Working in volatile countries can be challenging, but with a network of contacts built up over many years, producer Vivien Altman achieved remarkable access to stories for which she has been recognised by many awards. Continuing our 90th Anniversary series, and in the week celebrating 30 years of Foreign Correspondent, Vivien here gives an anatomy of a difficult and potentially dangerous assignment in the Latin American country of Colombia, which was a powder keg when she was there but will soo...

With conflicts across the globe, including in our own region, ABC’s flagship international program has never been more important. And the credit goes to reporters, producers, researchers, camera crews, editors and other skilled staff who have kept the program prominent, even in times when the ABC itself showed scant support. Former executive producer Greg Wilesmith has this tribute.It’s been a wild ride for Foreign Correspondent By Greg Wilesmith / 27 July 2022 For many years at the start of th...

He’s been called ‘a cuddly koala’, ‘a supercilious clot’, and lots else besides. In this latest story in our series celebrating ABC’s 90th Anniversary, veteran broadcaster Tim Bowden looks back on his years presenting ‘Backchat’, the popular twice-weekly program (1986-1994) where viewers sent their bouquets and brickbats to the national broadcaster. And in two new and timely ‘Chatback’ videos for ABC Alumni – Scotty and Lachlan – Tim shows he hasn’t lost his trademark wit – or that wry smile! B...

As several commentators have noted this week, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp outlets have gone ‘rogue’ on election coverage, making no attempt to comply with one of the media’s primary obligations to a democratic society — the provision of truthful news coverage. Instead, the dominant commercial media player has become a truth-distorting propagandist for one side, the Liberal-NLP Coalition, and has blatantly attacked Labor, Greens and independents, often without a shred of evidence. Both the Press ...