How The ABC Lost Its Progressive Soul?
We do not have a progressive national news platform in Australia. We have a rabid right wing News Corp, which controls most of the nation’s newspapers, has a national radio network and produces Sky News Australia and Fox News. Nine Fairfax and Seven West Media can be comfortably described as corporate legacy media on the right of centre, politically speaking. The ABC, our only truly national broadcaster, follows the News Corp lead in what it sets as the daily news agenda. This was not always the case, as a couple of decades ago, the ABC contained the most intelligent and passionate journalists working around the nation. How the ABC lost its progressive soul? Is a question well worth asking.
Where Is The Challenging Spirit of The ABC In Progressive Terms?
Who remembers Kerry O’Brien? The red headed integrity measure of the ABC’s current affairs’ identity? Quentin Dempster? Andrew Olle? Geraldine Doogue? Caroline Jones? Paul Lyneham? There were a bevy of top class investigative journalists and presenters leading the public debate downunder. The ABC news departments used to lead the way with a progressive bent and keen intelligence. They challenged the conservative status quo and spoke truth to power. Where have all the flowers gone, the thorny roses willing to draw a politician’s ire when required? Emasculation has toned down the national broadcaster to play into the hands of conservative forces.
“Kerry O’Brien is one of Australia’s most respected journalists, with six Walkley awards including the Gold Walkley and the Walkley for outstanding leadership in journalism. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked for newspapers, television and a wire service, and as a foreign correspondent. Thirty-three of those years were at the ABC “
The Centre Right ABC Contains No Progressive Voices
How the ABC lost its progressive soul? A decade or two of LNP Coalition threats, cuts, and infiltration removed the questing spirit of the news departments. Progressiveness is about making things better for more people by breaking up establishment cabals and power arrangements. Successive ABC MDs and Heads embarked on government friendly, toned down news coverage. Light entertainment became the new mantra of the national broadcaster. Even modest shows like The Drum were axed. This had been originally a youth orientated current affairs show, which had morphed into the only place in town where progressives could air their views on the national stage. Nothing has replaced this black hole in the programming schedule. Politics on the ABC is run by a former Sky News Australia host David Speers on Insiders. Here the two mainstream parties, who are both right of centre, are played off against each other for the entertainment value.
“The ABC Board is the body responsible for the operations of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Kim Williams AM is chair; Hugh Marks the managing director appointed by the board..”
The ABC Is Depressing To Watch
It is depressing to watch this bullshit served up as political entertainment. I stopped watching it many moons ago. Hope is not found amid the parties of Albanese or Ley. They regurgitate the same crap that has been going on for years. Playing politics means that nothing much ever changes in Australia. Indigenous Australians are still dying too often too young and living third class lives in too many instances. The rich are getting richer and governments are too gutless to tax their wealth. More recently, the National Press Club axed Chris Hedges from appearing at his booked date in October. Too progressive and too opinionated, perhaps? A News Corp hack is running the National Press Club at the moment, I think. That says a lot about the state of journalism in Australia these days. A nation of deadheads watching too much sport!
The Culture Wars
“There is a narrative making the rounds that goes something like this. Donald Trump was re-elected on the back of an anti-woke backlash by working class voters. The truth about anti-wokeness is a more nuanced story. Society has been moving toward a more multiracial and diverse status quo. It has not been without its issues, especially for historically entitled white folk. Learning to be tolerant of others, not obviously like you, is not immediately attractive to some. We were, however, making inroads in the right direction. Then, some smart cookie in the right wing camp thought, why not make an advantage out of what was once considered a negative trait.”
_ (https://wordsforweb.com.au/the-truth-about-anti-wokeness/)
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS.
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