Thousands of people have turned out at Melbourne's Federation Square to protest against the Federal Government's ABC funding cut.

It is one in a series of public demonstrations scheduled to take place across the country in response to the decision to cut $254 million from the broadcaster's funding over the next five years.

About 2,000 people took part in the Melbourne rally after thousands gathered in Sydney on Saturday.

ABC managing director Mark Scott has indicated the cuts will lead to significant job losses and he is expected to reveal the details to staff around the country on Monday.

But the Government said the ABC should be able to find savings by implementing back-office efficiencies that would not affect programming.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-23/melbourne-protests-against-abc-budget-cuts/5912074

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The Abbott regime sells shit... "back-office efficiencies" might amount to a couple of 100 dollars bills over ten years, not to 250 millions over four... Turnbull and Abbott are deceiving wankers. It can be proven that they are talking crap. Programming will be cut. Programs already have and most ABC journos are not fools as they know the inside-workings of the organisation. 

 

"Good luck trying to change anything around here, there are too many lifers."

This was the advice given to me when I started as manager at ABC's Radio National last year.

It seemed like a dream job. I love the ABC and relished the opportunity to help steer RN.

But having previously worked as a journalist, foreign correspondent, editor and managing editor at lean, efficient and editorially-robust media companies including Australian Associated Press, Fairfax and News Corp for over 20 years, I was shocked by the culture, waste, duplication and lax work place practices exercised in some pockets of Radio National. I was even more shocked by the failure of the executive to want to do anything about it.

One problem, as one insider pointed out, was the so-called lifers, a pocket of predominantly middle-aged, Anglo Saxon staff who had never worked anywhere other than the ABC, who were impervious to change, unaccountable, untouchable and who harboured a deep sense of entitlement.

They didn't have a 9-5 mentality. They had a 10-3 mentality. They planned their work day around their afternoon yoga class. They wore thongs and shorts to work, occasionally had a snooze on the couch after lunch and popped out to Paddy's Market to buy fresh produce for dinner before going home.

They were like free range chickens, wandering around at will, pecking at this and that, content that laying one egg constituted a hard day's work.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-abc-has-flab-to-be-cut-20141122-11rtki.html#ixzz3JvU67Wag

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Gus: Ahahahahahaha...

Well played Louise...

But there are "other" things you should know. For example most of these "lifers" DO A STERLING JOB in maintaining a philosophical ideal at high standard of programming. That you could no see that may have come from your "formation" in the MMMM where news is churned like hamburgers at MuckDonuld. Some of the job these "lifers" do is often more stressing than being a psychologist/psychiatrist to people with "problems". As well should you study carefully the research patterns in order to create programmes of the highest standards, often these "lifers" would spend an extra four to six hours a day — on the go at home or in public transport — in finding proper INFORMATION that cuts it on the higher level of discussion. Not just like making assumptions like the slanted bilic spruikers at the MMMM (mediocre mass media de mierda) led by the Murdoch press for which you worked as a managing editor... 

Radio National has been and still is the GREAT thinker's forum, where ideas are discussed IN DEPTH... Not like that awful political arena called Q&A... Sorry, Gus is slanted and grumpy so early in the morning... RN or Radio national could be the best radio on earth and should there be a few "loafing" lifers there, well so be it. You might save two bucks by sending them to pasture and destroy the place by flogging the rest of the personnel... I have known of reasonable SMH and NL journalists employed as managers at the ABC and they soon got the shits. And you know why? because they wanted to cut corners... and get more "efficient' by churning stuff instead of crafting stuff... They also hated the union... Fancy that... Without the union (the ALLIANCE) journalism in this country would have hit the depth of crap, a long time ago. RN does not need to be steered... It needs to be cajoled...

The union protects its members from over-zealous management who often make unilateral decision on the place without consideration to content or to work ethics or to PROPER JOURNALISM...

And yes, Tony Abbott has slanted the ABC by appointments to the board...

 

...and Louise (see above, read her diatribe) praised NewsRadio for being far cheaper to run than Radio National... Big deal... good on NewsRadio to be cheap... But one has to say that gathering news and spruiking an opinion all day on this news channel is quite different from sourcing ORIGINAL social topics, GREAT science topics, INTERESTING philosophical topics and COMPLEX cultural topics as Radio National does. And for News Radio, as for News 24 (TV), there would be some other programmes being used to fill space on News 24 coming from other departments on the ABC. Someone has to create these programmes. 

And Louise description of the ABC staff is insulting beyond reason...

 

D-Day at the ABC: 10% of jobs to be slashed

 

Stephanie Peatling Live

Extra security in place at ABC headquarters as workers are given the bad news.

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Now: WHO IS PAYING FOR THE EXTRA SECURITY? THE ABC (out of its slimmed budget? THE GOVERNMENT? The NSW POLICE?

 

 

More than 400 ABC staff could lose their jobs as the public broadcaster moves to implement the $254 million the Federal Government will cut from the public broadcaster over the next five years.

Managing director Mark Scott made the announcement when he addressed staff at the ABC's Ultimo Centre in Sydney this morning.

Mr Scott said the Corporation was committed to using back-office and overhead savings to fund the $207 million that would be cut from the ABC's budget from July 2015.

"We anticipate that more than 400 people – close to 10 per cent of our ongoing workforce – face potential redundancy as we adjust our activities over coming months," Mr Scott said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-24/mark-scott-announces-abc-job-cuts/5913082

One has to know that despite appearing "impartial" Scott has been placed at the ABC CEO by John Howard to do the "Liberals" (CONservatives) bidding. And the rigmarole continues...

 

Of course Uncle Rupe's stable of pen pushers is pushing a lot of buttons to diminish the ABC's reach, and also tries hard to knife Fairfax, through nasty little "confidentials"...

Actually it's Mark Scott who has to go... He has taken the ABC towards a down dumbing for the yoof (the young careless people). It's his baby: I believe he thinks that by getting them young now you get them when they're older... Idiotic views. Make some good adult informative and entertaining shows and eventually the yoof will come when they get older... There has been a few newspaper article also pointing this out with fact and rating figures...

 

Mark Scott should go... abandon ship and let the staff take over. Tony would have a fit......

In a click-bait world, the reshaping of the ABC's operations to lead in the digital race will come at the expense of quality TV and radio programs and services.

The loss of the last remaining regional TV production centre in South Australia  exposes the ABC's Sydney-centrism.

The sacrifice of many live broadcasts on Classic FM disengages with musicians and music lovers.

The loss of localism with the axing of the 7.30 Friday state shows, leaves state politics, education, health, law, order, multi-party corruption and administration unexamined in that more influential format.

The reduction in local radio news bulletins from 10 minutes to five will leave our audiences with hardly anything more than the headlines.

Radio National, with its specialist programs hitting 64 million downloads so far this year, is being "reshaped". A nincompoop in senior management has been heard to comment on the need to get rid of the "strangle-hold of specialisation".

The reorganisation of the news division through an "audit of skills" more relevant to digital platforms ahead of the skills of reporting, investigative research and analysis appears to be putting  "churnalism"  ahead of journalism.

"Churnalism" is reactive coverage in a 24 hours news cycle. This puts online immediacy in a competitive news media industry at the be-all-and-end-all of the ABC's operations rather than well-produced, specialist, editorially-independent programs which reflect and engage the cultural and geographic diversity of our audiences. It diminishes the core Charter requirement for the creation of original, intelligent, audience-engaging content.

It follows commercial templates of digital content built on size of audience over production cost. It merely duplicates existing commercial offerings.

When an ABC manager yesterday told staff that those made redundant in the current down-sizing might be able to produce content on a freelance one-off program commissioning basis in future, the cat was out of the bag.

A commissioning model for content where nervous managers under pressure from vested corporate and political interests can pull the plug by de-commissioning the creator, is an attack on editorial independence.

Journalism requires fearless and sometimes courageous presentation of confronting facts. It needs an editorial culture which can withstand intimidation from sometimes more powerful forces. The ABC has become one of Australia's most trusted institutions because the public has been able to see it expose and call the powerful to account.

We are assured that culture will continue, but the public is entitled to be sceptical as the ABC's momentum is seriously damaged through the Abbott government budget cuts and MD Mark Scott's content thinning.

There will be far fewer opportunities to work overseas, fewer opportunities for original investigative journalism, to cover regional Australia or to tell the stories that need to be told: the farmer with a leaky CSG well on his farm, the remote indigenous residents struggling with an education deficit, the ratepayers concerned about dodgy councillors, the survivor of child sexual abuse, the elderly victim of a healthcare failure, the community organisation struggling to fight for funding for a vital service. These are just a few of the thousands of stories that will not  be told without a thriving ABC.

Australians understand that what is happening is a piece of Tony Abbott/Rupert Murdoch bastardry.

The government has no mandate from the electorate to damage the ABC or SBS. But there are forces at work in this country out to destroy Australia's unique public broadcasting system.

We must not let this happen.

Quentin Dempster presents 7.30NSW on ABC TV and is a public broadcasting advocate.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/political-bastardry-and-nincompoops-consign-abc-to-churnalism-20141124-11svir.html#ixzz3K1IjRRg5

Gus: For those who do not read between the lines, Gus guesses it is also the discreet management's wish to get rid of the "old" experienced savvy journalists (who cost a fair bit of dosh of course) and replace them with half the number of half-witted young pimply yoof, preferably with a "media" university degree, (who cost far less on the paymaster bandwidth) and are very enthusiastic at releasing press releases on whatever medium they've learnt to press button for. 
While "old" savvy journos know how to tread carefully through the lies and political shit, the yoof are mostly unable to see the traps... Nothing against the yoof, except they have putty between the ears...

The union representing many ABC workers says it will lobby the Federal Government to release a review of ABC spending to see what budget savings were recommended.

The government-commissioned report, undertaken by Former Seven West Media chief financial officer Peter Lewis, identified ways the organisation can cut costs in the name of efficiency, but its contents have not been fully revealed.

Yesterday, ABC managing director Mark Scottannounced more than 400 job losses in response to a $254 million budget cut announced by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week.

Mr Scott said the Corporation was committed to using back-office and overhead savings to fund the $207 million cut from the ABC's budget from July 2015, but said there would also need to be job losses, property sales and program changes and cancellations.

The Government said the scale of the cuts was derived from the Lewis Review but has resisted requests to make the report public on the grounds it contained commercially sensitive information.

Nadine Flood from the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) said without its release, the review cannot be scrutinised and the cuts cannot be justified.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-25/secret-abc-spending-review-should-be-made-public-cpsu/5914988

 

The review should be made public... and somehow, I believe it will fall from the back of a truck soon... But this is where public and private interest clash. We don't "pay" (we elect them, they pay themselves) our silly pollies to do things on the sly — or lie to us. Tony Turdy's lies are on an unprecedented scale in this country by a factor of 145.3... This government has lied far more than you've had new shoes since 1952. If you people out there think that I am very rude for calling Tony Turdy a turd, think again. What he is doing to this country is far worse than a turd sticking to your shoe. I am very restrained. He deserves far worse than being called Turdy.

 

 

From Andrew Ford (Award-winning composer, writer and broadcaster)

 

I read Louise Evans’ Fairfax op-ed piece on Monday morning with a mixture of interest and revulsion. The latter response was partly because I knew that, at that very moment, a large number of my ABC colleagues, some of them friends, were receiving redundancy notices. But I also felt sickened by the tone of the piece, particularly when it came to the cartoonish portrayal of Radio National. It’s easy to mock, easy to mention “yoga classes” and “fresh produce” from Paddy’s Market. I was a little surprised not to read the word “latte” in among the clichés.

For nearly 20 years, I have worked for the ABC two days a week as the presenter of The Music Show on Radio National. Louise Evans was my manager for six months. I was especially pleased Fairfax published a photo of her, because it finally allowed me to put a face to the name. She may have been my boss, but unlike those who came before her and after, she never invited me to meet her.

The picture she draws of my colleagues and me is not one that I recognise, but I have to say Ms Evans is right about one thing. You wouldn’t find some ABC work practices in ‘corporate Australia’. Here’s an example.

One of the most popular interviews on The Music Show in 2014 was with the 84-year-old soprano Marni Nixon. In addition to performing with the likes of Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, she was also the singing voice of Deborah Kerr in The King and I, of Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Her wide range of activities seemed just right for our Saturday morning show, and I’d wanted to interview her for some time.

Now Marni Nixon lives in Manhattan, and RN was never going to pay for me to go there. But I was due to be in New York for a few days in April on other business, and offered to squeeze in the interview. My producer made contact, and while the dates didn’t quite work, I found that if I delayed my flight home by a day we could meet. Ms Nixon didn’t disappoint. She even gave me an impromptu blast of ‘The Rain in Spain’, though, sadly, after I’d packed away my recorder.

I paid for the extra night in the hotel myself. I paid all my travel costs, including the taxis to and from her home on the Upper West Side. I paid for my meals. And I recorded the interview on a day that I was not working for the ABC – at least not being paid to work. I also researched the interview in my own time. When I got home I actually enquired about claiming the taxi fares, but after it was explained to me how much form filling would be involved, I decided to cut my losses.

I recently told this to a friend of mine in ‘corporate Australia’ and he informed me I was mad. But what I have just described is not especially unusual. I have done this sort of thing plenty of times before – nearly all the overseas interviews you may have heard on The Music Show have been recorded at my own expense. If you ask my colleagues – Geraldine Doogue, Robyn Williams, Natasha Mitchell, Norman Swan, Phillip Adams – they will all be able to tell you similar stories and regale you with details of flea-pit hotels or nights spent on friends’ sofa beds so as to save the ABC money. The fact is that Radio National is to some extent subsidised by its employees, and we do it because we believe in the place and want our listeners to hear the best minds discussing the most interesting ideas. That’s why we work there.

read more: http://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/andrew-ford/2014/25/2014/1416874017/aunty-flexible-not-flabby

 

See above: the louise talks shit...

 

Gus: I meant to say that If you do a sterling job because you enjoy your work, it's not real work, is it, according to the slave masters?.. Thus according to them, you should not be paid for being happy. No. For these floggers you need to be miserable, in debt and kneeling before them as they condescend to throw you three Konfettis for entertainment and some spilt swill you have to lick from their boots. That will be your reward. According to their beliefs, you can inherit the earth when you're dead.