Friends of the ABC (NSW) Inc. qu a r terly newsletter June-July 2002 Vol 14, No. 2 up d a t e friends of the abc Friends applaud Reaching Audiences Wherever They Balding Live: The Public Broa d c a s t e r ’ s Duty appoint- Extracts from an address Russell Balding made to a recent conference. ment of Commonwealth Broadcasters in the U.K. NSW Friends President Penelope 2002 is the Year of the Outback. The ABC has three distinct delivery Toltz, said the new Chief Executive, So it’s very appropriate I should be platforms: radio, which began in 1932, as acting Managing Director since addressing this audience about the Television (1956) and our internet site, Jonathan Shier’s unlamented depar- ways the ABC broadcasts beyond the ABC Online, which started in 1995. ture, had returned stability to the cities and extends its reach throughout ABC and confidence to its execu- the entire Australian continent. With almost 700 combined terres - tives. “Russell Balding has demon- trial and satellite transmitters, ABC tele- strated that he is a team player,” vision programs reach more than Penelope said “He has managed the 96% of the population, and radio ABC collectively in tandem with his more than 98%. executive group, working together. There has been no chaos. It’s been a ABC Online, our Internet site, is time for healing and production. the most popular of our new media The ABC has returned to concen- of ferings. We are a country of 19.1 m. trating on broadcasting. Its latest rat- people where about 35% of Australian ings reflect its resurgence. As Mr households have internet access, Balding himself has said, the ABC is 98% have televisions, and there ar e looking good, refreshed and bringing over 25 million radios. Inside:- Stewart Fist, Robyn its audiences back. Williams, Hugh MacKay, Continued on page 2 David Salter and Ken Inglis “Since Mr Balding’s background is particularly strong in finance, there is an expectation that future negotia- tions with the government will suc- ceed in securing proper funding for the public broadcaster, if Mr Balding is to achieve his goals of expanding Australian content, including drama. The ABC would need to make a convincing submission to the govern- ment when the ABC's triennial fund- ing comes under review in the lead up to the next federal budget. In the neighbouring columns you’ll see an abridged version of Mr "Synthetic" Test Cricket broadcast in 1934: L-R seated: CJA Moses,EL A'Beckett,Mel Balding’s address last year to a con- Morris,Bernard Kerr, Jim Hall.Standing L-R: A Grey, MA Noble, J Duffecy, Dion Wheeler, ference of international broadcasters. RH Campbell,Clem Hill,CE Pellew, PC Harrison. It reads rather like a manifesto. MORE ARCHIVE PHOTOS ON PAGES 10 -11 Continued on page 7 Russell Balding on Public Broadcaster Duty Bias as a straw man Continued from Page 1 Stifling debate and dissent While we broadcast throughout An ‘argument’ is rife in some the entire country, we also bring sections of the press that it is un- The Prime Minister has also back through each of our platforms Australian to write and speak been on the attack - against local material from the regions and against government policies Lateline: deliver it to a national audience. because they are supported by a ‘He accused the ABC of running large majority of Australians. a "strong campaign against the Were it not for the ABC, much of government" on asylum seekers ... the rural and remote perspective that This view is pushed by some He objected to the "emphasis" makes Australia unique would not be politicians. At the federal Liberal available to the majority of council meeting 12/4 party presi- which Lateline had "put on this Australians - more than 85% of us dent Shane Stone mounted a sus- issue." live in the coastal towns and cities. tained attack on the media and its ‘Whatever the present weak- but we must never allow our commu- alleged mistreatment of John nesses of the ABC, it presents a nities to become isolated. How do Howard in particular and his gov- greater diversity of views than a we reach these audiences beyond ernment in general. decade ago when John Howard did the cities? ‘Stone simply chose not to even not make any public criticisms of the organisation. Lateline genuinely ABC Radio reaches about 98% mention many consistent media supporters of the Coalition and believes in debate - so much so of Australians, and beyond the cities that it regularly features supporters a suite of five services is available: seemed completely unaware that of the Prime Minister, including for- Classic FM for fine music, Radio there were almost no media bar- mer Howard adviser Grahame National for arts and talks, Triple J rackers for Kim Beazley - and still Morris and former Liberal MP the youth music network, and virtually none for Simon Crean. Michael Baume. The Howard NewsRadio, a rolling 24 hour news Media opponents of the Government's position on asylum service. Most relevant to this discus- Government tend to also criticise seekers has been heard on Lateline sion, however, is ABC Local Radio. Labor, albeit from the left.’ - and rightly so.’ It is not a media conspiracy to In this reg a r d, local means exactly which Stone and other conserva- that these stations draw on local Gerard Henderson tives object but criticism and critical stories and news and matters of The Age 29/4/02 debate. They should be reminded interest to local communities, pro- that without criticism there can be duced by staff who live and work there. ABC Local Radio is currently no democracy. a network of 58 stations across the country, 49 of those Local to provide programs that reflect the When one by one during Radio stations are outside the cultural diversity of the Australian the last two decades coun- major metropolitan areas. community. To understand the coun- try towns in Australia were try, you have to capture the special being left behind, when the This now means that over 8,000 qualities of Australia that lie beyond banks and the railway stations, the hours p.a. of new local programming the cities. Without the ABC the voic- hospitals and the schools from outside the cities is available to es of country Australia might other- all closed, ABC Radio local audiences, thus reducing dra- wise fall silent. Without the ABC the remained. matically the amount of syndicated stories of country Australia might material. otherwise be lost. Sometimes towns that had once gathered around those institutions Television: The footprint of our It is an investment more about began to fade as the institutions dis- television services clearly demon- social and cultural values than about appeared. There is enormous social strates we are broadcast- economics. Just like public broad- cost to that - a price paid for the ing to and reaching audi- casting itself. And just like public process that politicians and business ences well beyond those broadcasting, you couldn’t possibly leaders described as micro- e c o n o m i c of the capital cities. create it again…but you could easily reform, the drive to do things more lose it. cost-effectively, to make savings by The Internet: Uppermost in ABC For almost seventy years, ABC delivering services from a central Online’s thinking is the principle of Radio has been there for these location and deliver a dividend to the equity of access for those living in communities. Its presence mattered bottom line . those regions of Australia disadvan- mo s t of all during that era that peo- taged by the limits of non-city tech- The ABC did not, will not and ple in this room may be familiar with nology. cannot adopt such a strategy. - the last two decades where the bottom line dominated the thinking One of our Charter obligations is of governments throughout the world. Pre s i d e n t ’ s Report Welcome to our bumper issue We have become an organisa- Some of our groups are hold- of Update celebrating the Australian tion with its own web site and a ing special 70th Birthday celebra- Broadcasting Corporation’s 70th Friends' chat room known as the tions. We have included all notices anniversary. Friends List. We have telephone received before our deadline. trees throughout New South However if there is none The organisation has had many Wales, and there are trees in other from your local group, ups and downs over its 70 years. I states as well. We have run the please check our web am reminded of Ken Inglis' book first ABC Shareholders' meeting in site and the ABC ‘This is the ABC’ in which he talks New South Wales and similar Friends List which will be about the troubles that those events all over Australia and have continually updated with what all working at the ABC had with man- events throughout the year that the groups are planning for the agement as soon as people were enable Friends to meet like-mind- 70th Birthday. permitted to talk. While the ABC ed people. played music there were no prob- We have a new Editor for Update, Brian Davies, a former lems but once the spoken word As I write, the ABC still lacks ABC current affairs producer and came over the airwaves --- Often a Managing Director. However, it writer, and I am delighted to wel- Big Trouble. seems to be running perfectly well come him on board. In other parts with acting Managing Director However we are all so proud of of the magazine you will see pho- Russell Balding at the helm.