With the federal election campaign now officially underway, ABC Alumni today launches the first of a series of videos to inform the public of issues critical to the future of the ABC.In the first, ABC Alumni chair Jonathan Holmes reminds us that it is still Liberal Party policy to privatise the ABC; that cuts and indexation pauses have taken half a billion dollars out of the ABC’s budget since 2014; and that the party’s favourite think-tank, the IPA, believes that “the ABC is dangerous to democ...
Read More
Uncategorized
Alumni Statement: New ABC News Director
ABC Alumni welcomes the appointment of Justin Stevens to the crucial post of ABC Director of News, and congratulates him.
Justin is young for the post (only 37) and has had little experience in daily news, as opposed to current affairs. Just as his predecessor, Gaven Morris, had little experience in current affairs, as opposed to 24-hour news, when he got the job.
On the other hand, Justin has been EP of 7.30, the ABC’s most important daily current affairs program, for four years. Gaven’s prede...
Read More
In real terms, the ABC is still going backwards
Dave Sharma, the Liberal federal member for Wentworth in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, is fighting for his political survival against independent candidate Allegra Spender, who supports a well-funded ABC. In a recent election leaflet, Sharma claims that he has ‘helped secure a record increase in funding for the ABC’. With the help of former ABC executive Michael Ward (now at the University of Sydney), ABC Alumni chair Jonathan Holmes has been looking at the figures in the federal budget. Far from a...
Read More
Who needs the ABC?
Just released, the long-awaited book by academics Matthew Ricketson and Patrick Mullins – Who Needs the ABC? – is a thorough analysis of the ABC over recent decades and an unequivocal defence of the national broadcaster’s vital role in a healthy democracy. The ABC, they say, is now doing more than it ever has, with less funding than it needs and under a barrage of criticism – largely unwarranted. But, they warn, despite recent budget announcements, the future of the ABC is under very real threa...
Read More
Taim Bilong Time Part 2
In the 1980s Tim Bowden produced many of ABC Radio’s most outstanding audio documentaries. They were forerunners of today’s podcast genre, and led the way in oral history documentary-making in Australia. In the first of this two-part series, Tim told of his early career and the making of his iconic series ‘Taim Bilong Masta’, which examined Australia’s involvement in Papua New Guinea, pre-independence. Now in part two, Tim tells of his next, and arguably most important, series – ‘Prisoners of W...
Read More
Is the ABC abusing our privacy through tracking?
In recent weeks, controversy has ramped up over the ABC’s new iview policy requiring audiences to register compulsory log-in accounts. Critics say that this will allow audience data to be shared without consent to third parties such as Facebook and Google, and to others you may never have heard of. The Alumni’s technical expert Peter Marks shares some but not all of the critics’ concerns. Here he explains the issues.By Peter Marks, 19/3/2022
A YouTube video titled “Who’s watching what you watch...
Read More
Through flood and tempest: remembering cyclone Tracy
Over the last month much of the east coast of Australia has been devastated by flooding, among the worst in living memory. We’ve seen stories of extraordinary efforts to evacuate desperate residents from rising flood waters, and the tragedy of people left homeless and towns swamped deep in mud. Once again, the ABC has been reporting around the clock and providing critical community updates, continuing its long tradition as the nation’s emergency broadcaster. For many alumni, the scale of the cu...
Read More
Taim Bilong Tim
Long before podcast documentaries, ABC Radio pioneered the audio documentary genre with countless programs and series produced over several decades. Some of the most outstanding of these documentaries were made by Tim Bowden. He led the way in Australian oral history documentary-making with his iconic Taim Bilong Masta – a series looking at Australia’s involvement in Papua New Guinea, pre-independence – and with other landmark programs including Prisoners of War – Australians Under Nippon. In t...
Read More
Once an argonaut, always an argonaut
Between 1941 and 1972 The Argonauts Club was one of ABC Radio’s most successful children’s programs. In 1956 it was attracting 10,000 new members a year. Many went on to have illustrious careers, like broadcaster Margaret Throsby, satirist Barry Humphries, broadcaster and writer Robert Dessaix, journalist and writer Anne Summers and composer Peter Sculthorpe, to name just a few. Open to any child between the ages of 7 and 17 years, The Argonauts Club inspired creativity and inquiry for a genera...
Read More
It’s a good message, but who is listening?
As the ABC celebrates its 90th Anniversary, Managing Director David Anderson has penned a timely and heartfelt essay, giving a personal insight into the values of the public broadcaster to which he has devoted his entire working life. The MD covers everything from decision-making considerations to budget and other challenges of recent times, as well as his hopes and plans for the future. Former ABC Editorial Director Alan Sunderland offers this assessment. By Alan Sunderland / 17 February ...
Read More