The ABC: an overview

This paper presents an overview of Australia\u27s principal public broadcaster, the ABC, with reference to its origins, current composition and functions and its vision for a viable future within a changing media environment. The paper also makes reference to some of the controversies which have been integral to long-running discussion about the ABC - allegations of bias, political appointments to the broadcaster and the perennial question of funding adequacy. Executive summary This paper presents a brief overall picture of Australia’s principal public service broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).It describes the origins and development of the ABC and looks at its current structure, general operational policies and functions. The paper also discusses a number of important issues which are often raised in discussions of public broadcasting in general, and in particular, in relation to the ABC. One of the most significant of these is the issue of how the ABC is funded. The paper provides a brief background to the current funding situation, noting the debate surrounding the adequacy of funding and what may be future funding outcomes. Discussion of this issue is supplemented by detailed funding tables presented in Appendix C. These tables show funding trends and provide information actual dollars and dollar adjusted to 2012–13 prices. The ABC has regularly been the subject of criticism from a number of quarters; there have been frequent allegations of bias in reporting, inappropriate programming, political appointments to the ABC Board and mismanagement of funds. Recently the ABC has been accused also of neglecting its Charter obligations by withdrawing local services and outsourcing production. The debates surrounding these and other similar issues are also considered in the paper. Arguments supporting and criticising the broadcaster are noted throughout. While no attempt is made to draw definitive conclusions about the future of the ABC, it is noted that the broadcaster continues to be admired and supported by a significant number of Australians who see it as a constant source of quality information and entertainment

ABC online : a vortal for new opportunities?

This article undertakes an analysis of the ABCs website, ABC Online -- www. abc.net.au -- to explore how the public broadcaster uses the Internet to offer new services. While recognising that the ABC aims to enhance its traditional radio and television services using the Internet, the article establishes the extent to which ABC Online also provides innovative, original, and interactive new services, including those with no connection to traditional radio and television programs, as is often demanded by audiences. This article examines the capacity for ABC Online to develop a unique and distinctive role via the Internet through the potential to offer novel and interactive content and services.<br /

Beyond the Book project: quantitative data and collateral documents for One Book, One Chicago

Quantitative data and collateral documents Chicago portion of the AHRC-funded project ‘Beyond the Book: Mass Reading Events and Contemporary Cultures of Reading in the UK, USA and Canada’, (2005-2008, grant number: 112166), a three-year interdisciplinary project. The study researched a selection of 21st-century reading events which employ mass media (TV and radio) and city-wide reading projects which employ the ‘One Book, One Community’ model. The primary aims of the transnational study were to investigate how mass reading events configure contemporary practices of reading and the cultural meanings of reading at local, national and international levels; to explain the uses and complexities of reading communities in different locations; to identify and analyse trans-national trends and differences in contemporary reading cultures and reading practices; and, to critique the popular function of literary fiction. The file contains the data collected from a series of an online survey of readers in Chicago. Convenience sampling was employed. The survey was advertised through adverts in newspapers, on-line advertisements; flyers and bookmarks distributed through public library systems and cultural centres; via email through the research team’s formal and informal social and professional networks. The data includes reading choice, habits and practices; participation in broadcast and community book programming; and, basic demographic information (anonymised). The statistical data is deposited in .sav .csv and .por formats. Collateral material includes: Codebook and the Survey. Content was created between ca. 2006-10-13 and 2008-08-25. Content was saved 2008-10-31. http://www.beyondthebookproject.org

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation&#039;s commitment to reflecting and representing regional diversity

On 27 November 2012 the Senate referred the matter of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation\u27s (ABC) commitment to reflecting and representing regional diversity in Australia to the Environment and Communications References Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report. The committee resolved to report to the Senate by 20 March 2013. The terms of reference for the inquiry were: (a) the commitment by the ABC to reflecting and representing regional diversity in Australia; (b) the impact that the increased centralisation of television production in Sydney and Melbourne has had on the ABC\u27s ability to reflect national identify and diversity; and (c) any related matters. Chapter 2 of this report provides background detail on the ABC as the national broadcaster and its history in broadcasting and reflecting regional Australia. The chapter also gives an overview of past reviews conducted into the ABC. Chapter 3 discusses some of the key issues raised during the course of the inquiry, namely the ability of the ABC to reflect regional Australia, the effect of the centralisation of ABC production in Sydney and Melbourne and the impact of the closure of the Perth and Hobart production units

The new wave on radio arts in the UK

In the UK there has never been much scope for radio art within the ream of public service broadcasting, leading artists to seek funding for their own independent projects, predominantly from the Arts Council of England (ACE) and other state funding bodies and charitable trusts. In this article, I will consider this recent avenue of practice, because its results - in terms of audience composition, artistic output and the wider cultural context of the form - shed light on both the particular context of radio art practice in the UK, and also have implications for the wider struggle for sustainable independent media networks against the diminished imaginative horizons of a public broadcast culture endlessly inured to 'unavoidable' cuts and the free market enclosure of the digital commons. In the name of „austerity‟ such cuts have been inflicted upon broadcasters worldwide.The loss of key radio arts programmes like Australia's ABC's Listening Room, as discussed in the last post by Colin Black, is by no means the exception, even in an age of expansion in digital spaces. As De Lys stated way back in 2006 it may be considered "[i]ronic that the rationalization‟ of radio arts by public broadcasters occurs at the same time that audio arts activity and the creative use of sound are expanding exponentially in community spaces, in galleries, games, and online"

Current On-Line Issues

With the frenetic pace of technological development in the area of global communications, it is no wonder that consumers and businesses are adopting and taking advantage of these technologies before they are fully mature. The law is being refined every day. Most recently, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether Congress\u27s recent twenty-year extension of the term of copyright protection is constitutional. Hotly disputed topics include digital copyright and liability for trademark infringement from technologically-driven issues such as hyperlinking and metatag use. This move to the Internet, to our client\u27s surprise, presented a variety of legal issues that must be dealt with. For example, who owns the data pertinent to these tenants? How does our client keep its server data secure? Who owns the copyrights and trademarks that will be used during the on-line sessions? After our client\u27s initial foray into the U.S. market, what international issues arise when our client begins to service customers in the European Union or other countries? A closer inspection reveals that, with planning, our clients may embrace this move, because any lurking dangers may be avoided

InfoTech Update, Volume 13, Number 2, March/April 2004

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_news/5003/thumbnail.jp

Spartan Daily, November 30, 2004

Volume 123, Issue 61https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/10065/thumbnail.jp