26 Aug 2024 - It's not as simple as ABC

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G’day… Claire Kimball here. 

Thanks to those who participated in last week’s poll where we asked you whether the stories behind celebrity news were of interest to you - the overwhelming answer was ‘yes. if there’s some substance to it’. 

Confession time: that’s my general approach when it comes to absorbing news and information. There’s so much going on in the news that I am deeply interested in, and there needs to be a reason to stop and focus on celebrity stories. Don’t get me wrong, I’m down with gossip and keeping up with the zeitgeist as much as the next person - but there is a limit… 

This leads me to this week’s topic - what’s going on at the ABC? 

I tussled with committing to this one because it’s a bit inside-baseball (that is, it’s of interest to me because it’s a media story about the media), and much of the reporting (from the ABC and the commercial outlets) has to be served with a generous pinch of salt because it’s not like they don’t have a conflict of interest. Which is to say, a lot of it can feel like gossip.

But I know from past experiences that there is intense interest in the ABC - its output and how the organisation works. So, after last week’s announcement that CEO David Anderson is on his way out after a particularly tumultuous year, I thought you might be interested too. 

For this week’s News Club picks: 

1. The ABC’s job is to provide services that inform, educate, and entertain all Australians - but its audience numbers are in decline. According to its own figures, it dropped from reaching 70% of Aussies every week in 2022 to 65% in 2023 - mainly due to big falls in listeners to its radio programs. That trend has likely continued this year, analysts say. 

2. Another big issue: less than 8% of viewers of the ABC TV’s flagship 7pm news bulletin are under 40yo. Keeping younger audiences connected with news is an issue for all broadcasters, but a big one for ABC given it’s taxpayer-funded and getting news to as many Aussies as possible is part of its remit. Those issues and more were highlighted in this piece from the Financial Review. 

3. What are they doing about it? ABC Chairman Kim Williams got into it with former ABC TV 7.30 host Kerry O’Brien earlier this month in a conversation that’s been turned into a podcast. He said when he took up the role at the start of the year, he found an organisation “severely depleted and diminished” and “fractured into a series of tribes”. Their documentary output is “in a bad place”; its drama is “less distinctive” than it once was; and its news sometimes has a “tabloid sensibility”. So there’s a bit to work on… 

Spare a thought for Williams and the board as they look for a new managing director. That won’t be an easy one… 

Your friend in news

Claire Kimball

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