Did a targeted social media campaign run on peanuts help secure a safer future for our ABC?

The ABC Alumni is but a tiny speck of people compared with our allies, the mighty Friends of the ABC. We are around 200 people who’ve worked at or with the ABC as journos, producers, techs, execs, film-makers and digital creatives, so we are at least good at ferreting out the root of a problem, making content and meeting a deadline (on crumbs).

Late last year, with the Federal election looming dateless, in the shadow of Trump’s attack on public broadcasting, accountability and facts, and Peter Dutton parroting much of his cant, the ABC Alumni Board decided the problem might be Dutton getting in, and we started hammering out an election campaign. We communicated closely with ABC Friends throughout, sharing data, ideas and strategies between us..

In this interview with Jonathan Holmes on 7am Podcasts broadcast on 15 April, Jonathan discusses on the Coalition’s plans for the ABC, and whether it’s possible to truly shield the national broadcaster from outside interference.

By ABC Alumni Board Director, and former Editorial Director of the ABC

Alan Sunderland

Previously published on ABC Online.

On 23 April 2024, former ABC National Arts Reporter Anne Maria Nicholson spoke to the Central Coast branch of ABC Friends NSW in Gosford.  This is an edited version of her speech.

Gavin Fang took up his appointment as Editorial Director in January this year.  One of the ABC’s most experienced news executives, he began his ABC career in 2000 in the Perth newsroom.  After a stint as the ABC’s correspondent in Jakarta, he took on a succession of ever-more senior editorial roles in ABC News, ending as Deputy Director of News.  Along the way he had a hand in devising the More Relevant to More Australians News policy, and was ABC News Diversity lead. 

The Editorial Director and his team of editorial advisors are responsible for ensuring that ALL ABC content, screen, audio and online, complies with the ABCs Editorial Polices and Standards.

ABC Alumni board director Quentin Dempster spoke to Gavin Fang for a webinar exclusively for ABC Alumni subscribers on Tuesday 19 March.  This is not a word-for-word transcript but a summary that has been approved by Gavin for wider distribution.

In his first major speech about the ABC since the May federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated a new era in government-ABC relations. Delivered at a gala dinner celebrating the national broadcaster’s 90th anniversary, the PM’s wide-ranging speech outlined the ABC’s crucial role in contributing to both social cohesion and a healthy democracy. He also reinforced his government’s commitment to a better-resourced, independent ABC and promised to review options for delivering greater financial sustainability to safeguard against political interference.

ABC Alumni welcomes the appointment of Kim Williams as the new Chair of the ABC Board.

Last Sunday, for the first time since 2014, the 7pm News on the main ABC channel ran for only 30 minutes. ABC Alumni director Alan Sunderland, a former senior manager in the News division, argues that this is “the final surrender in a long ABC retreat” from holding powerful state governments to account. “Something needs to be done,” he writes, “and now is the time to look again at the problem”. However, in a response received by the Alumni, the ABC's Director of News, Analysis and Investigations, Justin Stevens, strongly disagrees, saying that ABC state and territory coverage is comprehensive and impactful, delivering to audiences the national broadcaster has never reached before. Read both views here.  

In a world where support for fully government-funded, independent public broadcasters is declining, Australia is fortunate to have a new federal government that recognises the importance of the ABC. But, says former ABC Managing Director Geoffrey Whitehead, now is the time to consolidate the ABC’s role permanently by enshrining the national broadcaster, through an all-party Declaration, as an institution that’s integral to our democracy and to which all citizens have a right.