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Supporting the independence of our national broadcasters
Minister for Communications The Hon Michelle Rowland MP Media Release Monday 16 December, 2024 The Albanese Government is affirming the independence of the national broadcasters with additional ongoing funding for the ABC and the announcement today of its commitment to legislate five-year funding terms for the ABC and SBS. The Government will deliver additional funding to the ABC of $83.1 million over 2 years from 2026-27, followed by ongoing funding [...]
Kim Williams National Press Club
Address by ABC Chair Kim Williams AM National Press Club 27 November 2024 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to be back at the National Press Club. After an absence of more than a decade, it is welcome to catch up with old friends and colleagues and hopefully to make new ones. I commence by offering acknowledgement to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the traditional custodians on these ancestral lands and [...]
Kim Williams-investment and regulation needed to fund Australian stories
ABC News | Hanna Story | November 6, 2024 ABC chair Kim Williams says investment is needed to fund the production of Australian stories, as he also calls for the ABC to be "aggressively, consciously ambitious" in its storytelling. In a wide-ranging conversation with Screen Producers Australia (SPA) CEO Matthew Deaner, which streamed on Facebook Live today, Williams said the formula for meeting Australia's creative ambitions is a mixture of investment [...]
ABC should be last broadcaster standing
New chair Kim Williams says ABC should be ‘last broadcaster standing’ & News Corp’s criticism is ‘unbalanced’ The Guardian | August 11, 2024 | Amanda Meade: Former News Corp CEO says Murdoch company’s obsession with the public broadcaster is ‘fairly unhinged’ and should largely be ignored. Kim Williams, the current chair of the ABC, wants the organisation to be “the last broadcaster standing” and one of his first acts has [...]
Inside the overhaul at the ABC
The Saturday Paper | December 23, 2023 |Scott Mitchell Six months into a landmark restructure, with more staff leaving and show cancellations mounting, there are increasing doubts over whether the ABC’s strategy to secure its future with a younger audience can succeed. The national broadcaster’s internal ructions found strong public resonance this month with the axing of The Drum. For some viewers lamenting the demise of the current affairs panel show, [...]
Remaking The ABC
Editorial: Remaking the ABC | The Saturday Paper | June 26, 2024 When Kim Williams wants to make a point, he looks a person dead in the eye. He does not shy from confrontation. He does not blink. In his first major speech as chair of the ABC, Williams has articulated a strident vision for the national broadcaster. It will be bigger, smarter and more willingly self-critical. Williams is not afraid [...]
The Conversation – Kim Williams
ABC chair Kim Williams calls for public broadcaster to be ‘national campfire’ and to understand its audiences better June 19, 2024 Misha Ketchell – Editor New ABC chair KimWilliams has said the public broadcaster should become a reimagined “National Campfire”, fostering a stronger sense of community togetherness and conversation in a world increasingly fragmented by social media. Williams also said the ABC must understand its audiences better and warned [...]
ABC Chair ‘areas for improvement’
The Guardian | Amanda Meade | June 19,2024ABC has ‘areas for improvement’ but can be force for ‘togetherness’, broadcaster’s chair says In wide-ranging speech, Kim Williams says digital age has led to ‘fragmentation’ at the ABC and warns against ‘insidious and dangerous’ ideas of censorship ABC chair Kim Williams has outlined his vision for the ABC as a cultural force for national cohesion in the face of threats from the [...]
The ABC of craven capitulation
www.theshot.net.au The Shot | By Jo Dyer June 3, 2024 It’s ironic that the Sydney Writers’ Festival event at which Laura Tingle made what has become a bizarrely infamous comment about the pervasive racism of Australian society was a live version of the Insiders we used to have when we used to have nice things on the ABC. Back when David Speers was safely sequestered as one of the saner [...]
Laura Tingle’s statement
ABC Posted 29 May, 2024 Statement by Laura Tingle, 7.30 Chief Political Correspondent For much of the past two weeks, the political debate has focused not on the federal Budget but on the Leader of the Opposition's budget reply in which he pledged to cut migration to deal with the housing crisis. I have written and broadcast on this decision and its implications on ABC platforms numerous times since then. [...]
Laura Tingle’s ‘counselling’, – ABC risks giving the bullies a victory
The Guardian | Margaret Simons | Saturday June 1, 2024 In publicising Laura Tingle’s ‘counselling’, the ABC risks giving the bullies a victory. No matter what the national broadcaster does, News Corp and the Australian will keep gnawing at it There are a few things we can assume the ABC board and executive know only too well. First, News Corporation, and the Australian newspaper in particular, will always attack the ABC. [...]
Social Media Announcement
May 12, 2024: Today I have announced that the Malinauskas Government is taking nation-leading action to protect our children from social media. We’re examining banning children under the age of 14 from having social media accounts. South Australia would also require parental consent for children aged 14 to 15 to have a social media account. We are seeing mounting evidence from experts of the adverse impact of social media on [...]
Truthful, not neutral:
Crikey | Alexandra Wake | March 26, 2024 Why the ABC’s ‘impartiality’ warning isn’t the full story. The ABC’s chair Kim Williams has come out firing in his first week in the role, telling journalists they must acknowledge the broadcaster’s statutory requirement to be impartial or walk out the door. Often, it’s not that simple. It’s always been one of the most difficult things to teach young people, but if they want [...]
Kim Williams and ABC Turmoil
Can Kim Williams resolve the ABC turmoil? The Saturday Paper | February 3, 2024 | Quentin Dempster As a child, Kim Williams was obsessed with Lego. At the age of 11, he became the national champion. His mind has always been analytical. He has always wanted to be excellent. In business, he has a reputation as a fierce interrogator of data. His management style is fixed on the practical [...]
Kim Williams to replace Ita Buttrose as ABC Chair
The Guardian | January 24 |2024 |Tory Shepherd and Josh Butler Kim Williams, a former chief executive of News Corp Australia, will replace Ita Buttrose as chair of the ABC. Prime minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement follows union members’ vote of no confidence in managing director David Anderson The prime minister, announced Williams’ nomination on Wednesday morning. Buttrose said last year she and she will finish in the role in March. Albanese [...]
Kim Williams – Announced as Chairman of the ABC
The Guardian | January 24,2024 | Alan Sunderland Kim Williams is more than just a former Murdoch boss, but his new role does not make it his ABC. The public broadcaster is under siege. Williams must focus on bringing staff and management together again The ABC has a new chairman in Kim Williams and once again across the media landscape the hares are running. You can take your pick: he’s a former Murdoch [...]
Inside the overhaul at the ABC
The Saturday Paper www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au December 23, 2023 | Scott Mitchell Six months into a landmark restructure, with more staff leaving and show cancellations mounting, there are increasing doubts over whether the ABC’sstrategy to secure its future with a younger audience can succeed. The national broadcaster’s internal ructions found strong public resonance this month with the axing of The Drum. For some viewers lamenting the demise of the current affairs panel [...]
ABC News and The Drum
ABC statement December 12,2023 The ABC has today announced proposed changes that will focus ABC NEWS Channel on its core roles of continuous news, breaking news and news video production, geared to service strong demand from digital audiences, and also expand the role of the Asia Pacific Newsroom as the home of specialist coverage on our region. As part of these changes, ABC TV program The Drum will not be [...]
Speech by David Anderson MD of The ABC
Following are the concluding remarks of a speech given by the Managing Director of the ABC, David Anderson, on 17 November 2023 at The Annual Dinner of ABC Friends, Victoria. Link to the full speech "So we look to the future with confidence. An ABC that is the most trusted media source in the country, an institution that promotes good citizenship, fortifies our democracy and contributes to [...]
Australians demand Independent ABC Board
70% Australians Demand Independent Selection for ABC Board Australia Institute The survey was taken between 29 August and 1 September 2023, with nationally representative samples by gender, age group and state/territory. A further 406 South Australians and 127 Queenslanders were sampled to produce more precise results, but weighting was used to ensure that people from these states were not over-represented in national results. Key findings: Seven in 10 [...]
Are Streaming services willing the battle ?
The streaming services winning the battle for attention, and the feature Australians want. SBS web site Source: AAP / Jenny Kane/AP It's not subscription platforms like Netflix that Australians are spending the most time watching, according to a new report, which also revealed they want a feature that would make finding content easier. Australians are steadily reducing streaming services subscriptions amid cost of living pressures, a new report has [...]
ABC Consumer Support Falls
The ABC has issues its Annual Report see Link to full report The SMH reporter Calum Jaspan has written a summary piece detailing all the critical (performance) elements. Here is a Link to the pdf file.
Digital News Report
University of Canberra Digital News Report 2023 Description This report is part of a long-running international survey coordinated by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, an international research centre in the comparative study of journalism based at Oxford University. The report delivers comparative data on media usage in 46 countries and across 6 continents. There is good news for the industry this year. The number of people paying [...]
Freedom of press barons
PEARLS AND IRRITATIONS -John Menadue's Public Policy Journal Geoff Davis September 23, 2023 The ‘disinformation’ (read: lies and bullshit) being propagated about the indigenous Voice to Parliament by the Murdoch media, among others, harms our society. It promotes division, celebrates and cultivates ignorance and bigotry, oppresses a minority and diminishes us all. Why do we tolerate such behaviour? Such News Corp behaviour has become normal. Any person or any [...]
ABC Emergency Services
ABC Press Release September 18,2023 The ABC is helping prepare communities for an increase in fire and weather activity during the spring and summer months with an emergency information campaign across radio, online and social media. The campaign coincides with Red Cross Emergency Ready Week which runs from 18 – 24 September. With above average temperatures forecast in the coming months, the ABC campaign provides important information on how [...]