PUBLIC BROADCASTING – AUSTRALIA

ABC slightly sweetens its pay offer to staff

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Apr-26

Jocelyn Gammie from the Community & Public Sector Union says it will recommend that members vote in favour of a revised pay offer from the ABC. The improved pay deal has also been welcomed by the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, a week after members of the two unions staged a 24-hour strike at the public broadcaster. The ABC has proposed a pay rise of 10.5 per cent over three years, which represents an 0.5 per cent improvement on its initial offer; however, the broadcaster has removed a $1,000 bonus from the negotiating table.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

Ex-Nine CEO moving into the ABC hot seat

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 18-Dec-24

The ABC has advised that Nine Entertainment’s former CEO Hugh Marks will succeed David Anderson as the public broadcaster’s managing director. The appointment of Marks follows an extensive domestic and international search for Anderson’s replacement, after he resigned in March after just one year of his second five-year contract. The ABC’s chairman has praised Marks, saying he is the the right person to lead the public broadcaster as it pursues renewal and investment. Marks says the ABC needs to broaden its audience reach; he will take up the role in March.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

ABC to get extra $126m funding after election

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 17-Dec-24

The federal government will boost funding for the ABC in its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook statement. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has advised that the public broadcaster will receive an additional $40.9m in 2026-27, $42.2m in the following financial year and $43m in 2028-29. Rowland has also indicated that the government will legislate five-year funding agreements for the ABC. The former Coalition government had significantly reduced the ABC’s funding.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

ABC to get extra $126m funding after election

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 17-Dec-24

The federal government will boost funding for the ABC in its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook statement. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has advised that the public broadcaster will receive an additional $40.9m in 2026-27, $42.2m in the following financial year and $43m in 2028-29. Rowland has also indicated that the government will legislate five-year funding agreements for the ABC. The former Coalition government had significantly reduced the ABC’s funding.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

ABC sorry for fake gunshot in Afghanistan stories

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth, James Madden
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Nov-24

The interim report of an independent review of the ABC’s ‘fake audio’ scandal has concluded that there is no evidence that the public broadcaster’s employees had any intention to mislead audiences by doctoring the Afghanistan footage. However, director of news Justin Stevens has released a statement on the ABC’s website in which he says the broadcaster "sincerely regrets and apologises" for the editing errors which resulted in additional gunshots being added to the video footage of an Australian military operation in Afghanistan. Stevens also said the video editor who had worked on the stories has left the ABC.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Racism at ABC systemic, new report declares

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 7 : 2-Oct-24

The ABC’s MD David Anderson says the public broadcaster’s staff will be given anti-racism training following the belated release of a racism review. The independent review was commissioned in mid-2023 and found that ABC employees from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds have been subject to systemic racism. The review has made 15 recommendations aimed at addressing the issue, while Anderson has apologised to current and former ABC employees who had been subjected to racist behaviour.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

ABC fields on protest coverage

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Original article by James Dowling
The Australian – Page: 2 : 1-Oct-24

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has lodged a complaint against the ABC over its coverage of Lebanon and Gaza solidarity protests in Sydney and Melbourne on Sunday. Its complaint related to multiple live crosses from the Sydney protest and an evening package covering the Melbourne rally, with the package of the Melbourne rally criticised for not telling viewers that Hezbollah is a registered terrorist organisation, or for mentioning the display of Hezbollah flags at the rally. In its response to criticism of the package covering the Melbourne rally, the ABC noted it was the third of three stories on the events in Lebanon commissioned for 7pm news bulletins, and that the earlier stories had provided full context on the conflict.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY

ABC cops Buttrose blast over news bias

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 5 : 30-Jul-24

Media industry veteran Ita Buttrose says the ABC needs to present both sides of an argument, contending that this is "much better" for the viewer or the listener. However, Buttrose adds that some ABC interviewers are reluctant to tell both sides of a story; she also says that if the public broadcaster’s journalists cannot take criticism they should just "give up". Buttrose’s five-year term as the ABC’s chair ended in March. Meanwhile, she says the strike action by Nine Entertainment journalists on the eve of the Paris Olympic Games was an "unwise decision", given that the Olympics is a major investment for the company.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Fair Work Commission finds journalist and presenter Antoinette Lattouf was sacked by ABC

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Original article by Isobel Roe
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 4-Jun-24

The Fair Work Commission has found that journalist and presenter Antoinette Lattouf was sacked by the ABC, after she was taken off air part way through a radio presenting stint in December. With Lattouf having lodged a claim against the ABC for unfair dismissal, it had argued that her employment was not actually terminated, as she had been paid for all of the five days on which she was scheduled to broadcast. The Commission’s ruling paves the way for Lattouf to pursue an unlawful termination case against the ABC, with that case having been filed in the Federal Court.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

ABC ombudsman clears 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson of breaching impartiality rules in an interview with an IDF spokesman

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: Online : 23-Apr-24

The ABC ombudsman Fiona Cameron has examined an interview between 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson and an Israel Defence Forces spokesman, after 52 complaints were received about the interview. Ferguson had told the spokesman that she did not accept claims that the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers was a mistake, with Cameron reviewing the complaints against Ferguson against the ABC’s editorial standards for impartiality. Cameron has come out in support of Ferguson’s comments, noting Ferguson had a duty to conduct a testing interview that does not allow the interviewee "to use the occasion as a political platform".

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION