The ministerial announcement this week, outlining ongoing funding for the ABC, was clearly pitched to convince voters of a ‘strong government commitment’ to supporting the national broadcaster. But as Alumni director Quentin Dempster explains, it’s more spin than substance. The Minister’s budget 'increase' is tiny when compared to more than half a billion dollars that's been cut from the ABC’s budget over the last eight years, rising to around $700 million when defunding of the ABC’s crucial in...
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Dangerous and worrying times
For many ABC staff it’s an ambition to become an overseas correspondent or cameraperson. It’s a rare opportunity to travel to extraordinary locations and cover major events. Yet the work of the foreign correspondent often means dealing with dangerous and life-threatening situations whether it be war, terrorists attacks, natural disasters or terrible tragedies. John Tulloh spent nearly 20 years assigning ABC correspondents and crew around the world. Their safety and security have been forefront ...
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ABC Alumni Statement: Government’s ABC Funding Announcement
ABC Alumni welcomes the government’s announcement that indexation of the ABC’s operational budget will be restored, and that the funding for Enhanced News Gathering in regional and rural Australia will continue.
However, the government’s claim that, overall, the public broadcasters’ budgets have been increased must be treated with caution. Coalition governments since 2014 have cut more than half a billion dollars, cumulatively, from the ABC’s direct funding. The ABC lost almost $200 million m...
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How terrorism in Munich led to ABC’s first ‘live’ report
In the early hours of 5th September 1972, the Munich Olympic Games were rocked by a terrorist attack. Eight terrorists from the Palestinian organisation Black September (BSO) seized members of the Israeli Olympic team, killing two in the initial attack, with nine more Israeli athletes and officials taken hostage – and worse to come. Six days earlier, John Highfield thought he’d finished his current affairs reporting assignment at the Olympics, but within hours he was back in Munich, an eyewitne...
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Welcome to 2022
Around the world, growing government hostility is threatening independent media who do their job, ask tough questions, and hold the powerful to account. Here Alan Sunderland explains why the recent UK government’s announcement to freeze the BBC licence fee for the next two years, and potentially eradicate it, is about a lot more than funding models and has worrying parallels with what has been happening to the ABC for several years. By Alan Sunderland / 25 January 2022
In Berlin recently, anti-...
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Australian Culture: Heard but not seen
There was a time when academics rarely talked about their work to anyone outside of the universities, a time when Australia was so genuflective to Britain and Europe that it lacked a distinctive cultural voice.
And then came the ABC. Or more specifically, the radio service now known as RN – Radio National.
With the ABC celebrating its 90th Anniversary in 2022, ABC Alumni is publishing a series of articles throughout the year, ranging from little-known history to recollections of significant an...
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ABC now crucial to the survival of local TV production
With global video streamers capturing more and more Australian eyeballs from the wi fi modems linked to their smart TVs, the ABC has emerged as perhaps a last chance saloon for original local drama, documentary and entertainment programs.
By Quentin Dempster 9 December 2021An ABC-commissioned report by Deloitte Access Economics just released reveals that from 2017 to 2020 the ABC’s taxpayer investment contributed “at least” $744m to the Australian economy and supported more than 8300 full time ...
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ABC now crucial to the survival of local TV production
With global video streamers capturing more and more Australian eyeballs from the wi fi modems linked to their smart TVs, the ABC has emerged as perhaps a last chance saloon for original local drama, documentary and entertainment programs.
By Quentin Dempster 9 December 2021An ABC-commissioned report by Deloitte Access Economics just released reveals that from 2017 to 2020 the ABC’s taxpayer investment contributed “at least” $744m to the Australian economy and supported more than 8300 full time ...
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ABC now crucial to survival of local TV production
A new report from Deloitte Access Economics shows that the ABC’s commitment to local drama, documentary and entertainment boosts the Australian economy by hundreds of millions of dollars and has far-reaching benefits for the independent film industry and beyond, supporting thousands of jobs across many sectors and locations throughout the country. Quentin Dempster has been analysing the report.By Quentin Dempster / 8 December 2021
With global video streamers capturing more and more Australian e...
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Five Year Funding: Labor Pledge
The future of the ABC has been occupying the minds of politicians of all persuasions recently, for a variety of reasons. But with the welcome news that the ALP will introduce a five-year funding model and restore indexation if it wins office in 2022, is the national broadcaster becoming a major election issue or a political football? Greg Wilesmith reports.By Greg Wilesmith / 3 December 2021
ABC Alumni applauds the decision of the Labor Party to introduce a five-year funding model for the ABC a...
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