A few days ago we posted Greg Wilesmith’s reaction to the evidence given to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion by Ms Jillian Segal AO, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism. In that evidence Ms Segal emphasised how important, in her view, was the obligation on the ABC Board, under s8[i][c] of the ABC Act, “to make sure” (in her words) “the reporting is accurate”.  “Accurate, and impartial according to the recognised standards of objective jo...

ABC Alumni’s Jonathan Holmes raised the alarm about the threats to the ABC’s independence implicit in the Report by Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal AO, when it came out last July.  We raised the same points, in more detail, in our submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion soon after it was set up in the wake of the Bondi massacre.  Last week, Jillian Segal gave evidence to the Royal Commission a...

Warm congratulations to our friends at ABC Friends for a wonderful celebration this past weekend of their 50th anniversary at the historic Capitol Theatre in Melbourne.Sunday’s event featured a panel of prominent media personalities including Denis Muller, Nicole Chvastek and Jonathan Green. The discussion was MC’d by Amanda Smith, former ABC presenter of The Sports Factor, Life Matters, Sporty amongst many other contributions. The panel discussed the real and present dangers to the ABC and th...

As the Australian Parliament tables legislation to require streaming services to expend a percentage of their revenue on original Australian content, ABC Alumni Chair, Dr Michael Ward, and Director, Sandra Levy, unpack the cost to Australians of accessing quality original Australian programs behind their paywalls. They present a compelling argument for increased funding for quality Australian content available on ABC and SBS free-to-air streaming platforms, and for increasing Screen Australia's...

Michael Ward, Chair, ABC Alumni, provides insights into the ABC’s social media presence and the increasing significance of social media for news media. There has been much coverage of the ABC and social media over the past eighteen months, invariably not to its benefit.  Yet the increasing significance of social media to organisations like the ABC, if not as noteworthy, is important. Media regulator, ACMA, reports that 20 million Australians use Facebook, and 7 million people use TikTok, includ...

This week ABC Radio National’s ‘The Science Show’ celebrates its 50th anniversary. Above all, it’s a celebration of a remarkable broadcaster, Robyn Williams AO FAA, who has presented the program for the whole of those five decades. In that time, Williams has become revered by scientists, broadcasters and listeners around the world. Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett calls him ‘an absolute bloody legend’. And much-loved satirist, the late John Clarke, always credited Williams with laun...