ABC statement on arts coverage
Changes announced by the ABC about savings and reinvestment will in no way diminish the ABC’s ability to meet its Charter responsibilities to arts coverage.
No other Australian broadcaster comes anywhere near offering the depth and breadth of arts coverage that ABC does. The proposals announced yesterday will see savings reinvested into the ABC’s arts coverage which will lead to more of the arts content audiences want and expect.
Our commitment to the arts remains as solid and comprehensive as ever, with our excellent screen arts team moving into a new screen Arts, Music and Events department and our arts digital roles coming together within the newly formed Digital and Innovation team. Reports to the contrary are not accurate.
Australians turn to us to keep them informed and up to date on all the art news and events. There is an extensive range of art-related content on ABC TV and ABC iview – which includes the Art & Culture collection – as well as on our ABC Arts YouTube channel and the ABC Arts Instagram account. The latest art updates can be found on the ABC News Arts & Culture site and there is also daily arts offerings on ABC RN and on the ABC listen app as well as coverage of local arts on ABC Local Radio across Australia. ABC Classic, triple j and our specialist digital music channels – ABC Jazz, ABC Country, and Double J round off our offerings.
ABC is the only broadcaster with a weekly arts magazine show – Artworks . Radio National has numerous weekly arts shows including The Art Show, The Book Show, the Bookshelf, The Screen Show, The Stage Show, Blueprint for Living, Awaye!, Stop Everything and The Music Show. The network’s annual on-air writer’s festival, Big Weekend of Books is back tomorrow and Sunday, covering conversations with Australian writers. We are regularly commissioning documentaries and series such as Firestarter: The story of Bangarra, Finding the Archibald and Great Southern Landscapes with Rachel Griffiths.