Ita Goes Full ABC
“What would Australia look like without the ABC?” asks ABC chairlady Ita Buttrose, in a piece that reads as though it was written by an exhausted hostage.
“What would Australia look like without the ABC?” asks ABC chairlady Ita Buttrose, in a piece that reads as though it was written by an exhausted hostage:
The ABC has not only helped shape Australia, we are the national voice that unites us.
Great work bringing the nation together, guys.
It’s about democracy.
You weren’t elected, Ita.
Without the ABC we would have a balkanised and parochial bunch of broadcasters that are in danger of being compromised by profit and more intent on dividing than unifying.
Buttrose’s entire career was spent in “balkanised and parochial” media. Now she’s apparently confessing some form of division crime. The ABC, by the way, is compromised by taxpayer funding.
Imagine what it would be like during the bushfire season if we had to rely only on state-based or even regionally based media outlets.
When did Buttrose become so patronising and dismissive?
When we are in the middle of bushfires, don’t we want to know that they are being covered by a knowledgeable and experienced network of journalists with all the supporting infrastructure of a large national network?
Bushfires are local events. A “supporting infrastructure of a large national network” isn’t a factor. It may even be a hindrance.
The ABC, funded by all of us, regardless of our creed – race, age, political beliefs – is us.
Oh, God. She’s channelling Julia Gillard.
It’s the way we build cross-cultural understanding, the way we help each other in times of need.
Give me a break. ABC staffers won’t even take pay cuts when our economy is dying.
It’s who we are collectively. Why would anyone want to diminish that and make us less than who we are?
If you work at any other media organisation, you’re just a reporter covering news. If you’re at the ABC, you magically become Australia’s spiritual essence.
The strength of the ABC and its relationship with the nation comes from the very people who work for us. They are passionate about public broadcasting and are prepared to work for less than they would be paid by commercial media to deliver it.
So the 250 staff let go by the ABC this week will walk into even better jobs. Sure they will.
The creativity in the programs they produce, the dogged and independent journalism they pursue and the connection with communities everywhere they provide through conversations is at the very heart of what the ABC delivers to our audiences.
That sentence needs to be euthanised.
The ABC has a statutory requirement to operate as efficiently as possible.
It also has another requirement. Something about “impartiality”, maybe.
There is no other authority better placed to manage the ABC than the ABC itself.
Wow. Just wow.
We know our business …
The ABC is not a business.
… and we are determined to honour our commitment to independence. All Australians expect this of us just as they expect the Government to provide the appropriate funds to allow us to do so.
In other words, the ABC can only be independent if it remains dependent.
The ABC is essential in generating and preserving Australia’s democratic culture.
Let’s have a binding vote, then, on ABC funding. It’s the democratic way.