ABC News Presenters and Reporters

Lots might disagree with me but while ABC’s content is very good, perhaps the story-telling style (which IMO, is too slow and stilted) is one of the factors dragging down the ratings of the bulletin?

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I’ve been taking extended leave lately and found myself watching a lot of commercial news. The difference is glaring. ABC leading the way especially in the news reader scripts and less reliance on YouTube clips.

If a brush up assists some reporters in delivering better reports than I think that’s money well spent.

I guess The slowed down story time is due to filling out the 32 minute bulletins and 40 minutes on Sunday. I feel like they go in to more depth and detail compared to the other networks which is fantastic because sometimes they story isn’t fully detailed on other networks!

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Their package scripting is awful. There’s always that ridiculous “cute” line at the end of the story, which is straight out of the ‘90s.

I also find their story selection bewildering sometimes but for the most part, I much prefer it over Seven and Nine. (though GTV still offers a great 6pm bulletin)

From a content perspective, ABC News is probably the best of the news services (with Nine, Ten and Seven coming after that in order of quality) in the Sydney market and probably should be getting better ratings than it does - I’d suggest that ABC News maybe even should be #1 in the ratings at 7pm if viewers really dislike hour long bulletins and/or aren’t home in time for the 6pm bulletins anymore.

Personally I agree that the pace of ABC News stories should be picked up a bit, but then there are people out there who really like the more in-depth reporting style/coverage and would probably complain about ABC News being too much like the commercial network bulletins if they were to make changes.

Then there’s 7.30, but I’m not even going to touch that one for now…

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I don’t have an issue with in depth reporting at the ABC or story choice, but I think the TV product is a bit of a mish mash.

Most ABC field reporters are expected to produce reports for TV, Radio and Online during the day. This is efficient, especially in regional newsrooms but also means reporters are switching styles throughout the day, and spend less time crafting engaging scripts and just bang it out, especially with News Channel requiring plenty of content.

Some of their RVO segments for international events, the ones which come from the network are pretty barebones as well. They also aren’t updated throughout the day either, I’ve seen the same script word for word on ABC News at Noon and the State 7pm bulletins. There’s a lot of recycled content and a lot of it isn’t being touched up for each reader.

Also as a metro viewer ABC News Queensland doesn’t give me enough of a look at what’s happening in Brisbane, compared to say Ten News Queensland, who only have a handful of TV reporters but cover all the major stories, plus the same international and national events with the same sort of focus.

I know the ABC also has a regional focus, more so now than ever, so I’d be interested to see the ratings out there, and whether locals think the ABC is producing adequate TV coverage in those areas. But I haven’t watched the bulletin recently enough to see whether those sorts of stories are being covered well, and which type of stories are being covered either.

Yes its a piece from the Oz with an agenda but honestly, knowing the insane workloads that journalists are under at the national broadcaster its not surprising corners are being cut. I wouldn’t blame it for the drop in ratings (maybe the ABC News rebrand might have had an effect) but to say all is perfect is not accurate.

What’s more depressing is that most unis are now trying to train journos this way, so I doubt we’ll see the standards of television journalism rise soon. God help us when they sack all the cameramen and roll out the Video Journalists…

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As an aside I went to the fancy ABC newsrooms in Brisbane a few months ago, and the atmosphere was dead silent compared to a commercial TV newsroom, even ones which have suffered severe cost cutting. It’s big and it’s vast and the facilities are great, but it’s also a bit soulless and it seems like that sort of public service culture has taken over the organisation.

I think the ABC is a vital institution and I’ll defend it to the day I die, but as a journalist I don’t know if I’d enjoy working there.

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ATV’s newsroom was dead after the cutbacks too, I’d suggest it’s more likely because of that.

Ian Henderson is back presenting in Victoria tonight.

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Good. Fuck Turnbull’s thuggery and bullying practices against the ABC.

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This is what happens when a traditional small l liberal relies on the votes of a rwnj in the Senate.

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ACT Bulletin presented from ANU for Stargazing:

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New plasma titlecard:

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Looks nice, also I did like this one, used during spring I think.

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That one was used from 2013/4 to the relaunch in 2017. It got pretty old by the end, and looked silly in the middle of a Canberra winter.

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ABC News announces new Middle East correspondents

Eric Tlozek and Adam Harvey have been named as the new Middle East correspondents for the ABC’s bureaus in Jerusalem and Beirut.

Tlozek’s new role as Jerusalem-based correspondent follows his successful posting in Papua New Guinea, where he broke important news stories, including on the Manus Island detention centre and PNG’s political crisis.

He regularly travelled through tough, difficult terrain to bring Australians news they would not get anywhere else, such as the devastating effects of the recent earthquake on the Highlands, and used his VJ skills to tell intimate, vivid stories from all over the country.

Harvey’s role as Beirut-based correspondent will follow his current posting in Jakarta, where he has provided first-rate reporting of dramatic events throughout Indonesia and South-East Asia, including security threats, terror attacks and an increasingly assertive China.

In June last year Harvey also became the story when he was shot in the neck while covering the battle for Marawi in the Philippines.

Tlozek and Harvey take over the Middle East posts from Matt Brown and Sophie McNeill, who both won multiple awards for their reporting from the region.

The starting dates for the postings will be announced in the coming weeks, as will recruitment details for both the Jakarta and the Port Moresby roles.

According to Mediaweek, McNeill has joined Four Corners while Brown remains in the Middle East in a role yet to be revealed.

Kirsten Aiken presenting NSW news

Different opener image on the SA news.

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WA is currently getting a replay of NSW’s bulletin instead of local news with no explanation…

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