Letter to the editor 13 July 2000

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The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by the FABC national office:

"Reports that ABC current affairs may be downgraded are alarming.

A well-informed public is essential for genuine democracy. In a country where media ownership is increasingly concentrated into the hands of a few powerful interests, the public broadcaster's role in producing news and current affairs - independent from government and commercial influence - is critical.

Some short-sighted governments may seek to limit public scrutiny of their activities by gaggin the ABC. But it is the role of the ABC Board and management to act independently of political interests. The ABC does not have a single shareholder - the government - as its new Managing Director Jonathan Shier recently proclaimed. Its shareholders are the entire Australian community.

Current rumours of changes to ABC current affairs programming have gtiven rise to immense public concern. People will not be deceived by any attempt to disguise a downgrade of current affairs. They will not accept the rescheduling of current affairs programs to times less suited to audiences, the removal of an outstanding journalist such as Kerry O'Brien , to the reduction of national current affairs under the guise of increasing local cover.

The ABC Board and management has a responsibility to ensure ABC current affairs surivves and thrives. They must act in the interests of the national broadcaster's 19 million 'sharholders'

Darce Cassidy National spokesman Friends of the ABC

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000


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