Nothing happens quickly at the ABC. Mark Scott’s announcement today has been a long time coming and probably has more to do with Australian federal election cycles than anything else.
2010 is an election year so the traditional media will beat themselves into the usual lather as willing participants in the politics of distraction while ignoring those items that seemingly are beyond the scope of the mainstream news. Questions about our future, our dependence on economic growth and our reliance on carbon based fuel with its attendant greenhouse emissions will no doubt continue to be a preoccupation for the loony left-wing watermelon party while the real business of keeping the good ship Status Quo afloat will be entrusted to the serious politicians and those media that can be trusted to tell the right stories.
Then there is the issue of consolidating the news outlet into one location, conveniently located in Ultimo Sydney where the newsmakers can sup their morning lattes while wondering about how they will beat the peak hour rush home. But Mark Scott says
“No media organisation in the country is better equipped to deliver this channel than the national broadcaster”
so who am I to argue?
It would seem that most of the respondents on the ABC site agree. Hardly surprising since the ABC fan clubs around the country have been amazingly successful in generating a vociferous grass roots mentality that places the ABC somewhere between Mt Everest and Heaven, sublimely untouchable and beyond all serious criticism. All for a mere 8 cents a day….
However all sniping aside, there remains a rather thorny issue here for ABC management, one which I expect they will solve in the usual heavyhanded wasteful manner, and that is just how will they generate 24hrs of new daily content, even if it is “news” and do so without more money? And if they can do it without more money does that mean that they have been squandering money in the past?
But according to Scott the solution is the new technology that the ABC has been busy spending squillions on. This new gear will allow stuff to get re-purposed across the spectrum of ABC outlets without involving a lot of extra people because as we all know people cost money. But as anyone who has watched Sky’s continuous news would know, “news” can be a fickle commodity. Some days there is more “news” than you can poke a stick at, other days, the best news story is the new monkey at the zoo.
Strangely the “news” seems to emanate from the places where there is a lot of media already present. A cynic might be inclined to judge that the media manufacture the “news” to certain extent, they certainly facilitate its transmission to larger audiences and in that context Mr Scott is bang on the money when he says that no else is better equipped to deliver “news” than the ABC.
Will the new ABC 24hr news render the localised state based 7pm bulletins obsolete? Probably in time, yes. Will it supplant the other ABC news services such as News Radio? Possibly. More likely is a scenario where less resources are available for the other news services within the ABC as more output feeds the 24hr appetite.
What we are likely to see is news for the sake of news. Minor story changes between midday and 6pm in order to keep the story alive. Feeding controversy and generating debate on the deep and meaningful issues of our time and getting talking heads on the screens. News, news and more news…all of it brought to you by your big friendly ABC.
As for thoughtful insightful behind the scenes research and development of the kind that used to be the strength of productions such as Four Corners, well who watches that these days, its all in the NEWS!
Will it affect the decline of newspapers, who cares? It’s just another establishment mainstream media player monopolising and managing public opinion in the interests of maintaining a social consensus which conveniently ignores any alternatives.
Snoooooooze…
ABC to launch 24-hour news channel – ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
