My understanding is that transmission costs for the ABC (and SBS) are tied funding. As in, those funds are tied to existing commercial transmission contracts and can not be used for other purposes. The only ones to benefit from the cessation of ABC TV and ABC Radio transmission are Federal Treasury, and not the ABC.
2021-2022 ABC Annual Report
The Annual Report 2021-2022 was tabled in Parliament by the Minister for Communications on 20 October 2022.
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ABC wins Marketing Team of the Year
ABC Marketing has been named as Australia’s best marketing team at the Australian Marketing Institute Awards held in Sydney yesterday.
The team also won best Public Sector Marketing Campaign for its ABC Gives charity campaign.
The team award recognised the ABC’s approach to diversity and inclusion, the scope and breadth of its remit and the first-class execution by a talented team of marketing specialists. The judges described the ABC Gives campaign as “marketing at its best” with the combined use of the broadcaster’s national platforms alongside campaigns made for local and regional communities.
The ABC’s Director Audiences, Leisa Bacon said: “In this age of fragmentation and disinformation, the importance of trusted, reliable, quality media has never been greater. This creates a massive opportunity for the ABC, and watching our teams rise to this challenge over the past year has been incredible.
“The stars are all the incredible people in our marketing team, who have been recognised for their diverse skills and talent applied to a wide range of campaigns.”
Karen Madden, Head of Marketing for the ABC said that being recognised by marketing’s peak industry body was a huge achievement and testament to all the hard work, passion and focus the team brings to work every day.
“I am so proud to lead such a professional, creative and talented team and I’m so thrilled to see that our work has been recognised in this way,” said Karen.
Will that mean the ABC TV network will close down?
No
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Judith Whelan appointed ABC Editorial Director
ABC Managing Director David Anderson has announced the appointment of Judith Whelan to the role of Editorial Director, effective in February 2023.
Currently ABC Director of Regional and Local, Judith is one of Australian media’s most respected editorial leaders, bringing more than thirty years of journalism experience to the role.
Judith replaces Craig McMurtrie, who recently announced his retirement.
David Anderson said the ABC’s editorial policies, standards, and processes were in good hands with Judith’s decision to take on this very important role.
“The ABC’s responsibility as the most trusted media provider is more vital than ever, and I am delighted Judith is taking up this important leadership position.
“The Australian public and ABC employees can have confidence that a journalist and editorial leader of Judith’s calibre will support fearless independent public interest journalism, while ensuring that the ABC continues to meet high editorial standards.
“With the newly announced role of the ABC Ombudsman, the ABC is committed to upholding the highest and most rigorous standards of journalism and production.
“Since joining the ABC in 2016 Judith has led her teams through change and growth and successfully delivered enhanced content and services to our audiences.
“As Director, Regional and Local since 2019, Judith has tirelessly championed the stories and reporting of our teams working in our capital cities and in rural and regional communities, ensuring Australians everywhere can access the content they need. This has been especially critical during emergency broadcasting events.
“I congratulate Judith on the contribution she has made to the ABC so far and look forward to working with her into the future.”
ABC Regional and Local has grown under Judith’s leadership from 56 locations across the country to 66, with the expansion of the regional network earlier this year. The R&L network includes the ABC’s Capital City radio stations, rural and regional teams and regional and local screen content, including Gardening Australia, Back Roads and Landline, sport, live events and ABC Emergency Broadcasting.
In her previous role as Head of Specialist Content she managed the ABC’s coverage across all platforms – television, radio and digital – in arts, science, health and technology, religion and ethics, education, society and culture.
Judith was formerly editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as its news director and the editor of its weekend edition, following more than seven years as the editor of Good Weekend.
Judith’s career in journalism also includes experience as a Walkley-nominated news and feature writer, senior editor and a foreign correspondent in both the Pacific and Europe.
Judith said she welcomed the opportunity to take on the Editorial Director role.
“Australians place enormous trust in the ABC to be transparent, accurate and balanced in our reporting. We have always set ourselves the highest standards of editorial accountability and that commitment has given us recognition as Australia’s most trusted media brand.
“With that trust comes responsibility to continue to meet the very highest journalistic standards. There are few media organisations better placed than the ABC to deliver on those expectations and I am honoured to have been given a leading role in this important work.”
Judith will begin in the role in February 2023. Further arrangements will be announced in due course.
ABC funding boost in Federal Budget
The ABC has gained an increase of $83.7m in operational funding and $32m for international services funding across the next four years in tonight’s Federal Budget. Radio Australia will expand its transmission footprint using some of the additional money.
Annually the national broadcaster will be better off by $20.9m in operations and $8m for international services each year, allowing “significant investment in services across all platforms helping to fund rising costs affecting the media industry.”
ABC audiences around the country and across the Indo-Pacific region will directly benefit from the increase in funding, which will include 7 additional transmitters for Radio Australia.
ABC Managing Director David Anderson said:
“The additional funding will allow the ABC to increase investment in local content and education services and further improve our critical emergency broadcasting services, particularly benefiting regional communities. It will also help grow reach in Pacific communities at an important time in the history of the region.
“We are always working to identify what we need to provide the Australian public and how we can manage our budget to effectively meet those expectations – especially as audience habits evolve and we transition to digital services, particularly among younger demographics. This budget announcement is an investment in the valuable services the ABC provides and the trust Australians place in us.”
The ABC will also move to a five-year funding arrangement, to be determined in the May 2023 Budget, disconnecting it from the previous three year electoral cycle funding arrangement.
The increase in funding will mean:
- Greater capacity to deliver emergency broadcasting services. As emergency events become more frequent and severe the need for critical emergency broadcast services is growing. The additional funding will enable the ABC to cover more priority black spots, better respond to escalating events and increase emergency broadcasting services across social and digital platforms.
- Increased investment in ABC Education to produce unique interactive content to support learning in the classroom and at home for students of Australian History, Literacy, Numeracy, STEM and Media Literacy.
- Enhanced digital services. The ABC is committed to more content and product development across digital platforms such as ABC iview, ABC Listen and ABC News Digital. This investment will mean more Australian comedy and drama and a renewed commitment to services for younger audiences, such as triple j. We will also engage innovative creatives to develop content specifically aimed at audiences on popular third-party platforms.
The additional funding for international services will allow the ABC to:
- Expand ABC Radio Australia’s FM footprint, adding up to seven additional FM transmitter locations to the 13 currently running across the Pacific and Timor Leste, and tailor our ABC Australia television service to suit Pacific and Asian time zones.
- Create more content for audiences across the Indo-Pacific region including establishing a network of full-time local journalists and a pan-Pacific weekly video news program.
- Enhance the capacity and development of media partners with training and activities covering basic professional development, for cadets through to leadership masterclasses, and in specialised subjects such as elections and emergency broadcasting.
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I am glad they have a longer-term funding model, should be good for planning within the organisation, although I am not convinced another funding increase was warranted, outside Pacific funding to update/increase its footprint which is a political issue.
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And when despot governments appear in the Pacific, those governments can easily turn off the RA FM transmitters with ease when something is broadcast to the dislike of the host government or when content doesn’t follow the narrative of their government.
More difficult to censor shortwave, but admittedly FM radio receivers are more widely available & have better fidelity & reception etc.
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Also upgrade ABC News, ABC Plus and ABC Me to HD channels and launch ABC Kids as a standalone channel showcasing classic children shows for 90s kids/Gen X’ers in primetime.
It’s the last few months of 2022 and our national broadcaster’s flagship 24/7 news channel is only in SD.
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Most if not all channels are 720p on iview.
Would much rather funding go towards upgrading iview to allow rewinding live TV. That functionality has been standard on BBC iPlayer for a decade.
The Guardian Australia’s Amanda Meade writes that ABC staff agreed in principle yesterday to take protected action if management did not improve its offer of a 3% pay increase. Employees were riled up after what they said were “whopping increases to management pay on top of already exorbitant salaries”.
(Last item in the article below)
UPDATE 30/10
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Open statement to Public Works Hearing – ABC Ultimo and Parramatta
Public Works Hearing: Fit out of Parramatta and Ultimo Offices
ABC Managing Director David Anderson – opening statement.
I thank the Committee for the opportunity to make an opening statement.
I have with me today the ABC’s CFO Mel Kleyn as well as other officers and specialist advisers. They stand ready to answer your detailed questions on matters of cost and design.
Before taking your questions however I would like to briefly explain why this project is important to the ABC.
The ABC connects with Australians via digital signals across electro-magnetic waves. Invisible threads weaving across our continent. Bringing us together through news, information, music and stories.
But the ABC ‘s direct physical presence on the ground is also important to our work for Australia.
For many Australians, the ABC logo in their town is a welcome sign that their community is connected to the nation.
The ABC operates from 58 regional locations across Australia.
The ABC needs to stay close to the source of our stories so we can discover and share them more effectively. We need to draw on these communities for our workforce.
It is imperative that the ABC keeps up with demographic and cultural change.
Increasingly we also need to be close by for big weather events and local emergencies.
As Australia evolves so must the ABC.
This is why in our Five-Year Plan the ABC committed to have more than 75% of content makers working outside the ABC’s Ultimo Head Office by 2025.
We’re making good progress.
In the last year we have significantly expanded our rural and regional coverage with the recruitment of 60 new journalists, bringing the number of employees outside capital cities to more than 600.
This has been financed by commercial agreements with Google and Facebook following the Media Bargaining Code legislation of March 2021.
This major investment means more stories, better coverage and specialist reporting on issues that matter to people living in the regions, and better delivery of stories about rural, regional and remote Australia to city dwellers. As well as enhanced capacity for emergency broadcasting.
We’ve boosted our numbers in Horsham, Burnie, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, Katherine, Esperance, Karratha, Longreach and Toowoomba.
We have also set up five mini-bureaux Charleville, Batemans Bay, Warragul, Carnarvon, Hervey Bay, and placed reporters in Gladstone, Whyalla, Northam, Swan Hill and Victor Harbor.
Today we are here to talk about boosting the ABC’s presence and effectiveness in Greater Western Sydney. With 2.6 million people, Greater Western Sydney is Australia’s fastest growing region. The ABC has of course always had a Western Sydney presence, but the growth of the region and its increasing significance means there is a compelling case to make this even bigger.
The decision to establish a new bureau in Parramatta and relocate up to 300 ABC staff from Ultimo to Parramatta was therefore an obvious step for us.
We will be telling more stories from Greater Western Sydney, where 1 in every 11 Australians live.
We now seek Parliamentary approval to commence the fit out of our new Parramatta office building.
This project will require no additional tax-payer funding. We will fund it through the sale of our property at Artarmon on Sydney’s north shore and by leasing out space in our Ultimo head office.
ABC Parramatta will include a state-of-the-art studio, from where we’ll broadcast the NSW 7pm News and at least one block of News Channel programming.
Teams will have access to a variety of spaces for live and pre-recorded video and audio, including seven audio and six video production suites.
Plus, dedicated spaces for operations and graphics professionals.
Careful consideration has been given to accessibility, acoustics, visitor access, and a layout and functional approach that is highly flexible.
This will be a bureau that is a model of its kind and a template for the ABC’s future; a technology-driven facility that promotes timeliness and excellence in newsgathering and storytelling.
It’s an ideal hub location close to numerous transport options for staff and visitors.
A state-of-the-art building fit for now and for the future.
With Parliamentary approval, the fit out works at Parramatta will commence in early 2023, with the new bureau fully operational by 2024.
We are very confident that this investment will pay off in a better, stronger ABC for Australian audiences and the nation.
The Parramatta office will be a core part of our Greater Western Sydney strategy, and we are currently looking at options for additional small bureau in either Penrith or Liverpool.
Of course, we will be retaining a substantial presence in Ultimo to house around 1700 existing staff and extensive production facilities.
But we will need to refurbish the building for its mixed use.
Subject to the Parliament’s approval we will begin updating our Ultimo workplace from early 2023, with spaces progressively becoming available for sub-lease.
Our aim is to have this part of the project fully realised by 2025.
Our Five-Year Plan is all about reflecting our nation’s great diversity in all that we do, in all the stories we tell, and in the composition of our workforce. Ultimately, we aim to look and sound like contemporary Australia so that we can reflect our nation back to itself.
Our focus on Greater Western Sydney, Australia’s fastest growing region, is a core element in this bigger agenda.
I commend this project to you and of course we welcome your questions.
ABC renews partnership with Papua New Guinea’s National Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) of Papua New Guinea (PNG) today exchanged their renewed Memorandum of Understanding on the grounds of NBC in Port Moresby.
The agreement reflects the enduring commitment to a collaborative relationship between the national broadcasters, both among the largest bastions of independent media in the Pacific.
Under the renewed Memorandum of Understanding, the ABC and the NBC commit to working together to enhance both organisations’ commitment to serve the public interest through information, education and entertainment.
This partnership also demonstrates the public broadcasters’ contribution to democracy and recognises their value as important cultural institutions.
NBC Managing Director, Kora Nou, said “The NBC is the preeminent source of media information in Papua New Guinea connecting citizens across our country. The partnership builds on the spirit of friendship and working together developed over many years between the ABC and the NBC. Several examples of working together include digitisation of NBC’s historical archive materials, and the planned short term training placement of select NBC staff in areas of the ABC, which will commence in 2023.”
ABC Managing Director David Anderson said: “The ABC has a long history of engagement with our PNG neighbours. This agreement strengthens the media collaboration between the ABC and the NBC as institutions as well as through relationships between our staff. We will continue to invest in our partnership and learn from each other to better serve our shared audiences.”
Background
The ABC has an MOU with NBC, renewed earlier this year and signed by the Managing Directors of the respective organisations.
A current senior ABC delegation is visiting Port Moresby to acknowledge and strengthen that relationship, following the pandemic. NBC will also facilitate a media leaders discussion with a mix of PNG media organisations and the ABC to discuss common issues facing the industry.
ABC House is the focal point, bureau and home to ABC foreign correspondents posted to Port Moresby. The ABC’s reputation in PNG has been built on some high-profile, influential journalists including Sean Dorney whose legacy covering the Pacific and PNG for more than 40 years continues through a grant scholarship. The current ABC correspondent is Natalie Whiting.
ABC Australia (international TV channel) and Radio Australia are rebroadcast through PNG partners including Click TV PNG, Digicel PNG Ltd, EMTV, NBC TV and radio nationally and in provinces), VBPT Radio and Kristen Radio. ABC online content has recently been offered in increased syndication options and Loop PNG republishes ABC online content.
ABC International Development also has a PNG office and staff who implement Australian Aid-funded programs. Currently, there are two significant media development programs – the long-standing Media Development Initiative (MDI) which builds the capacity of PNG media and is about to enter a new phase focussed on supporting a more professional, diverse and inclusive media that serves the public interest and supports democratic processes, and an Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) program on COVID-19 risk communications and community engagement where ABC works with Australian and PNG NGOs. ABC International Development works with all PNG media, including church media.
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ABC coverage of state and territory issues
Statement by Justin Stevens, ABC Director, News
Alan Sunderland has written about the ABC’s coverage of state and territory issues, suggesting it is time to look at investing in more scheduled TV current affairs. I’d like to address some of the points he has raised and talk about our approach to state and territory coverage.
Let’s start with where Alan and I agree. Stateline, and the state-based editions of 7.30 into which it was folded in 2011, were fantastic programs in their day. They played an important role in holding state and territory governments to account in an age when our audience accessed the ABC via broadcast radio and TV and almost all of our budgets and resources were in those two platforms.
Alan has correctly called out the services and platforms added to News in the past decade – and been typically forthright about his involvement in some of those decisions.
For one, we now have ABC NEWS channel, which on average reaches more than 3.5 million Australians each week. The pandemic, the bushfires, the floods and many other stories and events have demonstrated the integral value of ABC NEWS channel in a digital, on-demand and streaming world where the audience wants immediate information on unfolding events.He is also right to point out that we’ve moved to become a multiplatform news service. In addition to TV viewers and radio listeners, our journalism now reaches millions of Australians via our own and third-party digital platforms, such as the ABC NEWS website and app, ABC iview and ABC listen.
Alan writes that reducing the Sunday night edition of the 7pm News by 10 minutes to 30 minutes, in line with the other nights, “marks the final surrender in a long ABC retreat from providing regular in-depth scheduled coverage of State politics and State issues on the public broadcaster”.
With this, I strongly disagree. There is no retreat and no surrender. Our coverage of state and territory issues is impactful and comprehensive – and we are delivering it to audiences on their schedule every day of the week, not just to our schedule.
Here is just a sample of some recent original, impactful stories:
- The SA newsroom’s investigation and exposure of the MP expenses misuse led to an ICAC investigation, the resignation of five MPs and a complete overhaul of the remuneration system. Two MPs are also currently facing criminal charges of making fraudulent claims. Both have denied the allegations against them.
- Gabriella Marchant’s reporting “Rhys’s Final Wish” had enormous impact as voluntary assisted dying laws were being debated in the SA Parliament.
- David O’Byrne resigned as Tasmania’s Opposition Leader after Hobart-based Investigative Reporter Emily Baker broke the story of a sexual harassment complaint.
- The ABC’s investigation into Tasmanian Liberal MP Adam Brooks dominated the final weeks of the State’s 2021 election campaign and also led to his resignation.
- An investigation into successive home building failures in Tasmania led to the reintroduction of warranty insurance in the State.
- The Victorian newsroom is rolling out a series of specials for all platforms on key election topics and how the major parties plan to address them. The issues to be covered were determined by our community engagement efforts and include cost of living, health, state of the suburbs, the economy and energy. The specials complement our core election coverage of the campaign trail and analysis from our state political reporters.
- Following Jessica Longbottom’s stories this year about the inadequacies at one of Melbourne’s TAFE colleges there is now a potential class action and the State Government stepped in to conduct weekly checks.
- Geelong reporter Rachel Clayton exposed a loophole in insurance cover that means households may not be covered if a business is being run at the property – even if it’s selling free-range eggs using an honesty box.
- The investigation into the Orroral Valley fire last year, and the ABC’s revelations on what Defence knew and communicated to fire authorities after one of its choppers sparked the blaze, led to an inquest by the ACT Coroner.
- Our stories on the mismanagement of COVID in the Jeta Gardens Aged Care facility in Queensland were raised in Federal Parliament and Senate Estimates and two managers stood down.
- Coverage sourced from Right to Information documents exposed failures by Queensland Government authorities in controlling the bushfire in the K’gari (Fraser Island) National Park.
- The expose on serious injuries sustained by women giving birth at Mackay Hospital led to the Director of Obstetrics being suspended, the health board being stood down, the Minister apologising and a compensation scheme for victims.
- An FOI request by the ABC into grants to the Darwin Turf Club which led to an ICAC investigation.
- Our reporting of leaked draft documents revealed negotiations relating to fishing rights in Aboriginal waters across the Top End.
- Again using material obtained under FOI, the ABC confirmed the NT Government knew of structural flaws in Darwin buildings long before it publicly disclosed its concerns.
- An ongoing investigation into the sexual abuse of primary school students in Fremantle has resulted in dozens more victims coming forward.
- Samia O’Keefe’s investigation of allegations of historical abuse at the WA Institute of Sport helped bring about an inquiry into abuse claims by former WAIS gymnasts.
- The NSW newsroom has established dedicated Bushfire Recovery and Flood Recovery teams to regularly report on progress and hold all levels of government to account over relief spending.
- Data Journalist Catherine Hanrahan’s data-led investigation into zoning around the new Western Sydney airport exposed investment and infrastructure issues.
- Kathleen Calderwood’s ongoing investigation has exposed tragic failures in Western Sydney hospitals.
Our national teams also investigate state stories, for example:
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Paul Farrell’s dogged reporting for 7.30 was instrumental in revealing NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s role in the awarding of a grant to former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.
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Hagar Cohen’s investigation into Bathurst Council and allegations of blackmail, also for 7.30, resulted in the resignation of the Mayor.
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The investigation by Anne Connolly and Stephanie Zillman of the Public Trustee system, which included a Four Corners report, led to a public apology from the Queensland State Government and has triggered two inquiries.
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Josh Robertson and Mark Willacy’s investigations into Star Casino Brisbane led to Queensland’s Attorney-General ordering a fresh investigation in August.
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Attorney-General ordering a fresh investigation in August.
As the ABC navigates the increasingly fragmented media environment, asking how we can afford do more scheduled TV current affairs is not the right question. Even assuming we could get the many millions of dollars it would cost, it would not serve the needs of most our audience members, given where they are today compared to a decade ago.
While Alan argues “nothing has the impact or immediacy of scheduled television current affairs”, in fact journalism strategically rolled out across our platforms daily has measurably greater impact and immediacy, reaching audiences the ABC never has before. For a Four Corners episode or 7.30 story that might be seen by a million viewers on scheduled broadcast, there is another million – mostly under the age of 50 – who consume the journalism via digital.
In this age of multiplatform journalism a key consideration into the future will be how to keep doing the best journalism and make it accessible to the biggest possible audience while ensuring our operations are sustainable, so our people and resources aren’t stretched too thin and we can maintain standards.
Trustworthy public interest journalism is our remit and holding all levels of government to account will always be central to that.It’s also crucial to ensure that all Australians can access and benefit from that journalism, where and when they want it.