Mark Scott lives in dreamland in regard to have his staff to be able to do four times the amount of work in half a minute across media platforms. Investigative journalism is not about pressing buttons on a console, nor about the ability to jump through three hoola-hoops at the same time as juggling ten balls... Journalism needs time and dedication and human contacts with sources, individuals and the rarer ability to sniff stories in the yonder and guess correctly where they are going — and sometimes they go nowhere but that's life... Journalism is not just about picking dog shit daily from the pavements of political streets or daily briefs, nor about reformatting press releases in ten various broadcast outlets... Reducing the older savvy staff to nil by making them fight in a game of musical chair is not going to educate the lack of grey matter between the ears of those who call themselves enthusiastic bachelor of arts media barely released from university... 

The prominent ABC journalist Sarah Ferguson has used her Walkley awards hosting platform to lambast Mark Scott’s approach to ABC redundancies and the managing director’s attitude towards traditional TV and radio journalism.

“So many of my ABC colleagues, journalists like us, some of them in this room indeed, are right now in their pre-Christmas shark pools waiting to find out if they’re going to be jobless by Christmas day,” Ferguson said in her opening monologue at the 59th Walkley awards on Thursday night. “It’s just not funny, and I can’t be laughing about it.”

The Four Corners reporter gave voice to the anger felt by many ABC journalists who have been placed in redundancy “pools” from which management will chose who to sack. The industrial process has stalled while unions negotiate with management over how to shed 100 journalism positions from the news department.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/05/walkley-awards-sarah-ferguson-gives-abc-management-a-blast

Yes, It seems Mark Scott is less interested in journalism than in "new platforms" to deliver "MuckDunolded news items" and low brow "entertainment" — possibly in one line grabs from stand-up comics (aka politicians with the wit of a saucepan) commenting on the events of the days, at a twelve year old kiddie level, with a slow delivery that makes standing-still feel like jogging... Most programmes at the ABC seems to have "dumbed down" as to capture the yoof, who for all it's worth are not interested in watching anything of value, nor even watching dumbed stuff. The race to ratings has become a destructive path to idiotic shows like "That 70's Show" replacing incisive political satire. 

Even the Chaser team at the ABC buried the hatchet with Chris Kenny.  After the skit that most people had forgotten, Chris decided to bleed the ABC for damage to his reputation and remind ALL OF US that he had been depicted f&^%ing a dog in a crude pictorial montage that was obviously fake. Chris himself damages his own reputation daily by being a fierce climate sceptic against the irrefutable science and by writing some other doozies for the rabid right-wing-nut Murdoch press...

Mark Scott, himself on a huge salary, should sack himself and save us from more grief...

A few days ago, I watched the ABC news. The low level of journalism was embarrassing... I know it's summer and all the cracks are on holidays, but there were a few too many doozies, like captions coming too soon and some reporters in the field ending up with a sentence that meant the opposite of what she was trying to say. 

Of course Mark Scott would have been proud of his new young crop being able to hold a microphone without trembling too much — after having sacked most of the experienced older journos, but as a viewer, I think it's time for Scott to scoot out...

Coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne has written to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, asking him to overhaul the way the government funds the ABC so that television production can continue in his home state of South Australia.

ABC managing director Mark Scott announced last month that the ABC would close its Adelaide television production studios after the Abbott government cut its budget by $250 million over five years.

Up to 37 jobs will be lost.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Pyne, whose electorate of Sturt covers Adelaide, outlined the TV shows that were produced in his city, "including but not limited to The Cook and the Chef, Poh's Kitchen, Dream Build, and the Karta orang-utan documentary at Adelaide Zoo".

The Education Minister said that one day before Mr Scott made his announcement, nearly 1 million Australians had tuned into a TV program made in Adelaide - the anniversary program Countdown - Do Yourself a Favour.

The government's efficiency study into the ABC and SBS described the Adelaide studios as "little used" and found the ABC could make significant savings by selling off its television studios and outsourcing more production to the private sector.

The Education Minister urged Mr Abbott to restore the Howard government's tied-funding initiatives for regional production before Christmas, to stop local jobs being lost.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christopher-pyne-begs-pm-tony-abbott-to-save-abc-tv-in-adelaide-20141210-124hro.html

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The government "efficxientusatolalalacrupcy" study is just that — a docomenturationing designed to fit the whim of a lousy petty incompetent infantile idiotic government lead by a lousy petty incompetent infantile idiotic Tony Abbott. Pyne is also a petty incompetent infantile idiot but when his electorate's jobs are under threat from his own lousy petty idiotic incompetent infantile chief decision to cut funds under the government "efficxientusatolalalacrupcy" report, he can smell the political death of his party of petty incompetent infantile idiots, coming around the corner as shown in the last by-election in South Australia where a major 9 per cent swing against the Liberals (CONservatives) that would worry Pyne who hold his seat by a few percentage thin threads on his pants... Caring about "his" electorate? Yep, by self interest...

Is digital media the way forward for the ABC?

The ABC’s managing director, Mark Scott, suggests the ABC’s future is digital internet-based communication.

"Competition in the media space is intensifying and audiences are asserting their power. The ABC needs to meet the surging audience demand for online and mobile services while, at the same time, securing and strengthening our grip in the traditional content areas. We must be the home of the Australian story and content across all platforms."

This strategy is both misinformed and misguided.

It is misinformed because, for most Australians, free-to-air television is still the dominant source of news and entertainment. Australians are spending less time in front of the television and more time in front of other screens, such as laptops and mobiles. But the shift is slow. In 2013, Australians watched an average of 96 hours of broadcast television each month, compared to just over five hours per month viewing video on a PC or laptop and a little over two hours on their mobiles and tablets.

The strategy is misguided, because any unique role of the ABC is eliminated on the internet. The ABC cannot uniquely tell the Australian story because thousands of Australians tell their story online every day, using blogs and social media. The ABC cannot differentiate itself as a source of quality news when it has thousands of internet competitors, including the New York Times and the BBC.

https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/mark-scotts-me-too-strategy-puts-abc-on-track-for-redundancy,7176

Siege reveals cost of ABC cuts

The ABC’s audience wouldn’t have heard of Jennifer Evans but she was
the assistant chief of staff in the Sydney newsroom for many years, a
highly skilled job in which she coordinated and organised dozens of
crews, journalistic assignments and reporters on any given day. But on
Monday, when the biggest news story in recent history – the siege in
the Lindt cafe – broke in the heart of Sydney Evans wasn’t there
because her position had been made redundant. The restructure of ABC
news after the Coalition’s $254m budget cut led to the position of
assistant chief of staff disappearing. Sources say the ABC newsroom was
in chaos on Monday as news executives scrambled to coordinate
the rolling coverage across platforms without her expertise, leading
to tempers flaring.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/18/weekly-beast-sydney-siege-shows-cost-of-abc-cuts-and-fairfax-confused-about-waleed-aly

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abc-maternity-leave-workers-vie-for-jobs-in-hunger-gamesstyle-redundancy-process-20150117-12r808.html

But Colleen Ryan, a former editor of The Australian Financial Review, singles out the interview for criticism in an audit of ABC TV's budget coverage. In the audit Ms Ryan said the interview showed how "perceptions of bias could be inflamed unnecessarily" and that Ms Ferguson did not appear to show the Treasurer enough respect.

The finding has been rejected by ABC News director Kate Torney and has angered some senior ABC journalists. Fairfax Media understands Ms Ferguson argued internally that she stands by the interview.

The audit also finds that Lateline host Emma Alberici would have given the impression of bias by asking a Coalition MP: "Do you think voters are really stupid and can't recognise a lie when they see one?"

While acknowledging the Ferguson-Hockey interview was "compelling television", Ms Ryan finds: "I felt that the 'tone' of the questioning in this particular interview could have been interpreted by some viewers to be a potential breach of the ABC's impartiality guidelines."

Ms Ryan singles out three points of the interview for criticism, starting with Ms Ferguson's first question to Mr Hockey.

"Now, you've just delivered that budget," Ms Ferguson said. "It's a budget with a new tax, with levies, with co-payments. Is it liberating for a politician to decide election promises don't matter? 

Ms Ryan found the question was factually correct but said its tone made the Treasurer seem "under attack".

"In my view, the language in Ferguson's first question was emotive," she found. "I also believe that the average viewer would consider that the Treasurer was not treated with sufficient respect by the interviewer."

Ms Ferguson later told Mr Hockey that she had asked a "yes or no question". She then said: "I don't need to teach you, Treasurer, what a tax is. You know that a co-payment, a levy and a tax are all taxes by any other name."

Ms Ryan found: "In my view, these two exchanges do not meet the impartiality guidelines to treat the interviewee 'with civility and respect unless there is a compelling reason not to do so'."

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/sarah-ferguson-interview-with-joe-hockey-breached-abc-bias-guidelines-review-20150216-13gbmj.html

Joe deserved everything he got, and more.... The questions were fair and pointed as they should be.

Who is this Colleen Ryan?... A former journalist/editor who would suck up to a minister who lies with self-importance?... Joe was massively lying with his budget. He was trying to con us into accepting shit... or crap whichever came first. It is important that he'd be exposed as such and at this level of delivering a very BAD BUDGET that contradicted all the promises (lies) made before the elections.

Joe got out lightly in that interview... Of course should he'd been interviewed by Andrew Bolt, there would be "no review" of the blatant slant and sickening applause for Joe's con-tricks by the master of propaganda with the soft voice...

Congratulation to the ABC to still have a least one journalist left to properly do political investigation on air... All the others have turned coat or have been "despatched" to early retirement...

The clown in the toon at top is decimating proper journalism at the ABC to promote an ill-conceived downgraded ABC culture towards entertaining the youth, who in their wisdom spend more time on watching Facebook than TV... Nothing wrong with making programmes to woo the young ones, but a lot wrong when the rest of us, "intelligent"-ones, suffer...