Funding for ABC News-OP ED

There's an interesting article about public finding of ABC News at On Line Opinion.
Public funding for ABC News is no longer defensible

Significant moves towards privatising the ABC and SBS were made in May. These included a Victorian Liberal Party state conference motion and persuasive essays by Peter van Onselen and Rebecca Weisser. The case for the sell-off was also bolstered by the ABC itself. Click the link to read the rest.

Can't say we agree with analysis which is rather flawed, but the sentiment is in the right place.

On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit e-journal that aims to provide a forum for public social and political debate about current Australian issues. We publish articles to stimulate a public discourse on a range of topics. It is not the editors’ intention to dominate these pages – these articles are gathered from a variety of independent sources and are published in the belief that ideas are the essence of progress and that issues and opinions should be addressed, not suppressed. We welcome any rational contribution to what has become a robust public debate not available in any other media or forum.

Privatised ABC: YES or NO

Two opinions in the Oz today.

Case for YES
Case for NO

Funny that the national broadcaster is unable to offer such balance!

Our own opinion sides with the YES case. There is little justification for retaining the current system. A portion of the billion dollars (plus) currently spent on public broadcasting (ABC and SBS) could be re-directed to private production houses and publishers to produce a diverse array of Australian media content that would be able to better meet the ABCs charter. This could be broadcast on free to air radio and TV stations, or via the internet. ABC's current excellent educational programming could be broadcast on digital by any number of media organisations, with the government subsidising the cost to allow for ad free transmissions, or the costs might be borne on a subscription basis.

A large portion of ABC's programming is middle class welfare.
A large portion of ABC's programming has a niche audience (take any number of Radio National's offerings for example). Why should the tax payer be subsiding the interests of such a small group at the expense of others in the community with different interests. It's long overdue that this small group put their money where their hearts are and contributed to what they are interested in rather than rely on the tax payer to do it for them.