The Rant-O-Matic

I have a great deal of respect for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The quality if their news reporting is often without question. The 7.30 Report has lead the way in current affairs analysis for years. Their investigative programs tell powerful stories, both the good and the bad. They have given this country some of the best quality entertainment (Roy and HG, for example, got their start on the ABC). They are the only media company that, under one brand, can appeal on some level to every single person in the country. They’ve pioneered how a media company can embrace, develop and benefit from the proliferation of the internet into our lives. The ABC is, quite simply, one of the most amazing organisations that I’ve ever seen.

However, I have one question. Something that’s been sitting in the back of my mind for a while now before being thrown into concious thought on Saturday morning.

My question is this: Does the ABC put serious risk to the quality of news production with the introduction of ABC News 24 later this week?

Given how the ABC has developed the best online presence for a media company in the world (second only to their larger, richer cousin the BBC) it seems, to me at least, that developing a 24 hour continuous news channel is something of a step backwards.

For a start – why a TV channel?

For a company that’s been very busy pushing themselves into the 21^st century, the launch of a TV station seems like something of a step-backwards. For a start, the ABC are following in Network 10s footsteps of discontinuing the use of their high-definition channel for dramatic programming – a decision that N10 copped quite a deal of flack for 12 months ago when they launched OneHD, a dedicated sports channel on their HD channel. The end of ABCHD is something that may come back to bite the ABC further down the line. The BBC, the source of a large amount of Aunty’s popular programming, has just about completed their plan to move all their self-produced programming to be shot natively in 1080p. It’s not going to be long before the world moves completely away from standard-definition entirely, leaving only HD (where 3D sits in this mix is another question entirely). So, the thought of Australia’s public broadcaster scuttling their HD channel to pursue a 24-hour news channel seems a little odd, to say the least.

I would have hoped that instead of this that the ABC may have used this desire to up the ante on their already impressive move onto the internet by making News 24 more of an internet based effort, rather than what one would consider the more traditional 24-hour news stream.

The second problem I see in association with News 24, is the further spreading thin of the ABC’s already stretched journalists and production staff. The ABC received a fairly small sum of money from the federal government to spend each year and what they manage to do with it in terms of quality is simply outstanding. My fear is that trying to run an additional channel that comprises a large amount of original programming is going to lead to losses in other parts of their operation. As much as I love the idea of the ABC taking on 24-hour news, I don’t think it should come at the cost of other areas within Aunty.

Thirdly, is the quality of journalism. Attempting to keep content fresh is going to require a massive effort from the ABC news department. There’s a distinctive level of depth and analysis to ABC news that gives it a unique style and quality which has made it what it is over the years. Asking this to be broadcast, mostly live, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week runs the risk that this quality will degrade in order to get stories out there and on the air.

The inherent problem with 24-hour news (as evidenced by Sky News in Australia and the UK and Fox News, CNN in the US) is that you sacrifice quality in order to be the first to break the story and get the ratings. My hope, is that the ABC will attempt to stay off this pass, being a public broadcaster will be able to stave this off as ratings are never really what they’re shooting for. However, if the events of Saturday, July 16 are anything to go by then I fear that this may not be the case as the ABC joined in the commercial networks in spending hours discussing absolutely nothing in the lead up to the announcement of the federal election. If that’s what we’re going to expect from News 24, then the ABC is going to have to take a long, hard look at itself and figure out if they really want to ruin their reputation like that. Because joining the tabloid, unintelligent dribble of the existing news outlets isn’t going to do anything to help improve their brand or audience.

The ABC has a long, proud and illustrious history in reporting the news behind it. I’m sure that their goal is to be able to deliver this standard of news to the Australian people. I sincerely hope this is the case, but the launch of News 24 certainly raises some questions of the ABC that really need to be addressed.