Has the media gone crazy?

bgt · Guru

Has the media gone crazy?

Gundog · Guru

Not crazy, just bloody minded leftist rabble who wont listen to any white anglo saxon male, those of the political right or center, and more over anyone who differs from it gay, tree hugging left rabble, and Labor party boosters.

Its time the ABC had its public funding removed and make it let the market place to decide to fund it, I was hazard a guess majority of free thinking Australians would rarely watch or listen to the ABC.

DMaxer · Guru

Have a look at the number of ABC employees who are either related or in a relationship with another employee at "Their ABC".

I used to love the ABC but not anymore. Defund that rabble and make it subscription only. Our taxes keep those leftist handwringers in luxury.

dorian · Guru

These are the actual guidelines:

https://www.abc.net.au/tv/independent/doc/ABC_DandI_Commissioning_Guidelines_2021.pdf

I see a genuine attempt to formulate an official policy to embrace inclusiveness in the ABC's programming. I don't see that the extremist conclusions drawn by Murdoch's rags are justified.

Mike Harding · Guru

dorian wrote:
embrace inclusiveness in the ABC's programming

You should post in the "Jokes" section more often Dorian.

The ABC is out of control - it has a staff controlled agenda to change social attitudes in Australia, it has become akin to a political party.

I have been a lifelong supporter of public broadcasting, especially the BBC, but the ABC needs to be taken in hand or sold.

bgt · Guru

The ABC discriminates yet it says it's policy is to eliminate discrimination. The ABC discriminates against the silent majority.

dorian · Guru

How does the ABC discriminate, and who are the "silent majority"?

Maybe these new guidelines are designed to address the accusations of bias toward a "gay, tree hugging left rabble"? After all, how does a public broadcaster, tasked with the duty of providing diverse, equitable programming, determine whether it has achieved its charter? Which independent, quantifiable metric does one apply to decide whether impartiality exists? As I see it, the most obvious metric, albeit an imperfect one, is demographics. Any other measurement would be subjective and much too hard to quantify.

If the naysayers have a better way to impartially and quantifiably define the requirements for public broadcasting, then I'm all ears. Or should we just sell the ABC to Murdoch and let him tell us what to think?

Cupie · Guru

Gundog wrote:
Not crazy, just bloody minded leftist rabble who wont listen to any white anglo saxon male, those of the political right or center, and more over anyone who differs from it gay, tree hugging left rabble, and Labor party boosters.
Its time the ABC had its public funding removed and make it let the market place to decide to fund it, I was hazard a guess majority of free thinking Australians would rarely watch or listen to the ABC.

I'm a White Anglo Saxon Leftist Labor supporting Male .... and I always watch ABC or SBS & will continue to do so despite this crazy bias ... I think that this policy is a crock of ****e.

BTW at a recent meet up with a rather diverse group of my ex-workmates I took a straw poll & there was unanimous disagreement with the current focus typified by this policy.

I might add that I am the recipient of an award (a gift of appreciation) by the local NADOC group for my performance in employing Aboriginals as part of the Aboriginal and Islander Employment and Career Development Strategy.

dorian · Guru

Cupie wrote:
I'm a White Anglo Saxon Leftist Labor supporting Male .... and I always watch ABC or SBS & will continue to do so despite this crazy bias ... I think that this policy is a crock of ****e.
BTW at a recent meet up with a rather diverse group of my ex-workmates I took a straw poll & there was unanimous disagreement with the current focus typified by this policy.

So how would you or your peers address the accusations of bias? How would you measure impartiality? The policy might sound crazy, but what other solution is there? It's not as easy as you think.

Tony Bev · Guru

I read the original link, from NEWS.COM.AU

Below is a snip of what was written

A World War I drama about Gallipoli produced for the ABC would be required to focus on "diversity" among Diggers, including a 50 per cent female cast and Indigenous lead actors, under new guidelines announced by the national broadcaster today.

Then I looked at the link supplied for the ABC.NET.AU supplied by Dorian

I found no reference on the ABC link, which News.Com were talking about

I can only conclude that the report from News.Com was sensational reporting

Also my gut feeling tells me, that it is impossible to make a documentary about Gallipoli, using 50% female cast, and Indigenous leaders

Because, (to the best of my knowledge), there was not 50% females, or Indigenous leaders, at Gallipoli

bgt · Guru

Tony Bev I agree that News.com is using sensational headlines. They always do. But the news has been aired elsewhere. Regardless a directive that insists on a set figure is nonsense and all but impossible to comply to. Diversity should be proportional. And even then "proportional" can be very subjective. The flaw in the ABCs directive is the hard numbers. It's simply not possible to write a female into a story that doesn't include a female. Just as it would be impossible to write a male into an all female story. It's PC going crazy.

dorian · Guru

I agree, it's tabloid sensationalism. To my way of thinking, guidelines are flexible targets rather than hard and fast rules. Anything else would make no sense and would be unworkable. The real irony is that a Murdoch rag, whose owner is Trump's chief propagandist, is calling out the ABC for formulating a policy to redress bias.

I'm grateful that we still have an ABC, despite the continued attempts by successive conservative governments to kill it off. In fact that alone should be reason enough to want to keep it. Where else can you find a public broadcaster who fearlessly brings the government of the day to account, without fear or favour?

dorian · Guru

bgt wrote:
The flaw in the ABCs directive is the hard numbers. It's simply not possible to write a female into a story that doesn't include a female. Just as it would be impossible to write a male into an all female story. It's PC going crazy.

I don't think the numbers are "hard". The fact that it is impossible to comply with a "hard numbered" directive suggests that it wasn't meant as a hard and fast rule. As I see it, it's a guideline, presumably with sufficient flexibility for intelligent people to make it workable. At least I hope so.

-- Edited by dorian on Monday 15th of February 2021 05:56:42 PM

Mike Harding · Guru

dorian wrote:
Where else can you find a public broadcaster who fearlessly brings the government of the day to account, without fear or favour?

I'll just correct that for you Dorian:

"Where else can you find a public broadcaster who fearlessly brings the [conservative] government of the day to account, without fear or favour?"

Mike Harding · Guru

Lead headline item on ABC radio Victorian news today:
Tamil family in immigration detention looses appeal.

This beat Covid lockdown and an outbreak of Ebola in Africa.

The ABC is running a staff orchestrated social change agenda and
acting like a political party - I'll keep highlighting it.

To quote a line from Yes Minister; "How many isolated examples would
you like?"