Battered ABC chief Michelle Guthrie throws counter-punch

ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie says the public resents the ABC’s enemies using it as a ‘punching bag’.

ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie says the public resents the ABC’s enemies using it as a “punching bag” and that the broadcaster contributes $1 billion to the wider economy — about the amount it costs taxpayers.

After months of attacks from political and business critics — including the government, which has criticised ABC journalism, and the Liberal Party members who voted to privatise the broadcaster — Ms Guthrie launched a counter-attack, saying the public and media industry was against privatisation.

“The people of Australia, who regard the ABC as one of the great national institutions … deeply resent it being used as a punching bag by narrow political, commercial or ideological interests,” she said. The public regarded the ABC as a priceless asset, more valuable now than ever in its history.

“I can appreciate that the ABC would fetch a high price in a commercial market. But does the public want a new media organisation that compromises quality and ­innovation for profit? Does the commercial sector want a new ­advertising behemoth in its midst? I think not.”

Later Ms Guthrie told the Melbourne Press Club that the Labor Party, in opposing the privatisation, was simply listening to “what people really want”.

She also engaged with ABC radio broadcaster Jon Faine, who last week criticised ABC management for not opposing attacks against the ABC strongly enough.

“I wouldn’t agree with you when you say that I hide from the media,” Ms Guthrie told Faine, who replied he had difficulty in ­interviewing her on his show.

“The key thing for me is … ­delivering,” she replied. “The more you speak the less you’re heard. Speaking with impact matters.”

ABC News Breakfast co-host Michael Rowland asked Ms Guthrie: “What do you make of the relentless and ill-founded daily assaults on the ABC by The Australian newspaper?’’

Ms Guthrie responded by saying that 7.30 host “Leigh Sales has more followers than read The Australian, so I think we’re OK’’.

Sales has 353,000 Twitter followers. The latest Emma readership numbers for March show that The Australian has almost 3.3 million readers across print and digital. The Australian has 661,000 on the paper’s main Twitter account.

Ms Guthrie said in her speech that the national broadcaster helped to sustain a total of 6500 jobs in the wider community and further cuts to its budget would “punish” audiences.

Calls to privatise the ABC were “misplaced” because the broadcaster contributed $1bn to the wider economy and was “helping to sustain” 2500 jobs outside the organisation in addition to its 4000 employees.

“It means that for every three full-time-equivalent jobs created by the ABC, there are another two supported in our supply chain — local artists, writers, technicians, transport workers and many more,” she said, citing preliminary findings of Deloitte Access Economics research. “There are 2500 jobs outside public broadcasting at risk in any move to curtail our remit and activities. I am proud of the ABC. I am proud of … the privileged position we hold in Australian history and our way of life. My aim in this speech is to demonstrate that value and to dismantle some of the arguments that are being used by critics to attack the national public broadcaster.”

Ms Guthrie said her restructure meant the ABC had surpassed her goal of spending 80 per cent of its funding on content.

“This financial year, 92 per cent of the ABC’s budget will be spent on making content, supporting content makers and distribution. This is a result that we are very proud of and I suspect many of our commercial counterparts would aspire to.”