving ABCstaff, in particular Stan Correy andStephen Rapley in Radio National,Russell Wescombe in Radio Australiaand Ian Allen, producer of the TV pro-gram Hot Chips. Initially ABC man-agement was wary of the new medi-um, and these pioneers had to beinsistent and inventive. To its credit,management eventually saw the lightand established ABC Online. Sincethen ABC Online has been consis-tently in the ten most popularAustralian websites, and has wonmore than thirty industry awards.

Throughout the history of broad-casting in Australia, the ABC hasbeen pushing the envelope. In TVcomedy and satire we have had MaxGillies, Frontline, The Games, andnow the insane Micaleff Pogram.Triple J is now well established, butwhat a revolution that was when itstarted. At the same time, the ABCstarted 3ZZ as a multi-lingual accessstation in Melbourne, only to have theFraser government close it by force(the government revoked its broad-casting license, and sent in police to

evict the volunteer broadcasters).Then there is NewsRadio, the ABC's24 hour news network that shares afrequency with the federal parliament.

So if the ABC is undeniably effi-cient, cost effective, forward thinkingand innovative, what is the commonABC culture that needs to bedestroyed?

I suspect its common featuresare:

• opposition to advertising on anyof the ABC media

• a commitment to quality• a commitment to comprehensive and diverse programs for all Australians, not just an elite

• a belief that part of the media's job is to hold the powerful up to scrutiny - that scrutiny to be exercised without fear or favour,whether those powerful people lead political parties, unions, businesses, churches or media outlets.

• resistance to external political pressure.

In short, this ABC culture is littlemore than the principles set out inthe ABC Act.

Darce Cassidy FABC national spokesperson

background briefingeditor: Joan Laingphone & fax: 08 8271 0751jlaing@senet.com.auPO Box 7158 Hutt St Adelaide 5000www.fabc.org.au

The many cultures of the ABC

The proposition that the ABC culture, alone amongcreative cultures in Australia, has to be destroyed in orderto be rebuilt must be scuttled. It doesn’t make any sensein modern media environments, let alone one with the sortof brand success of the ABC.

Remember, in recent years - including 2000 - audi-ences for ABC television and radio, in terms of both shareand reach, were at historically high levels. The Australian’sNewspoll demonstrated the sort of consumer supportmost institutions would kill for.

Geraldine Doogue, The Australian, 27/2/01 Cartoon courtesy TANDBERG

The ABC culture has created a trusted brand

Page 7

from the records of the Senate Estimates Committee

SACKINGS: redundancy costs to Nov 2000 $5,648,000

INCREASE of 55 senior management positions $7,412,000H o w e v e r, this figure is from a leaked document and isdenied by Mr Shier.

S A L A RY INCREASES for top-level Directors $635,000The total cost of executive salaries has risen 28% to $34,340,000

C O N S U LTANTS’ costs Mar-Sept 2000 $ 7 4 6 , 0 7 5

S TAFF RECRUITMENT agencies $ 7 3 7 , 5 3 0

The Community & Public Sector Union estimates thecost of getting rid of the former management team andits replacement at $15 million.

Many new positions have been created in the area ofnew media, content rights, and finance. Reportedly $9.3million has been transferred to the newly created Divisionof Program Content and Development.

The three executive sackings in February - includingkey Shier appointee Guy Dunstan - are expected to costanother $2 million.

One report has said that 105 positions in productionwill go, and Mr Shier told a Senate committee that 40producers on full pay but without work would beretrenched and some re-employed on a casual basis.

Costs: the basic pro b l e mThe basic underlying affliction suffered by the ABC is

the absolute inadequacy of its funding to fulfil its charterobligations. The Howard Government cut 12% or $66million annually, which it has maintained for the secondtriennial period.

But in this time it has imposed additional obligationsupon it: $120 million share of the cost of digitisation, pro-duction costs for digital channels, increased use of sub-text for the hearing impaired, increased costs for over-seas programs and now the cost of Mr Shier’s sackings,increased executive salaries and restructure.

Since 1996 the ABC has not campaigned againstthe cuts. It has absorbed them, sacked well over 1000staff, continued to innovate and done more with less.

Enter Mr Shier with his promise of a flattermanagement structure, with more money to gointo programming, and a ‘revitalised’ ABC. He toldstaff he wanted to streamline the ABC and elimi-nate waste.

What a joke.

Ancillary budgets for RN and Classic FM cut

A B C ’s radio arts budget has been slashed by 32%,senior sources have confirmed. The cuts will come fro mp roduction, and mean less money is available for commis-sioning of artists, including musicians, writers and com-posers. Arts programs planned for Classic FM and RadioNational have been cancelled, with an ABC source sayingthat scripts were being re t u rned to writers.

The Australian Writers Guild issued a bulletin yesterd a ycalling on members to act. “Given we are halfway thro u g hthe financial year, this is an appaling scenario which canonly result in the suspension of new drama commissions,with the slots being filled instead by re p e a t s . ”

SMH 25/1/01

H o w e v e r, although the networks were informed of thesecuts it seems that funds were found for some of the activi-ties the staff believed had been cancelled. The exact situa-tion re g a rding ancillary budgets remains confused.

More redundancies and cuts to come

The Managing Dire c t o r ’s vision is high risk: he is gam-bling the limited re s o u rces of the ABC in the hope that addi-tional funds are found either from commercial sources orf rom the government (both state and federal). If the addi-tional funds are not found within a few months, the nextround of redundancies and program cuts will commence.

Graeme Thomson CPSU

Mr Shier is seeking another $40 million more funding,and with people in the Liberal Party becoming uncomfort-a b l e with the opprobrium being directed at Mr Shier, and,by association, with the Government, it is quite possible thathe may be given some extra funding.

Thus they would please country voters and make a heroof Mr Shier, strengthening his authority to reduce the ABC tothe tamecat broadcaster the government would like it to be.

David Bowman - Adelaide Review Jan 01

Page 8

What has Mr Shier cost the ABC?

Cartoon courtesy KUDELKA

In December Quantum was axedand the special television science unitwas disbanded. What is the signifi-cance of this decision?

A group of highly qualified andrespected scientists, whose work hadbeen acclaimed in the science com-munity and beyond, was disbanded.

We understand that only one per-son from the science unit has beenappointed to the new ‘special devel-opment unit’; the others are sackedand may be rehired on contract,probably for only the life of the pro-gram for which they were hired.

We don’t know how these specialunits will work but there is fear thatprograms are more likely to be out-sourced than produced in-house.Those who have lost their jobs maynot be available for short-term con-tracts - they are likely to be snappedup by other organisations.

This system of initiating and com-missioning programs is the one overwhich senior executive Guy Dunstanwas in disagreement with Mr Shier.He had misgivings about its workabil-ity. He was sacked.

Over 100 technical staff havebeen retrenched and Mr Shier recent-ly referred to 40 producers standingaround doing nothing who wouldsoon go.

So will the ABC be able to pro-duce its own science programs in thefuture? It is doubtful.

“When you get replies to your lettersabout the axing of Quantum whichsuggest that the Science Unit is notbeing axed and that Quantum is beingreplaced with an improved version,write back asking for specific detail.Which programs, how often, beingdeveloped by whom, with what s i z ebudget compared with previously?”

Rod Quantockat the Canberra rally

The sacking of Media Watch presenter Paul Barry rang alarm-bellsand rallied protesters throughoutAustralia.

When the managing director ofthe ABC, Jonathan Shier, was con-ducting his engaging little “strengthsand weaknesses” exercises with thecommissioning editors, he was heardto remark in the context of MediaWatch: “Why should we produce aprogram that is going to criticise us?”

In the sea of co-productions andoutsourcing, which have been amongthe natural targets of the program, tobe without Media Watch’s chiackingwould be no heartbreak for someoneengineering the ‘new’ ABC.

It has always been a programunder siege. When it was attacking2UE’s Alan Jones, a darling of theHoward Government, the LiberalParty cheer squad on the ABC boardwas quite distressed. It has alwaysbeen a headache to whoever was incharge.

Interestingly, among the items forwhich Shier has requested extrafunding from Canberra is a ‘flagshipbusiness program for ABC TV, Radioand the Web. This would be a big-ticket item.

If Media Watch had been aroundin the past couple of months, it might

have made a meal of this issue. Forthe government of the day to beinvolved in the direct funding of ABCprograms is a development so awfulthat a fearless Media Watch would beduty-bound to bare its fangs.

Without Media Watch as a critic,your ABC can disappear before yourvery eyes, without too much of a fussever being made.

Richard AcklandSMH 19/1/01Richard Ackland was presenter of Media Watch 1998-99.

Why should we worry about the loss of Quantum?

Page 9

Media Watch off tothe panel beaters Rallys - support

increase all overAustralia

Who was it who said at theCanberra rally that we now know weare not alone in loving the ABC?Since early December rallies sup-porting the ABC have been held inalmost every state and territory.Membership has soared - in theACT it trebled in a month! Therewas a big resurgence of support inDarwin following their public meeting.

In Adelaide community leadersrang to ask to speak at the SA rally.WA proudly reported that a group ofnot-so-young Friends distributingmaterial were ejected from the WestMidland Railway Station.

Sydney Friends occupied theground floor of the Ultimo buildingwhen the arrival of Federal Policeintimidated ABC staff.

And so it goes.

But should a miracle occur, andpoliticians despite their antipathyever begin the process of matchingthe ABC’s funding to the place itshould occupy, they would have thesatisfaction of having done some-thing for the country. Something big,actually.

Australia does not need anotherdesert.

David Bowman

Also at the Canberra rally,science journalist Peter Pockley said we should be proud of our individuality as a nation, of not being just a derivative. In the worldof science the ABC has been sig-nifcant in promoting that individuality.

He quoted Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty for whom the ABC had been like a lifeline to an intelli-gent universe when he was grow-ing up in a country area in Queensland.

‘POLITICIANS OF ALL PERSUA-SIONS AGREE: THE ABC JUSTCAN’T GET THE BALANCE RIGHT.’

Well, you can’t say fairer than that,can you?

This was the sub-heading in asection of the Dossier series in TheAustralian, used apparently withoutany sense of irony. The writer goeson to say: ‘More than any othermedia organisation, the ABC is widelydistrusted and even despised - yetusually the first tuned into among thepolitical elite and decision-makers inCanberra.’

Dossier referred to the manycomplaints of bias from Lynton Cro s b y,the Liberal Party’s federal director.But they failed to mention that anearlier report in The Australian saidthat Freedom of Information querieshad revealed that 75% of all com-plaints from all political parties to theABC had come from Lynton Crosby.

The public perception is very dif-ferent.

Facts not mythNEWSPOLL on ABC BIASThe Australian 22/2/01

Do you believe the ABC is biasedagainst the Federal Government, infavour of the Federal Government orhas no bias?

No bias 58%No opinion 26%Biased against Federal Government 11%Biased in favour of Federal Government 5%[5% of Coalition supporters, 4% of ALP supporters]

The embattled ABC is the sec-ond most trustworthy organisation inthe country, behind the big charities.

‘Consumer research groupSweeney Research and advertisingagency Grey Worldwide undertookthe survey [rating trust in Australianinstitutions] in February 2000, asking

respondents to rate between one andten the trustworthiness of 18 differentindustries and institutions. On topwere charities, with a mean rating of8.06 out of 10. The ABC came innext at 7.11.’

Media companies came in at4.26. Brian Sweeney says ‘the ratingof media companies (excluding theABC) may have been influenced bythe radio industry’s ‘cash for com-ment’ saga. ... But there is plenty ofother evidence to suggest mediagroups in general are not trackingwell in the public eye.’

The public goodwill for the ABCappears to span all income brackets,with 47% of those earning less than$25,000 rating the ABC between 8and 10. Fifty per cent of all respon-dents put the ABC in the top trustbracket.

Source: Paul McIntyre, The Australian, 14/12/00

The response to a leakeddocument is an object lesson inhow not to run an organisation

The witch-hunt has irrevocablydamaged Mr Shier and his cohort,and contributed to further erosionof staff relations and morale. Theleak called for a cool-headed,sophisticated response. Instead,Mr Shier’s sledge-hammerapproach in allowing police to besummoned has raised seriousdoubts about his ability to controland lead such a multi-facetedorganisation.

Editorial, SMH, 21/2/01

In February Federal Police werecalled to the ABC to investigate theleaking of a confidential document -another farce at the ABC and onewhich can only be seen as anattempt to intimidate and controlstaff.

An internal document showingthat the recently installed manage-ment of the ABC - endorsed and

pumped up by a federal govern-ment intent on smashing theorganisation’s culture - had creat-ed 55 new executive positions at acost of an extra $7.4m is leakedto a newspaper. The ABC’s inter-nal auditors ask the Federal Policeto investigate the leak..

A number of staff are interrogatedby police. In protest, there is ageneral staff walkout. As thedrama builds, there are recrimina-tions, culminating in the extraordi-nary spectacle of the chairman ofthe ABC, Donald McDonald,demanding an explanation for thefederal police probe.*

Up to this point Mr McDonaldhad solidly backed the restructureand actions of Mr Shier, “but itseemed the decision to serve ABCemployees up to police investigatorsis too much even for Mr McDonald.And so it should be.”*

It was far from a serious trans-gression. After all, if the leaked docu-ment was accurate, it was merely

outlining information that belongs tothe public anyway. Taxpayers have aninalienable right to know how theirmoney was being spent at the ABC.

To describe the punitive andinsensitive response of ABC manage-ment to the leak as hypocritical is anunderstatement. However, the man-ner in which at least some executiveshave dealt with this situation suggestsa critical failure of managerial expertise.

*Source: Editorial, The Age, 21/2/01

Questions of bias...and trust

Management fiddles, ABC burns

Page 10

Cartoon courtesy TANDBERG

After sacking most of the senior‘old ABC’ executives, managingdirector Shier has started on his own‘new ABC’ appointees. Signs that hisradical restructure is falling apartcomes with the sacking of GuyDunstan, head of the content devel-opment division.

The reported $9m division is thekeystone of Mr Shier’s restructure. Itembraces the 21 content and devel-opment units, and revolutionises theway programs are originated andcommissioned. It was set up to cen-tralise control of all new pro g r a m m i n g ,and will take away responsibility fortheir own development from televi-sion, radio and online. However, theimplementation of the new divisionhas been stalled by confusion over itsbudget and lines of responsibility.

It seems that Guy Dunstan foundthe structure faulty or even unwork-able, and that he had put proposalsto remodel the division to Mr Shier.Others on the senior executive haveexpressed frustration that the modelis unnecessarily costly and bureau-cratic, according to the Dossier team.

This sacking comes ahead ofanother 100 redundancies, including30 compulsory retrenchments, mostly

from television production in Sydney.These were approved by the board atits February meeting.

Mr Shier is determined to use theopportunity to rid the ABC of thosehe does not want.

“There are a group of people inthe past voluntary redundancies whohave never put up their hand,” he toldThe Australian. “In some cases,there’s a skills issue. If people are notprepared to multi-skill and not pre-pared to learn the new way of doingthins, that’s an issue”.

The Australian, 16/2/01.16/2/01.

Staff representative rejects Shier’s claim

Comments attributed to theManaging Director that “if people arenot prepared to multi-skill and notprepared to learn the new way ofdoing things, that's an issue” as anexplanation for the current redundan-cy round are offensive. Staff havebeen multi-skilling for decades. InJuly of last year staff agreed to a fun-damentally new approach to multi-skilling through the adoption of a sin-gle classification structure under theABC Employment Agreement 2000.

In return for that commitment staffwere promised that the Corporationwould regularly inform employeesabout changing employment trends.This has not occurred.

Staff call upon you to step to thehelm of this rudderless ship. Publicconfidence in one of the most impor-tant cultural organisations in Australiais at threat. The silence of the Boardover the destruction of the ABC can-not continue. Staff request that youand the Board immediately interveneto protect the welfare and health ofthe national broadcaster.

From a letter to ABC chairman Donald McDonald from GraemeThomson, Community and PublicSector Union

If there is one story that encapsu-lates the insensitivity and absurdity ofcurrent ABC management it is thesacking of Ian Wolfe, the head andfounder of NewsRadio (formerly PNN).

With the spin on language whichcharacterises today’s management,head of radio Sue Howard deniedWolfe had been sacked. “He wasn’tsacked - his position disappeared.He was invited to apply for anotherposition, head of radio talks, butdeclined.” She did not mention thatother people had also been ‘invitedto apply’ for this position - the headof RN and NewsRadio combined -which went to Mark Collier.

Founding network manager IanWolfe was given what can only becalled the bum’s rush for reasons that

have yet to be explained. A long-standing ABC employee of more than40 years’ service[he joined at 17],Wolfe was the one who persuadedthen managing director David Hill tofling him an oily rag, with just enoughwhiff in it to power up the parliamen-tary network’s down-time and pro-duce hundreds of hours of currentaffairs every week.

Wolfe is a highly respected man-ager and a person who inspired greatloyalty at NewsRadio’s Sydney headoffice.

David Hill emailed Wolfe fromLondon:

“Ian, I’ve heard on the grapevinethat you are leaving, and was sorry tohear it. If I had to nominate the most

impressive things to happen in thelast 30 years at the ABC, the estab-lishment of NewsRadio would be upnear the top somewhere. I still don’tknow how you did it. By harnessingthe news service of the ABC youbrought us a wonderful service atminimal cost. The ABC and Australiaare both richer for your creation.”*

If delivering an excellent 24-hourservice on a minute budget is noguarantee of job security at what’sleft of the ABC then what is?

Pat SheilMedia, The Australian, 1/3/01

Restructure begins to self-destruct

It is with infinite caution that anyman ought to venture upon pullingdown an edifice which answered inany tolerable degree the commonpurposes of society.

Edmund Burke

Showing Wolfe the door

Page 11

Cartoon here -I’m from the ABC

Cartoon courtesy LINDSAY

Frontdoor sponsorship Your RAAF’s ABC

Page 1 2

Soon you will have the chance tosee a series of television programson Channel 2 about the RAAF,understood to be primarily designedto boost RAAF recruitment. Theseries appears to be about 50%funded by the RAAF.

Errol Simper writes of one RAAFperson speaking to him ‘of theRAAF as regarding itself as nothingm o re or less than an ABC “customer”.“And we’re an extremely satisfiedcustomer, because we’re sure this isthe cheapest way we could havegot it made.”’ So the RAAF got itcheaper than it would have been toput on a commercial channel - andthey also bought the credibility ofthe ABC at that bargain price.

Now you don’t have to be amedia specialist to know that youare unlikely to find much that isunwelcome to the RAAF in theseprograms. As the poetic lawyerJulian Burnside put it at the cash-

for-comment inquiry, “Whose bread Ieat, his song I sing.”

Not ‘Our” ABC - the Governments

You may have noticed that ‘OurABC’ and ‘Your ABC’ have dis-appeared from ABC studios andfrom promotional material since MrShier identified the federalg o v e rn m e n t as the one shareholderof the ABC.

Errol Simper links the defunctconcept of ‘Our ABC’ to the ABCbecoming the publicist of the RAAF:

The sole customer base for ‘your’ABC should be you. Thec o r p o r a t i o n , funded by you, makesprograms for you. And in the right,p ro p e r, Reithian (as in John Reith,founder of the BBC) scheme ofthings there isn’t room for - norneed of - anyone else in theequation. That’s the distilledessence of public broadcasting.

What it all congeals around, inthe end, is a point of fundamentalphilosophy: the difference betweenpublic and commercialbroadcasting. It’s a point that theABC’s managing director, JonathanShier, and his board have givenevery appearance of failing tounderstand. And if they are unableto fathom such a crucial elementthen perhaps its extremely risky toentrust them with the steward - ship ofthe national broadcaster.

Errol SimperI, The Australian, 11/1/01

Australia Television is the networkthat broadcasts by satellite into SEAsia. It was a service developed bythe ABC in 1993 and sold off tocommercial television interests in1997 on the recommendation ofB o b Mansfield following his reviewof ABC services.

It was reported in February thatthe Seven network was ‘poised’ towin $50 million from the HowardGovernment to run a revamped AsiaPacific television service.

Seven already owns AustralianTelevision acquired from the ABC in1997. The service it has beenbroadcasting is just ten, mostly veryold, programs, repeated four timesa day, to Indonesia, Burma and 34Asia Pacific countries - Australia’sanswer to the UK’s BBC WorldService.

The story of ATV is a sorry and senseless one.

The service was set up underABC Managing Director David Hill in1993 with funding from the Keatinggovernment. Professor RodneyTiffen of the University of Sydney

wrote in protest at ATV’s projectedsale in 1996:

After a faltering start and amidchronic uncertainty, [the ABC’s ATV]has carved its own programmingstrategy and increased its distribu-tion with significant success inrecent years.

A sale now would be a classiccase of taxpayers’ money sub-sidising a favoured corporate bidder.They would be buying the distribu-tion, expertise and goodwill the ABChas built up, securing a privilegedcommercial advantage built withpublic money.

The Australian, 6/12/00

It was said at the time of the salethat the price paid by Seven - saidto be only $5 million - was aridiculous return for the amount ofset-up funding provided bytaxpayers.

For some time ATV continued touse the ABC’s news and currenta ffairs services, with a federalg o v e rn - ment subsidy of $3 million ayear. That news was prepared inand broad-cast from Darwin. Much

effort was put into making it relevantto the broadcast region. The ABCnews reader in Darwin, RosemaryChurch, was widely respected andindeed achieved celebrity status inI n d o n e s i a and other countries intowhich the service was beamed. Sheis now a leading presenter on CNN!

When the government subsidywas removed in 1999 Seven dis-continued the ABC news service. It began to provide its own newsservice into the area, and by allaccounts ATV hit rock bottom inaudiences and public esteem

It is, then, with disbelief that welearn that the Howard Government’slikely solution to the problem is thethrowing of good money after bad -no less than $50 million over fiveyears - at Seven in an attempt toimprove the service.

How long before public money isgiven to Nine to cover nationalevents or to make programs for theABC, as Mr Shier suggested as apossibility in his salad days at theABC?

This arrangement recalls the‘‘backdoor sponsorship’ dealswhich led board chairman MarkArmstrong to require managingdirector David Hill’s resignation in 1994.

The Australia Television fiasco

Page 13

It is ‘the purest victory so far fordirect democracy. John Howard hasbeen bitten by his own medium -the jocks and the tabloids. He hassacrificed $550 million and exciseindexation to appease the anger.’*

The decision to cut 1.5 cents offthe excise is ‘a response to theirrationality in Australian politics today.Petrol is a classic study of the newinstruments of power in Australia.’*

Most of the shock-jocks inAustralia over the last six monthshave used their power to hammerthe government over the petrolexcise. Paul Kelly in The Australian3/2/01 focuses on Neil Mitchell of3AW in Melbourne.

Mitchell tells the audience whatthey have to do.

“I think we’ve got to mobilise,move ourselves and change theworld. We need slogans, we needphone-ins, we need fax attacks. ...We have the power. We have thepower. ... the focus has to be on thefederal government ... to stop thegreed, to stop the tax grab.”

If John Howard expectedaccolades after his change of hearthe must have been disappointed.This is Mitchell the following day:

“We’ve won. ... Howard andCostello have lost their credibility. Ithas gone totally”. Howard’s backflipexposed the “absolute garbage theytold us.” Mitchell said Howard had“huge tax windfalls” and was onlytaking the money “he should neverhave taken from us.” Next thereshould be a freeze on beer andcigarettes.

Remember, says Paul Kelly:‘Howard is an idiot, and Keating ablack-hearted boil. They’re one andthe same. If Beazley wins, he’ll bethe next villain and idiot. The jocksde-legitimise the politicians to buildtheir own credibility and ratings.Remember, all demagogues claim tospeak for the people.’

*Source: Paul Kelly,The Australian 3/2/01

How have the jocks, the GeorgeSpeights of Australia, been able toseize this power? Instead of worryingon at the ABC about bias that it hasnever been able to prove, thepoliticians should have thought moreabout ABA controls when the genii/jocks first escaped from the bottle.

Strange, isn’t it, how Laws, Jonesand their ilk get away with ro b b i n gtheir networks and deceiving theiraudiences. How the egos on the TVnetworks can fake footage, endangerlives in East Timor and exploitdebilitated desert wanderers withi m p u n i t y. While the most importantcultural institution in Australia, weigheddown with awards and buoyed upwith creative inspiration, is maligned,decimated and fighting for its life.

Don’t panic, don’t panic!A new set of guidelines for radio

and television broadcasters into theAsia-Pacific have been issued bythe Australian BroadcastingAuthority.

(It was the ABA that gave JohnLaws a slap on the wrist for thecash-for-comment scandal.)

The rules tell the broadcastersnot to present material ‘in a mannerthat is likely to cause a substantialcomponent of the internationalaudience to panic’. (But, OK for justa few to panic?)

They should not attempt tohypnotise viewers nor use any‘subliminal techniques’ such as flashadvertising. They should not upsetreligious sensitivities or ‘simulate’events that could ‘upset’international audiences. (But keepthem for the Australian audience, .)

Live by the shock-jocks and die by the shock-jocks

Cartoon courtesy BILL LEAK

Christmas message for a Minister

A band of ABC supporters inMelbourne decorated FederalTreasurer Peter Costello'selectorate office with a festiveprotest. The group, StrickenAuntie Needs Total Autonomy(SANTA), covered the frontwindows of the Armadale officewith Christmas decorations and alarge slogan: “All I want for Christmas is myA B C . ”

One of the protesters, dressedas Santa, said: "Peter Costello isa scrooge, and won't be gettingmany Christmas presents thisyear.“ They w e re pro t e s t i n gagainst budget cuts, thescrapping of Quantum and b u y -ing programs rather thanp ro d u cing them in-house.

After the protest SANTAspokes-woman Joanna Sendersaid the Treasurer had becomethe target because "he basicallycontrols the purse strings.And asa senior Liberal, he is puttingundue pressure on the ABC."

In February ABC Classic FMcelebrated its 25th birthday, alongwith its splendid magazine 24 Hours.

M a n y, many happy returns toboth and our thanks for 25 years ofgreat pleasure.

By making fine music availableto all Australians, ABC Classic FM isone of the great achievements of ournationhood, says Justice MichaelK i r b y

Among the most vivid memoriesof my childhood are recollections ofthe ABC. In the morning, at seveno’clock on a weekday, my father wouldbe appealing for a search party.“ W h e re a re my studs?” he would cry.My mother would lead the search untilfinally they were found - devilish littlec re a t u res that connected the separatecollar to his starched shirt.

And thro u g h it all, in the back-g round, came the mellifluous sound ofvoices and music. ‘Morning Melody’was the program. Familiar, and someu n f a m i l i a r, classics would fill our livesand start a lifelong journey with theworld of music that ABC Classic FMcontinues to this day. A pre c i o u sj o u rn e y, enriching the spirit andreminding us every day of etern a lthings that remain through all the crises,big and small, of life.

I am not talking here of 25 yearsago, when ABC Classic FM and thismagazine were launched. I am takingyou back to the age of the wireless -the years of the ‘40s and ‘50s inAustralia. I do not say that these wereperfect days, or that the ABC wasperfect, at least before ABC ClassicFM came on the scene.

ABC - a reflection of the country

These were the days of Australiamid-century and the ABC was areflection of the country, with all itss t rengths and weaknesses. Hardly aw o rd was spoken about, or by,Aboriginal citizens. Gays had to keeptheir heads down. And if ever theyy e a rned for liberation they were quicklyreminded of what had happened to SirEugene Goossens or to Claudio Arrau,when he came to Sydney and wasentrapped by police.

Everything changes. Most changeis for the better. Nostalgia envelops the

past, and the pain of re m e m b e r i n gunpleasant things channels memoryinto pleasing thoughts.

Where would we be without the ABC

Just imagine listening for the veryfirst time to a Chopin Mazurka or toone of Mahler’s haunting songs. AllAustralians of sensibility owe anunpayable debt to their parents andloved ones who turned the dial, in theirearliest child-hood, to the ABC. Theyt h e reby opened the tre a s u re-house ofclassical music. But they also owe ahuge debt to the ABC itself. To themanagement, the programmers, theannouncers, the performers. Wherewould we be with-out the ABC?C e r t a i n l y, we would be a diff e rent andmuch less civilised country.

U.S. Public broadcasters beg for money

At about the time ABC Classic FMwas born, and I became addicted to anew dimension of sound quality, I toure dthe United States for a month on anexchange program. I came to knowthe generosity and hospitality ofAmericans in their homes. But I missedthe ABC. The unyielding diet of corn yor trivial broadcasts on radio and tele-vision in America drove me to distrac-tion. Public broadcasters seemed tospend half their time begging form o n e y.

An Australian citizen’s birthright

I told my hosts that in Australia,and other lands, enjoying quality andvaried broadcasts was considered partof a citizen’s birthright. A pro p e r l yfunded public broadcaster was anelement of the cement that bound thenation together. My hosts were scep-tical. “We would never let the govern -ment get its hands on bro a d c a s t i n g , ”they said. I tried to explain the traditionsof independence and neutrality. I cameto realise that some things, betweenAmerica and Australia, were justdifferent. By the end of the month, Iwas longing for a re t u rn to advertise-m e n t - f ree, top-quality, ABC Classic FM .

Over the years, I have come toa p p reciate the unique role that ABCClassic FM plays in public bro a d c a s t i n g .Of how it supports local classicalmusic, symphony orchestras andgifted artists. Of how it encourageslocal re c o rdings and Australian

c reativity and composition. Last year Iwas associated with the launch ofG e r a rd Wi l l e m s ’s heroic CD re c o rd i n g sof the entire collection of Beethovenpiano sonatas. This, and much more ,would not have been possible withoutthe support of ABC Classic FM.

We open the newspaper. It is fullof the controversies of the day. Letterwriters denounce what they see ascutbacks to the ABC - “the culturaland intellectual backbone of this nation.”The writer demands, “Do Australiansreally not care if there is no altern a t i v eto the mindless drivel on commerc i a lstations?” Yet for every letter of thiskind, another denounces the ”whiningof ABC addicts”, who have “shown usthe type of people taxpayers arep roviding with entertainment.” “There ’sno one happier than I to see the end ofthis indulgence,” declared a corres-pondent. “For too long we havefunded this untidy rabble of bias andp o m p o s i t y. ”

In a free country, we are allentitled to have our views on this andother debates. But through all thec l a t t e r, many changes and sadly not afew cutbacks, the ABC sails on. It isstill a daily companion for our lives.

Somewhere out there in radioland

S o m e w h e re out there in radiolandis a boy or girl whose family turns thedial to ABC Classic FM at seven in them o rning. The search for the elusiveshirt studs may be no more. Bute t e rnal Bach still comes across theairways. Why we love these classics isa bit of a mystery. It is probably somedeep genetic search for pattern, ord e r,harmony and occasional cacophonythat reflects life itself.

Yet for Australians, it is still ourbirthright. As we enter the secondcentury of our Federation, we shouldp reserve and strengthen the ABC, ournational bro a d c a s t e r. At the beginningof the second quarter-century of ABCClassic FM, as a citizen and a listener, Ie x p ress grateful thanks. It is one of thejewels of the first century of Australia‘snationhood of which we can beu n reservedly proud.

Michael Kirby is a Justice of the High Court of Australia.Reprinted from 24 Hours magazine.

Jewel in the cro w n

Page 14

GladysAnd he can’t even stop theleaks

At a [FABC] rally in Melbournean anonymous plumber accusedShier of insulting the honestplumbing trade. When Shier wasfirst appointed, he said he waslike a plumber, there to unblockthe system. “And now all he isdoing is sending the bloody ABCdown the sewer,” the plumbersaid.

Melba, The Australian, 6/12/00

P Adams will be a realchallenge

About ten years ago, talkingabout 2UE, Collier [head of RNand NewsRadio] said that it wasnot easy to manage people whowere “as intellectual andindividualistic” as Alan Jonesand John Laws. That will makethem laugh over at RN.

Deborah Cameron, SMH,9/12/00

If B1 and B2 do take industrialaction, Jonathan Shier andDonald McDonald would makeexcellent stand-ins. Yes, theymight bring a malevolent streakto these likable favourites, butit’s time the Bananas conformedto the new ABC ethos.

Greg Bowyer,letter inSMH,11/1/01

Or even a heart

Inspired by the relationshipbetween Kerry Packer andhelicopterpilot Nicholas Ross, ajoke memo is doing the roundsof the ABC. Addressed to

Auntie’s chop-per pilot, it is arequest for ‘a brain donation’ formanaging director JonathanShier.

Peter Holder/Jo Casamento,Daily Telegraph, 1/12/00

Minister for pumping upcommercial broadcastingdoes it againSenator Alston is reported tohave been ‘astonished andbemused’ at the arrival byhelicopter of ‘a five-person crew’from the ABC’s 7.30 Report tointerview him at his bush retreatlast January [and] he has toldcolleagues that the commercialchannels would have sent afraction of the crew.

[In fact] we sent a three-personcrew - a reporter, camera personand sound recordist - tointerview the minister. They wereflown to his bush home in anABC helicopter, whose pilothelped them carry their gear tothe interview. No fifth personwas involved.

A three-person crew isabsolutely standard for currentaffairs programs, commercial orpublicly-funded. It would beinteresting to know which‘fraction’ of the interview thecommercial channels would

have done without. No picture?No sound? No interviewer? Orno transport?

Shortened version of the letterfrom JONATHAN HOLMES,

Exec Producer 7.30 Report, TheAustralian 21/2/01

Shier’s credibility on theline

The Dossier team discoveredthat Mr Shier had created a falseimpression in his CV - a total offour years of unemployment hadbeen left off the record. Now hehas been caught out again .

“I have not practised law forsome time.” Senate EstimatesCommittee on 1 March. This wasMr Shier, in response to aquestion about his belief that itwould be possible to chargeABC staff, under suspicion of aleaking a document, of a crimeunder the Crimes Act.‘Reluctantly, Shier admitted toDiary that he had never in factpractised law.’*

Makes one wonder what thepurpose was of asking ABC staffreap-plying for their jobs, in theinfamous psychology test,whether they would be preparedto lie.

*Source: Diary, /Media section,The Australian, 8/2/01

BACKGROUND BRIEFING is published byFriends of the ABC Australia. Editor Joan LaingPhone & fax: 08 8271 0751j l a i n g @ s e n e t . c o m . a uP.O. Box 7158, Hutt St, Adelaide 5000

All opinions expressed in BACKGROUND BRIEFING do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends of the ABCA u s t r a l i a .

Material may be freely quoted or re p roduced from thisnewsletter provided the source is acknowledged.

Visit us at www. f a b c . o r g . a uC u r rent and past Background Briefings can be a c c e s s e d

at our website along with other current information. Links onour website will take you to all state sites.

New South Wa l e sPenelope To l t zPO Box 1391North Sydney 2059Ph: 9960 5542Fax: 9960 5767email:fabcnsw@mpx.com.au

A l b u ryABC Support Gro u pJim Saleebac/- 621 Lindsay Av eAlbury NSW 2640Ph: 6021 5690Fax: 6021 0616

A r m i d a l ePriscilla Connor41 Judith Stre e tArmidale NSW 2350Ph: 6772 2217

B a t h u r s tM a u reen Pike (Secre t a r y )105 Mitre Stre e tBathurst 2795Ph: 6334 2520email: lefevre p @ i x . n e t . a u

B e g aEleanor Beasley2 Main Stre e tMerimbula 2548Ph: 6495 1392 Fax: 6495 3202

Blue MountainsHelen HallettP. O . Box 469Springwood 2777Ph: 4751 5465

E u r o b o d a l l aMichael Ta y l o r1 2 Hawkins RdTu ross Head, NSW Ph: 4473 8261 (W)Ph: 4473 8561 (H)email: taylor@acr. n e t . a u

Great LakesA u d rey Semon (Secre t a r y )4 Bundacree PlaceForster 2428Ph: 6554 8507email: asemon.@tns.cc

I l l a w a r r aJan Kent (Secre t a r y )Friends of the ABC IllawarraPO Box 336,Unanderra 2526Phone/Fax: 4271 3531email: jankent@bigpond.com

L i s m o r e★

Neville Jennings (int.chair)PO Box 167 Alstonville 2477Ph: 6620 3617 (w)Mob: 0427743830email: njenning@scu.edu.au

N e w c a s t l e★

G reg Struck (Int. Pre s )PO Box 265M e rewether 2291Ph/fax: 4963 5254 (H)e m a i l :s t r u c k @ h u n t e r l i n k . n e t . a u

O r a n g e★

Tony Smith (Secre t a r y )" S u n n y s i d e "Nashdale 2800Ph: 6365 3216 (H)email: t o n y s m i t h @ o a c . u s y d . e d u . a u

Port Macquarie/Mid North CoastNancy ShortP.O. Box 1752Port Macquarie NSW 2444Ph: 6582 0785Fax: 6585 4359

Vi c t o r i aFriends of the ABC (Vi c )GPO Box 4065MMM e l b o u rne VIC 3001Ph: 03 9682 0073Fax: 03 9682 0074email: fabcvic@vicnet.net.au

Q u e e n s l a n dMonica Bertal20 Heaslop StreetWoolloongabba QLD 4102Ph: (07) 3391 6963 (H)(07) 3846 4358 (W)Fax (07) 3846 2233email: s i r w a l t e r _ r a l e i g h @ h o t m a i l . c o m

Gold CoastFrances E. RollsPO Box 342Nerang QLD 4211Ph: (07) 5596 3835

A C TMonica PflaumGPO Box 2625Canberra ACT 2601Ph: 6282 1141 (H)Fax: 6289 4011 (W)

South AustraliaD a rce CassidyGPO Box 203Adelaide SA 5001Ph/Fax: 08 8362 5183email: fabc@senet.com.au

We s t e rn AustraliaAlison Cliff o rdPO Box 179Darlington WA 6070Ph/Fax: (08) 9299 6974

Ta s m a n i aAustra Maddox5 Albuera Stre e tBattery Point, Tasmania 7004Ph: (03) 6223 2981 (H)(03) 6211 9314 (W)Fax: (03) 6211 9304e m a i l :austra.maddox@facs.gov.au

N o r t h e rn Te r r i t o r y★

Brian HolmPO Box 21 H o w a rd Springs NT 0835Ph: (08) 8983 1251Fax: (08) 8941 3350Mob: 0409 831 251email: abcfriends_nt@we-w o n t - b y t e . c o m

State and regional branches of Friends of the ABC ★New Branch

update Print Post Approved PP 245059/00002

Update is published four times a year by Friends of the ABC NSW,P.O. Box 1391, North Sydney 2059. Phone 9960 5542. Fax 9960 5767

w w w. f a b c . o r g . a u / n s wOpinions in the newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of

the executive committee of the Friends of the ABC (NSW)Inc. Update goes to all members of FABC (NSW) Inc., as part of the

membership fee. Update is also supplied to journ a l i s t s , politicians and libraries

across Australia. It is produced and edited in Sydney but contribu-tions are welcome from NSW country and interstate branches.

Material may be freely quoted or re p roduced from the newsletterp rovided the source is acknowledged and reproduction is sent toFABC’s President and Editor, Penelope Toltz.

FABC (NSW) Inc. Executive CommitteePresident Penelope Toltz Phone: 9960 5542 Fax 9960 5767

Treasurer Peter Burke Phone 9144 2668 email peter@triode.net.au

Secretary Berri Shelley Phone 9298 3743

Membership Secretary Dev & Faith Webber Phone 9990 0600

FABC UpdatePost The Editor

C/–FABC UpdatePO Box 1391North Sydney NSW 2059

Facsimile 9660 5767Email fabcnsw@optusnet.com.auweb www.fabc.org.au/nsw

ATTN. New MembersMany readers of this Update magazine will be

first time readers as you have recently joined.

If you are in a regional area where we have agroup, would you please make yourself known tothat group. As you will see, we now have newgroups in a number of areas and they don't knowyou exist.

We do not give them your name or address as itis part of our private data base and we don't wantto compromise your privacy. However, these groupsalways need more people and the more of you thelighter the load for the entire group.

Page 16