The ABC’s ratings rescue mission is long overdue

The ABC’s news division has been underperforming for years, according to our readers who have their say.

Cartoon: Johannes Leak

The Australian revealed earlier this week that ABC journalists are being sent back to training in a bid to improve the flagship 7pm news, which is suffering from declining ratings. Improving the storytelling on the news is a key ambition of a “7 keys for 7pm” strategy document obtained by The Australian’s Stephen Brook. Last week ABC News attracted about 660,000 viewers in the mainland capital cities. This compares with about 760,000 viewers a year ago. Here's how what our readers have to say ...

Letters to the Editor

Blame for the ABC’s dire ratings can be slated home to the news division’s poor performance over many years (“ABC scrambles to rescue ratings”, 21/5). The blatant lack of any attempt to report political matters with balance is there for all to see and hear, on a daily basis.

My husband and I belong to the main demographic of ABC TV news viewers, but we no longer watch any ABC news or current affair programs, with the exception of business news, which is underfunded and placed in weak timeslots.

The cause of the biased reporting by ABC journalists can be found in the media courses in Australian universities; clear out those institutions of the lefties poisoning the minds of their students against a free, capital-based society, and there may be hope for balanced story telling at some time in the future.

Kate Foot, Sydney, NSW

ABC management and presenters might re-read and digest the terms of the charter that requires it to speak for a range of Australians, including those outside inner-city, green-left enclaves. They might direct more attention to rural battlers who feel alienated by the lack of interest in their struggles.

It’s not just the evening news or 7.30, but the attitudes and choices of panellists on programs such as The Drum and Q&A that make viewers switch channels. If the ABC aired some views from the centre, it might regain attention.

Ruth Bonetti, The Gap, Qld

Evidence that viewers are deserting ABC news is hardly a surprise. The ABC seems to have perfected the art of telling us what we already know. Its once-admired news division has dumbed itself down to the point where the chasm between the once high-quality ABC offering and that of junk commercial news networks has become wafer thin.

John Simpson, Melbourne, Vic

The ABC’s problem is not that its journos do not know how to write properly — although at times I wonder — it is their insistence on substituting opinion for factual reporting. ABC news and current affairs programs push a leftist agenda as opposed to objective reporting. All the writing workshops in the world will not change this mindset. The only way ABC journalists will increase their viewer numbers is to report the news, not present their idea of how the world should be.

And if Aunty is serious, she will give due consideration to employing a range of journalists with a range of political opinions.

Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic

The ABC should ask the people who have stopped listening — there are thousands of them out there. We all know what ABC presenters are going to say before they say it; we don’t get news, we get opinions.

And I am sick of being treated to so-called comedians who are about as funny as toothache, and rely on smut to get a laugh. A lesson on writing is not going to cure what ails the ABC. A new broom would be a good start

David J. Syme, Mollymook, NSW

Not before time, ABC management has decided to shake up its evening news bulletin in the wake of falling ratings. In part, this is to remind reporters “what producers are looking for”. Surely listeners and viewers are more important than ABC producers, but perhaps the problem is more deep seated. Getting back to reporting unblemished news is surely the ABC’s remit rather than the addition of sometimes sly commentary. Editorialising is for the commentary pages, not the news sections.

Peter Curlewis, Yass, NSW

Like my parents and grandparents did all their lives, I once started my day with the ABC radio news, and always watched the evening TV news. This allowed a well-informed start and finish to the day. About 10 years ago we just stopped.

Now ABC news ratings have dropped dramatically, and ABC staff are being sent to spin classes so they can present their left-wing agenda more acceptably. How good would the spin have to be to convince listeners to accept reports from the ABC economics expert who thinks company tax is paid on revenue not profit?

Any other organisation that refused to adhere to its charter, lost its customers, and paid staff as much as a cabinet minister — and then cries poor — would be out of business.

Ian Brake, Mackay, Qld