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News Ltd "journalist" Piers Akerman attacked Friends of the ABC recently in his Sunday Telegraph column, claiming that the organisation is a front for the Labor Party.
Here is the response from Friends of the ABC national spokesman, Prof. Alan Knight.
A response has also been provided by Darce Cassidy from Friends of the ABC South Australia. Darce Cassidy also explains here how Piers Akerman has inflated his figures on ABC funding. It ought to be noted that the use of targeted funding has meant that base funding has declined in real terms. The consequence is a failure of the ABC to maintain its core activities.
A good example is drama production. In 2004–05 the ABC produced 20 hours of Australian drama, compared with 102 hours in 2001. The decline was stemmed by targeted funding for drama production in the 2006-07 budget. However, the additional funding has not brought drama production close to its previous level.
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