It’s their ABC

By Leith van Onselen

Following the loss of the $220 million contract to run Australia Network Television in 2014, the announced closure of ABC shopfronts last year, this year’s axing of ABC’s Fact Check, and the shutting down of the ABC’s opinion site, The Drum, a review of the ABC’s business coverage has been conducted and found that it is “unfocused”. From The SMH:

Sounds like a fix, doesn’t it?

Do we really want Australia’s national broadcaster embedded within businesses so that they can spout company propaganda? We already get enough of that from our commercial operators (just look at The AFR).

Let’s also not forget that the ABC is highly trusted among the community, ranking well above its commercial peers (see below Newspoll survey from 2014). No doubt that is why commercial competitors (particularly NewsCorp) have demanded “reform” of the ABC: their content doesn’t stack-up by comparison.

Question: How much trust do you have in what you read or hear in the following media?

The dumbening of Australia continues.

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