“The ABC was not established to deliver hyperlocal news across Australia,” the [ABC] submission says.
… but when I worked for ABC Local (before the news department was handed control in 2016) we used to do “hyperlocal” stories all the time … it has nothing to do with repeated budget cuts by the Coalition and everything to do with a Sydney-centric news department that now expects regional staff to identify and produce “content that can be shared … across the ABC on multiple platforms” rather than being for the interest of the local communities that they are supposed to serve …
1 Like
WOT … people who know something about broadcasting on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation board … it’ll never fly 
Maybelle Lin is the 2021 AFTRS and ABC Selwyn Speight Diversity Scholarship Recipient
Editor and writer, Maybelle Lin, from New South Wales, is the recipient of this year’s Selwyn Speight Diversity Scholarship, awarded by the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and the ABC.
The scholarship is made available through a $20,000 bequest from the late ABC journalist Selwyn Speight and supports emerging radio students from diverse and under-represented communities.
Both Maybelle’s parents were immigrants, with her father from Singapore and her mother from Indonesia. Since graduating from UNSW with a Bachelor of Media she has been working as an editor and writer for lifestyle and business publications.
Maybelle said she wanted to widen her skills, particularly in radio and podcasting. “The dream is to tell the stories of under-represented people, creating content so their voices are heard. I want to be behind the scenes, producing with other diverse creators that simply want to better the world,” she said.
Outside of journalism, Maybelle has a strong interest in freestyle hip hop. She regularly participates in dance events and runs her own community hip hop competitions, which she says has connected her with a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds.
Maybelle will intern at the ABC throughout the year and receive a 12-month employment contract at the end of the course.
ABC’s Director of Regional & Local, Judith Whelan congratulated Maybelle as the third recipient of the scholarship. “Reflecting contemporary Australia is a priority of our Five Year Plan which we released last year. This scholarship has an important place in how we deliver on that plan.”
AFTRS Head of Radio, Fyona Smith, said: “AFTRS is committed to providing scholarship opportunities to encourage diverse content creators. Maybelle brings extensive writing experience to AFTRS and her audio submission was a standout. We are looking forward to Maybelle studying with us this year and working with the ABC.”
… at nearly 25 minutes this will probably wear out the majority of those with short attention spans …
2 Likes
What are getup trying to achieve with this? It’s preaching to the converted. The usual noisy anti mob will never be won over by a getup film supporting the ABC.
4 Likes
… and true to form, GetUp! has hidden comments containing facts that do not line up with their one-sided version … so I reproduce one of those hidden comments below …
I was working for the ABC before the coalition came to power in 2013 and cuts in all departments but one had been ongoing prior to that. The main reason for these cuts was the introduction in 2010 of an unbudgeted, unfunded ABC news channel that sucked tens of millions of dollars in funds from every other program department of the ABC to fund its establishment and ongoing costs. In early 2013, before the election, the ABC news department ran a nationwide, all staff presentation to proudly boast that a further $20million had been removed from other departments in that year’s allocation alone and given to the news department. Kevin Rudd then lost the election to Tony Abbott who came into power and reduced the ABC’s overall budget. As a result of that stupid, luddite decision the ABC, unions, GetUp! and some journalists were then able to blame all of the following job cuts on that rather than simply the compounding effect of that cut on the decisions already made by the ABC itself. The Turnbull government “paused” the indexation of the ABC’s budget in 2018, however, as “indexation” is based on CPI and CPI is currently going backwards due to COVID, that has actually had very little effect on the funding the ABC would have received. The other main reason for the ABC’s inability to balance its own budget is that the average ABC journalist has had pay rises totalling 38.5% between 2013 and 2020 (Source: ABC Enterprise Agreement Bands 4/5) compared to inflation of 12.2% (Source: RBA Inflation Calculator). Yes, the ABC is under threat … from incompetent management and a staff that is more interested in itself than its audience.
1 Like
That’s quite a strong statistic but not unusual for the public sector. One of the reasons that privatisation is often called for because of bloated salaries.
MEAA media vice president Karen Percy says “There’s just a real mismatch between the rhetoric and the reality of what they’re doing”
… that’s because most of what we read as a quote from the ABC has been written by people who call themselves journalists in the ABC’s corporate spin department and, like the majority of people who work at the ABC, they are totally inwardly focussed and removed from reality.
With the “hollowing out of senior people” the ABC news department now resembles a kindergarten playpen with no management or control over what they do or publish.
Ms Percy says that in the ABC “hunger games”, it is often older, more experienced members of staff who are targeted … absolutely true … and yet, as in my earlier post, those inexperienced people who replace them quickly climb the income ladder resulting in the same problem rearing its head in a few years down the track. This can’t go on.
ABC’s record-breaking run at Kidscreen Awards
The ABC has won seven trophies at the international Kidscreen Awards, including four prizes for Australia’s most popular children’s television show Bluey.
ABC programs and Australian producers and creators were honored across the preschool, kids and tweens/teens programming categories at the awards on 9 February, which celebrate the world’s best children’s television and digital entertainment.
Bluey, produced by Ludo Studio, led the way for outstanding Australian children’s content, winning Best Animated Series for preschoolers, plus three Creative Talent Awards for Best Directing, Best Writing and Best Music.
ABC Children’s was also recognised on the world stage for the diversity and inclusivity of its content and talent. ABC ME series First Day, produced by Epic Films, won the Best Live-Action Series Award in the Kids Programming category for its powerful story about a transgender girl starting high school and finding the courage to live as her most authentic self.
ABC ME series The Unlisted, produced by Aquarius Films, won the Best Inclusivity Award for its exploration of multicultural characters and themes. Much-loved Play School presenter Kiruna Stamell won the Kidscreen Award for Best On-Air Host.
Libbie Doherty, ABC Head of Children’s Production, said the award wins demonstrated the strength of local creative talent on the international stage. “Time and again, we see that distinctively Australian content, faces and voices strike a chord with audiences and judges the world over.
“Congratulations to the Australian producers and creators, the ABC Children’s team and all our production and funding partners, for bringing such outstanding programs to young viewers. Diversity and inclusivity are at the heart of what we do. Children engage with authentic stories and people, giving them the chance to see themselves reflected and represented on screen.”
The ABC’s haul of seven Kidscreen Awards was its most successful to date and behind only US network PBS. The trophies extend a stellar international run for ABC Children’s, including last year’s Rose d’Or Award for First Day, International Emmy Awards for Bluey and Hardball , and Prix Jeunesse International Awards for Hardball and The Unlisted.
ABC managing director David Anderson has warned staff they face disciplinary action, including the sack, if they breach tough new social media guidelines.
The warning came after two of the ABC’s most experienced journalists fell foul of the rules for Twitter use which prohibit bringing the ABC into disrepute with personal views.
On Thursday Four Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour was criticised for her tweets about perceived similarities between outgoing Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and billionaire James Packer.
… although I 'm no fan of Twitter, it was ABC management itself under Mark Scott who insisted that on-air staff sign up to a personal Twitter account and “tweet something every day” with absolutely no guidelines as to what was “acceptable” … now the chickens are coming home to roost and it’s the ABC staff who are literally in the “firing” line for doing what they were told to do …
What they were “told to do” 10-15 or however many years ago and what applies to staff now are two very different things. How many employers had a social media use policy 10-15 years ago? I’m guessing very few. Most employers would have been happy to just let staff go at it like hammer and tong without daring to consider any consequence.
But ABC as with any employer in the last decade or so would have defined rules about what is acceptable. Comparing an employee’s social media use in 2021 to a directive offered x years ago is irrelevant.
6 Likes
But were they told to spread blatant misinformation like Neighbour did and take til the next day to offer a half arsed “correction” which still implied McGuire was “old money”?
If available timelines are correct, she would even have worked with his brother Frank on The 7:30 Report and possibly 4 Corners in the 1990s. Both of the brothers’ success isn’t exactly a private story.
2 Likes
… the directive was still in effect in 2016 … less than five years ago …
the directive might have been but surely there were parameters around what could be said?
EDIT: There was a social media policy in 2009 (possibly earlier, I didn’t go back any further) which at least set some definitions about how it be used.
5 Likes
… interesting … I was dragged out of retirement as a sort of “bucket list” thing and rejoined the ABC as an on-air presenter in 2011 … I received an email from the state program director telling me that he had set up an log-in for me on the ABC TweetDeck and the instruction that I was to create my own personal Twitter account and “tweet something every day”, but it didn’t include any reference to a policy … I shouldn’t be surprised should I
2021 ABC Heywire winners announced
ABC Heywire celebrates 35 young regional Australians in its 2021 storytelling competition.
Since 1998, Heywire has become a powerful platform for rural youth to share their stories and make a difference in their communities.
This year, hundreds of people entered from across Australia. The winners were chosen for “telling it like it is” about life in their part of the country.
From growing up in a refugee camp, to busting myths around Autism and celebrating LGBTQI pride. Lawn bowlers, bull riders, young farmers, linguists, female cricketers and disability advocates share what life is like for them in regional Australia.
Shakira, a proud young Jingili woman from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory is one of the latest Heywire winners.
“I’m pretty excited – I’ve never had an opportunity like this before, to tell my story on the radio. It’s pretty big,” she said.
“Tennant Creek is pretty small with not many people and opportunities for young people. It’s exciting to tell people about my story and my place.”
“I want people to know time is precious, don’t waste it. I want young people to know that they’ve got to be there for their parents and grandparents and value their stories and knowledge.”
Shakira is looking forward to seeing more stories like hers out there.
The Federal Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government, Mark Coulton MP, also applauded the successful entrants.
“Heywire continues to empower young regional, rural and remote Australians to share their stories, ensuring their voices are heard far and wide. It is why the Australian Government is proud to be an ongoing sponsor of the program.”
“Many of these young people have grown up facing issues like drought, bushfires, floods and now the COVID-19 pandemic, and they continue to put their best foot forward to drive change in their communities.” Minister Coulton said.
“I congratulate all 35 winners for sharing stories about what life is like in regional and rural Australia.”
Heywire winner Ku Htee from Bendigo, VIC said, “I’m over the moon. I didn’t think I was going to win. It feels so amazing to have my story heard, I’m so proud, so happy and so excited – I have so many emotions! I can’t believe I’m a winner.”
“A lot of my personal experience of growing up in a refugee camp in Thailand is in my story. I hope other people from refugee backgrounds hear my story and take every opportunity that comes their way.”
Ku Htee hopes her story will encourage people to make refugees feel welcomed and accepted in Australia, without any racism or discrimination.
Director of ABC Regional & Local, Judith Whelan, congratulated the annual competition winners on their stories.
“Heywire continues to be one of the most influential means for young people from regional and rural communities to be heard. And in these testing times it carries even more importance.”
It is impossible not be drawn into each and every one of the 35 outstanding stories from our 2021 Heywire winners. They are compelling and engaging and will, without doubt, have positive impacts on their communities.”
The Heywire program would not be possible without the support of the Australian Government through: The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications; The Department of Health; The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment; The Department of Education, Skills and Employment; The Department of Social Services and AgriFutures Australia.
The full list of Heywire winners and their stories are here: Winners - ABC Heywire
ABC launches diversity and inclusion commissioning guidelines for screen content
The ABC has released new commissioning guidelines to ensure more diverse faces, voices, cultures and stories are reflected and represented on Australian screens.
The ABC’s Diversity and Inclusion Commissioning Guidelines – Screen Content will deliver outstanding content to audiences by requiring production companies to provide greater access and opportunity to under-represented people and perspectives – on and off screen – including gender diversity, Indigenous Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people living with a disability and the LGBTQI+ community.
The guidelines build on the ABC’s commitment under its Charter to reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community, as exemplified by programs such as Total Control, Love on the Spectrum and First Day. The guidelines, which cover content commissioned across genres such as drama, comedy, children’s, factual and entertainment programs, will enrich the public broadcaster’s content by giving a platform to different voices, subjects and talent.
Michael Carrington, ABC Director Entertainment & Specialist, said: “Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do at the ABC. As a public broadcaster, we must reflect the audience we are serving and a broad range of perspectives, people and stories makes us stronger, more creative and better able to engage with and reflect the Australian community.
“While we already prioritise diversity and inclusion at the ABC, this is the first time we have prescribed guidelines to track progress towards our goal of looking and sounding like contemporary Australia. We’ve already taken steps in this direction but we need to do more to better reflect the wonderful diversity of this nation in an authentic way.
“The ABC’s new guidelines, alongside industry-wide initiatives through screen agencies and the Screen Diversity Inclusion Network, will help bring new voices, cultures and perspectives to audiences. We will work with our production partners to make the industry a more inclusive workspace, by opening the doors to diverse creative talent, on and off screen.”
The principle of “nothing about us without us” is key, ensuring that all productions about a specific diverse community or subject must include at least one person who is representative of that diversity within the core creative team.
The guidelines form part of the ABC’s commitment under its Five-Year Plan 2020-25 to look and sound like contemporary Australia. The guidelines also support and reflect the ABC’s Elevate Reconciliation Plan 2019-22 and Diversity & Inclusion Plan 2019-22.
Under the guidelines, producers will need to demonstrate how their content reflects authentic diversity and inclusion in its subject matter or cast, as well as diversity in key creative, production and crew roles. The guidelines also set out a framework for creating practical and meaningful opportunities for under-represented groups to advance their careers.
Click here to read the ABC’s Diversity and Inclusion Commissioning Guidelines – Screen Content.