The Trojan horse of commercialisation

Friends of the ABC says:

• The ABC should not be able to accept commercial sponsorship of any kind.
• The current ban on television and radio advertising should be extended to online advertising.
• Although some commercial services such as publishing and ABC shops are acceptable, editorial decisions should not be motivated by the ABC's commercial interests.
• The ABC should not be able to charge for online broadcasts or downloads of content.
• The ABC should be able to spend its drama production budget on in-house productions.

The Howard Government's record:

• The ABC is selling content to websites, mobile phones, magazines and news broadcasts in trains and shopping centres. Often the content buyers carry advertising with their broadcasts/publications.
• The ABC accepts online advertising through commercial websites such as Countdown.com.au.
• ABC Commercial refused to publish Jonestown, Chris Masters' biography of broadcaster Alan Jones, on the basis that there was not reasonable certainty of commercial profitability.
• These decisions should be prevented by the ABC's editorial policy, which states that in the production of news and current affairs, editorial judgments must be based on news values, not on "commercial or sectional interests".
• $30 million of tied funding given to the ABC to address the shortage in drama production has to be spent on commercial rather than in-house production.
• With the recent promise of a dedicated children's channel (see the segment on funding), it is unclear whether the Coalition would require the channels content to be sourced from the commercial sector, rather than produced in-house.

Alternative policies:

• Labor has said that it will "not accept advertising on any part of the ABC, including ABC branded websites". In terms of content sales, Labor sees no philisophical difference between charging for content in ABC Shops and charging to download content online.
• The Greens support the ABC remaining commercial free including online. They support full and free public access to ABC services including online services without individual cost.
• Dino Ottavi's Senate Group says the ABC should be kept commercial-free and there should be no advertising on the ABC.

Any parties or candidates who wish to have their policies featured here, please email us.

Authorised by Melissa Sharpe, 821 Huon Road, Fern Tree, Tasmania, 7054.