ABC chair Ita Buttrose says they are “looking into” the axing of the local 7pm Sunday news
https://twitter.com/PMalinauskasMP/status/1672125842451996673
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That’s very interesting.
“hmm… should we still axe it? Yeah, why not?” is probably how that will go.
Maybe it’s cause I am not massively into the arts, but I had no idea ABC had a dedicated arts news team.
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The Guardian Australia’s Amanda Meade writes in her column today that nine reporters doing investigative journalism will be made redundant as part of the restructure of the news team. It includes two staff from Four Corners, two from 7.30, four from the investigative reporting team and one from Radio National’s Background Briefing.
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I don’t think there was a single local story on ABC News Victoria last night, or if there was it was like one short bit.
Instead the bulletin was full of generic national time filler content. We got a kids soccer competition in Canberra, someone in regional qld not getting the surgery they needed in time and something about chimps. All of these were l-o-n-g stories too. None of them were interesting, none of them were relevant.
Honestly, what’s the point of state bulletins if this is the rubbish they’re happy to serve up? The ABC is getting more reliable funding out of this government- they should be doing more local content, not less. This news director is a disaster.
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It is interesting isn’t it? Where is the extra money being spent?
As the news channel and online grow, state based 7pm bulletins really should be chockers with local stories. Local reports can go days and days without being on camera, so the whole thing really does need a structural reshape.
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I wonder if Media Watch will comment on this?
Is the problem that a half-hour bulletin is not sufficient to cover all the day’s national and local news? Would a half-hour national bulletin followed by a 20 minute state bulletin be better? (Although what do you do with 7:30 then…)
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Some small changes to the ACT studio.
Monitors removed from the side of set, and the floor decoration gone. Presumably in preparation for Insiders.
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What did it look like previously?
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?? The first cap. Can’t see the difference?
I’ve wondered this for years
The state bulletins have always felt like national bulletins to me in front of a “local” state based city skyline and weather report
I would never go to abc news at 7 for my state news. I would go to 9 or 7 @ 6pm
Definitely the best ABC News set.
Used all the time in the closer of ABC Nightly News.
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Correcting Rebecca Le May and The West Australian
Rebecca Le May in today’s The West Australian writes that a proposal by ABC NEWS to launch a national Sunday 7PM bulletin would mean “viewers in WA will be served two-hour-old news, stretching to three during daylight saving”.
As Le May was told prior to publication, the bulletin would be up-to-date in all markets across time zones.
The West Australian also reports that Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland “met ABC’s local bosses during a visit to Perth this week”. This is incorrect.
This information was provided to The West Australian yesterday regarding the 7PM Sunday bulletin and the ABC’s commitment to local coverage in WA:
- The ABC is not reducing our local news coverage. We are not reducing our ability to cover emergency events. We will always meet our Charter responsibilities.
- The bulletin will be up-to-date in all markets across time zones.
- There will be no loss of state coverage. Currently the Sunday 7PM bulletin carries on average two local stories. Under these initiatives we would still be covering major local stories and adding Stateline and more local stories on the ABC News website.
- We’ll also continue to have dedicated local editions during big news events, such as state elections and other major local events. If there is a fire, flood or emergency impacting a location in the state we can scale up to cover for the TV audience.
- The changes to the Sunday 7PM bulletin will not result in any job losses. State and territory teams will retain all reporting staff at weekends and continue comprehensive coverage of local stories across our digital platforms throughout the day. The digital audience for local news is sizable and growing. In 2022, digital stories published by our state and territory newsrooms generated 800 million page views and were read for 2 billion minutes.
- In addition, ABC News will be investing in elevating our scrutiny of local issues with a new, digital-first version of Stateline for every state and territory.
- Stateline will focus on the areas that matter most to local audiences – such as cost of living, health, education, safety and transport – with long-form video journalism and explainers. It will also feature in-depth interviews with key state figures.
- All the editions of Stateline will be available on-demand to digital and social audiences and via ABC iview and also form part of an extended Friday 7PM News bulletin for broadcast audiences.
ABC News also earlier published this statement: ABC News announces digital transformation proposals
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