Page 488 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 8 March 2006
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broadcast programs that contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the culture of diversity of, the Australian community.
Is Doyle right? The kind of program we find on commercial stations is not engaging. It does not explore our cultural identity. The only culture I find on weeknight commercial television—if I turn it on, which I must admit is not likely—is the cringe kind. It is cultural cringe: the Gen Xers and Yers shut up in houses 24/7 for months on end getting intoxicated and behaving badly; soap operas full of emotional angst; endless B list celebrities learning to dance or lose weight and people trying to win loads of cash or wanting to be the next pop music flop. They go through other ridiculous processes. What lame excuses for television are these?
Last year the ABC produced only 20 hours of new Australian drama. This is an all time low in the 50-year history of ABC television. It is a national disgrace. It is time the federal government fully recognised the ABC’s role and responsibility in nourishing, promoting and sharing the culture of Australia.
I have become very concerned lately about what I see as the increasing politicisation of the commercial broadcast media outlets and a number of national print media outlets. There are a number of journalists and commentators who are openly associated with one side of politics. These journalists are blatantly flouting the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance journalism code of ethics. A particular commentator for a Sydney daily tabloid and a particular Sydney breakfast radio host come to mind. I am sure that we all know whom we are talking about.
What I find most appalling is that these outlets allow their journalists, who work for them obviously, to blatantly flout their own code of ethics. John Doyle highlights this, telling us that he worked “with a high profile journalist on a commercial network … who stated that his ambition was to work as Peter Costello’s press secretary when he assumed the Prime Ministership”. He might have a while to wait, I suggest.
Reputable media organisations should remain completely non-partisan. At the moment I fear that the ABC is the only organisation that is currently doing so. What also concerns me is the quality of the reporting from some of the commercial media outlets. There is only so much of the drivel that is served up as so-called commercial current affairs that we can stand. How do we stand it; how long can we stand it?
I fear that in the current media climate the only media organisation that can deliver real news from an independent perspective is the ABC. In saying that, we would benefit from more, rather than less. As I mentioned previously, we now have local ABC TV news and we are very grateful to have it. However, the local content could certainly increase significantly.
For the sake of independent journalism with integrity, for the sake of good locally produced content, for the sake of the need to develop and provide new media technologies and for the sake of good coverage of local events, I am here today asking the Assembly to support the ABC and for the Chief Minister to convey that support to the federal government in the light of the current triennial funding submission before the
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