Southern Group Meetings:
The Southern Group will be holding monthly meetings throughout 2010 on the third Tuesday of each month.
July's meeting will be held on Tuesday 20th July 2010, downstairs at The Republic Bar in North Hobart.
Northern Group Meetings:
The Northern Group hold monthly meetings in the Phil Leonard Room at the Launceston Library. The next meeting will be held on Saturday 7th August, followed by 4th September and 2nd October.
Annual General Meeting 2010
Friends of the ABC (Tas) Inc. will hold our Annual General meeting at the Ross Town Hall on Sunday 7th November 2010 with guest speaker Judy Tierney.
FABC (Tas) Newsletter
Meeting with Senator Stephen Conroy
On 16th July 2009, Friends of the ABC (Tas) met with Senator Conroy in Launceston.
View Senator Conroy's address here.
Letter to FABC Tas from ABC Managing Director Mark Scott
Post Federal Budget 2009 letter from Mark Scott regarding ABC funding and relationship with Friends of the ABC.
Complete the Radio National online survey
Click here to go to the survey.
Friends of the ABC on Facebook
If you are a member of Facebook you may like to consider joining one or both of the following two groups:
Save the ABC's Religion Report - On Wednesday 15 October 2008, the ABC announced that it was axing various radio shows, including the Religion Report, hosted by Stephen Crittenden.
On Monday 20 October, the ABC’s Media Watch broke the news that Crittenden had been suspended after he voiced his concern over the axing of his and other shows, such as the Media Report.
ABC cuts to Radio National
Radio National plans cuts to 10 programs. Specialist programs gone in 2009 will be: The Media Report, The Religion Report, The Sports Factor, Radio Eye, The Ark, In Conversation, Street Stories and Perspective. Short Story will rely on repeats from the past.
Australia Talks will be cut back to three days a week.
With only one new program to be produced, and existing programs to be rescheduled to fill most gaps, there is a danger that some specialist subjects will be diluted within generalist programming or lost altogether.
The reason given by the ABC is the need to extend RN’s online content. Without sufficient funds, that means diverting production resources from radio.
RN’s importance is in producing specialist programs that provide in-depth consideration of issues and events.
Stephen Crittendon, The Religion Report presenter, has been stood down from his job following his revelations and critical comments on-air about RN’s cuts. Stephen is an excellent broadcaster who deserves support.
WHAT TO DO
- Write to Mark Scott, ABC Managing Director, GPO Box 9994, Sydney 2001; or through www.abc.net.au/contact/complaints
- Write a letter to the editor
- Distribute & collect signatures for FABC’s petition to the ABC Board to STOP the commercial drift of the ABC - FABC’s petition can be downloaded at www.fabc.org.au
- Talk with & pass this email on to others
- Secure the ABC’s Healthy Future: Submit to the Govt Consultation on Public Broadcasting
Let the Federal Government know the ABC must be well funded, a producer of high quality programs, commercial-free and accessible to all Australians without fee in a submission to its consultation on public broadcasting.
FABC is in the process of developing information to assist submitters. In the meantime, you may wish to read the Govt’s consultation paper www.dbcde.gov.au/abcsbsreview or phone 1800 025 145.
Workshop on the ABC SBS Review
Last week, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy released a discussion paper on the future roles of the ABC and SBS in the changing media environment.
It is open to all and submissions are due to be received on Friday 12th December. Friends of the ABC (Tas) Inc. are planning to put in a submission for this review, and we are going to hold a workshop after our AGM to gather ideas for this process.
This is a valuable opportunity for as many of us as possible to have our say, and contribute to the submission that Friends of the ABC Tas will then prepare for this review.
Everyone is welcome to come, be inspired and enlightened by a wonderful speaker, and take part in formulating a submission to be brought to the government with our own views on the future of the ABC.
If you cannot make it to the workshop, please consider putting in a submission of your own.
Vale Lesley Alcorso
Friends of the ABC Tasmania has lost a long standing and well respected member.
Lesley was an active member for many years, committed to the maintenance and advancement of the ABC, with a particular interest in the area of the arts and Australian culture.
Friends of the ABC Tasmania President, Melissa Sharpe, attended Lesley's memorial service, and signed her condolence book on our behalf.
Friends of the ABC 2020 Summit Submission
Friends of the ABC Tasmania sent a joint submission to the Australia 2020 Summit with Friends of the ABC Queensland and Friends of the ABC WA.
Click here to read the 2020 Summit submission from Friends of the ABC Qld, Tas & WA
Response to Piers Akerman
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.
ABC Number 1 for news
ABC is way out in front as source of news and current affairs. A recent Morgan Research study has found that the ABC is the leading source for Australian news and current affairs in the electronic media. Forty five per cent of Australians aged 14 and over rely on ABC TV for Australian news, up from 39.5 per cent in August 2004. The percentage of people relying on ABC Radio for their Australian news has risen from 28% to 31% over the same period. When the ABC's Triple J station is added the total ABC Radio figure is 34.5% ABC TV is also the leading source for international news and current affairs, with SBS TV a close second, and the commercials way behind. While newspapers remain an important source (second after TV with radio as the third most popular source) their readership is falling. Full details of the poll are available at the Roy Morgan website.
ABC Birthday Event a Great Success
50 people attended our celebration of the ABC's 75th birthday at the Republic in Hobart. A copy of ABC staff member, Nigel Whitehead's, speech can be viewed here.
The ABC's 75th Birthday
The ABC turns 75 on the 1st of July and we're having a party! Friends of the ABC Tasmania will be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the first broadcast from the ABC on the 1st of July 1932. The Birthday Party is part of the Friends of the ABC's National Day of Action. We will be holding celebrations in both Launceston and Hobart (see local details below). Join us to show your support for "Aunty". Launceston Friends of the ABC will be gathering at Fluid Restaurant, Launceston Seaport at 2pm. Hobart A Birthday Party will be held from 12-2pm upstairs at the Republic Bar & Cafe in Elizabeth Street, Hobart. Drinks can be purchased at the bar. Complimentary light refreshments will be served and you can also share in the birthday cake. Guest Speakers for the event will include:
- Doug Lowe, former Premier of Tasmania.
- Jeff Malpas, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tasmania.
- Nigel Whitehead, ABC staff member.
If you would like to help us promote the event, please feel free to use this promotional flyer.
Mark Scott on Australia Talks
The ABC's Managing Director, Mark Scott will be appearing on Radio National's austalia-wide talkback program, Australia Talks, 6pm on Friday 29 June 2007. If you want to listen to the show, a list of Radio National frequencies for Tasmania is available here. Mark Scott will be answering questions submitted by listeners. To submit a question to Mr Scott, visit the following link to the Australia Talks website: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/australiatalks/contact/. Alternatively you can post your comments to Australia Talks, GPO Box 9994, Brisbane, Queensland, 4001. If you do not get a chance to post your comments then you can try and call the show on the night on 1300 22 55 76 (or 1300 CALL RN).
Friends of the ABC National Conference
Once every year, state/territory-based Friends of the ABC organisations get together to hold a national conference. The 2007 Friends of the ABC National Conference was held Saturday & Sunday the 12th & 13th of May in Melbourne. The following is the transcript of an address given to the conference by Professor Alan Knight: Like many of you, I am old enough to remember when mainstream media pretty much had a monopoly on mass communications. Not any more. Indeed mainstream media, such as the ABC will need to re-invent themselves to avoid being marginalised in an interactive globalised world information order. More...
Contact FABC TAS
Postal address:
PO Box 301
North Hobart, Tas. 7002
Email addresss: contact@tasfriends.org
Other FABC Organisations
Friends of the ABC is a national network of state and territory based organisations. These organisations share information, resources and material and come together to co-operate on a national level. The following are links to Friends of the ABC in the other states and the ACT:
VIC | NSW | SA | WA | ACT