The recent Stan Grant controversy threw up a host of important issues, among them the way in which the ABC supports its staff, diversity in the newsroom and racism. But it also raised the tricky issue of where the ABC draws the line between analysis and opinion, and whether ABC journalists are being given too much freedom to share their views. ABC Alumni Board member and former Editorial Director Alan Sunderland explores this important issue…When Does Analysis Become Opinion? “I have opinions o...

The Federal Budget is in, and the news for the ABC is promising. No more cuts, no more freezes, and some modest improvements. But as Alan Sunderland writes, the biggest problem – the long-term significant underfunding of the ABC – remains.What the Federal Budget means for the ABC The first thing to say about the 2023 Federal Budget is that it’s a relief not to have a government hell-bent on cutting, freezing and starving the ABC into submission. There have been a series of positive measures in ...

By Alex Butler and Fay Woodhouse A recently discovered 1970s government report provides an intriguing insight into a short-lived experiment in ABC broadcasting history. Radio 3ZZ in Melbourne, established concurrently with the Sydney youth station 2JJ, pioneered community access and multiculturalism in public broadcasting. But after only two years of operation, on 16 July 1977, the multilingual station was forcibly closed at the direction of the Federal Government, assisted by the Commonwealth ...

By Quenting Dempster 3 February 2023 The news this week that high profile journalist Laura Tingle has thrown her hat in the ring for the election of the next staff-elected director (SED) on the ABC Board has surprised many colleagues, past and present. Former staff-elected director and now Alumni director Quentin Dempster looks behind the headlines with this backgrounder on the SED position and why it’s important.Laura Tingle: the next ABC staff-elected director? UPDATE: Laura Tingle was annou...

The recent ACMA ruling on ABC Four Corners’ two-part program ‘Fox and the Big Lie’ sets a dangerous precedent, says ABC Alumni chair Jonathan Holmes. In a letter to ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin, Mr Holmes strongly argues that, in view of the judgments it has made in investigating the program, the ACMA cannot be taken seriously as an arbiter of journalistic practice. You can read the Alumni letter here.