The Guardian 5 April, 2006
Their ads on your ABC
Peter Mac
The Howard Government wants commercial advertising on the ABC. Senator Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, recently pointed out that ABC TV’s local drama production level (102 hours in 2001, only 20 hours in 2004-2005) is totally inadequate, and that the ABC should seek funding from commercial advertising.
This is part of the Government’s strategy to impose conservative political control over the national broadcaster. To bring this about, the Government is starving the ABC of funds, stacking its Board, and enforcing its gradual privatisation. The steely-eyed Senator commented enthusiastically: "It won’t be the same ABC it is today in a year’s time; we’re in for some very exciting changes."
As a first step, the Government wants to establish ABC Independent, an organisation which would commission drama productions from the private sector, virtually eliminating any possibility of the ABC producing its own in-house drama.
The financial burdens imposed by this policy, plus further expected cuts in Federal funding, would actually reduce the ABC’s ability to produce local drama. This in turn would allow the government to claim that the ABC is not meeting its obligations, and that paid advertising is the solution.
Good news for advertisers
PM John Howard has commented that imposing ads on the ABC was "unlikely to happen" — not because it would compromise the ABC’s independence, or because viewers would hate the commercial interruptions, but because it would rob commercial channels of advertising business!
This statement is a red herring. Howard’s real concern is to subject the ABC to conservative political control, not only by government pressure, but also by threats (implied or direct) to cease advertising if they disapproved of the content of ABC programs.
At the moment, the Government itself cannot issue directions to the ABC to introduce advertising — any such decision would be made by the ABC Board.
There are currently seven members on the ABC Board. The Managing Director, Russell Balding, is retiring shortly. The Government is also going to abolish the ABC staff representative position on the Board.
The current term of the ABC Chairman, Donald McDonald, will also end soon. McDonald was expected to transform the ABC to conform to the wishes of Howard, a personal friend. However, during Jonathan Shier’s disastrous period as Managing Director, McDonald became a defender of the ABC’s integrity and independence.
McDonald is even said to have threatened to publicly complain about the Government exerting political influence on the ABC. As a result, Liberals Party members now regard him as a traitor. According to The Bulletin, one Liberal said: "The major cultural war of the last 20 years has been against the left of the ABC … MacDonald has become our equivalent of John Kerr, and John Howard should have known he’d turn on us."
Sam Chisholm, former boss of Channel Nine has been suggested. His management style is similar to Shier’s. Howard is expected to approve of McDonald’s removal. There are no friends in business.
These changes to the membership of the Board would finally give the Government its long-sought control over the ABC.
The really big picture
The government intends to remove restrictions on media ownership, in order to transform the Australian media in favour of the powerful multinationals, and in line with its commitments under the Free Trade Agreement with the US.
However, the ABC Board’s formal role is to "… ensure that the functions of the Corporation are performed efficiently with maximum benefit to the people of Australia, and to maintain the independence and integrity of the Corporation." And that doesn’t fit the government’s picture at all.
For the ABC to meet these objectives, especially given the vastly expanded opportunities presented by digital TV broadcasting, funding must be increased.
The Board could accept advertising or other commercial practices (such as "outsourcing" the ABC shops), in order to offset the current funding cuts. However, if it did so, the ABC’s funding situation would quickly come to resemble that of Australian universities, where any increases in commercial funding are followed by matching cuts in government funding.
According to the logic of this process, the ABC would end up entirely or mostly commercially-funded. The Government would even be free to sell off all or most of it as a profitable going concern.
That may be the name of the game.