ABC find the Real Julia

ABC have found the real Julia! Photo evidence to boot.
Either that or they are:
A). Comparing the Australian PM with a Vietnamese Peasant
B). Comparing the Japanese people with a Vietnamese Peasant
C). Too lazy to take a few moments to select the appropriate image from ABC's extensive image library
D). All of the above.
We've asked ABC to confirm which one they wanted to imply when they juxtaposed the headline with our favourite ABC environment image. We also sent a copy to the PM's department.

 

 ABC Environment too lazy to find the right picture? Or perhaps they just don't give a shit.
We asked the PM's department the following question:
Can the PM's department please enquire whether the ABC were seeking to traduce the position of PM, or the Japanese people?

Editorialising-atomic power too great a risk?

This line from a story about the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster struck us as somewhat un-necessary and we have asked ABC to explain its presence, as it seems to contravene section 4 of ABC's new editorial policies..

"Japan has placed the disaster on the maximum seven on an international scale of atomic crises, the same level as Chernobyl, and the troubles at Fukushima have prompted many questions about whether atomic power is too great a risk." 


There have also been many questioning the irrational fear mongering, why do they not get a mention?
 :

ABC News-All time low for Easter Productivity

ABC News staff numbers have steadily increased from 766 in 2003 to 942 in 2010. In any other sphere of business this would normally be associated with an increase in output. However, based on the number of stories posted to its News Archive,  ABC News continues to defy the normal laws of economics.
The chart below looks at the number of news stories in ABC's News Archive for Easter Sunday from 2003 to 2011, finding a dramatic slide in output. With 766 staff in 2003 ABC produced more than double the number of news items compared to 2011 (182, compared to 72)! Even with the addition of $24 million pumped into its continuous news centre since 2006, including over $11 million in this year alone ABC still can't match its 2003 productivity. In 2003 it took 4.2 ABC News staff to write one Easter Sunday story.  In 2011 it takes over 13, (based on projected staffing for this year of 960).

That's not the worst of it. When you consider the source, ABC News only contributed 35 stories this year, 2 of these jointly produced with the assistance of Reuters and AAP (see chart below). That's less than half.

ABC doing much much less, with much much more.

The Raw numbers;

Year	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Stories	182	134	135	117	122
Staff	766.24	735.04	756.6	770.68	842.37
staff per story	4.21011	5.485373	5.604444	6.587009	6.904672
Source	ABC	AFP	AAP	Reuters	ABC/AAP
Number	33	15	10	9	1
2011 staff numbers projected

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011
Stories	140	101	80	72
Staff	865.59	913.14	942.33	960.84
staff per story	6.182786	9.04099	11.779125	13.345
Source	ABC/Reuters	BBC/AFP	Reuters/AFP	total
Number	1	2	1	72
2011 staff numbers projected

From the Vault - Those Easter Blues

Coal carrier

7pm TV News

On April 12, (2010) in a story about the coal carrier that ran aground in Queensland waters, the ABC reported that the incident occurred on Easter Saturday. In fact, the event was on Holy Saturday, the day after Good Friday and it is the last day of Holy Week.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/corrections/

However...
Radio National – Saturday Extra 6 May 2006
The complaint
A listener complained that the program’s host incorrectly stated that the 15 April 2006 was “Easter Saturday”. The listener pointed out that the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is called “Easter Eve”.
Finding
The ABC agreed that this was incorrect.

PUBLIC REPORT ON AUDIENCE COMMENTS AND COMPLAINTS APRIL – JUNE 2006
"From the Vault" - digging up past corrections and clarifications from the ABC archives.

When propaganda equals news.

Is it just me or does this report lack balance and lack inquiry? Carbon tax 'a scapegoat' for power bill rises
Odd that ABC ran the story even before the Climate Institute issued a press release (nothing at the Climate Institute website as of 9.00am today). Some questions:
Does ABC have an "embedded reporter" at the Climate Institute?
Can ABC spot the difference between propaganda and news?

Update: 14:30. Just noticed the Climate Institute have caught up with the ABC  their marketing arm. Must be nice to have Auntie in your back pocket.

H/T to The Loaded Dog

ABC NEWS: much less for much more

Margaret Simons has used an FOI request to obtain information about the true cost of ABC's 24 hour continuous news service. It appears Margaret has had some success.  However, ABC have used FOI exceptions to refuse significant parts of the request.
According to the figures provided, the total cost of the Continuous News Centre, from its launch in 2006 until the end of last month,  is $25.37 million dollars. 2011 figures are only until the end of March 2011.
Combined with the results of our productivity survey, the figures paint an alarming picture of ABC's failure to efficiently use public funds to provide a news service to its audience.
In the chart below the expenditure is just for ABC's continuous news centre from information obtained by Margaret Simons, and does not include the total cost of ABC's News service. Staff numbers are total News Staff from ABC annual reports, and the number of stories is for the months of June, from ABC's online news archive. 
The bottom line is that ABC continues to do much less with much much much more. At a time when the government is weighing up reduced funding for medical research in this years budget, the ABC continues to leech off the tax payer. If the government needs to trim the fat, I know one big fat Auntie who is in dire need of lipsuction. Based on the chart below a return to her fitter 2003 weight  might actually improve her output.  In regard to the 24 hour continuous news service; $25.37 million buys a lot of cancer research.

Update: Fishing for the truth

ABC HEADLINE: "Toxic caesium found in fish off Japan"
ABC REPORTED: The first sentence read: Traces of radioactive caesium have been found for the first time in fish off Japan's east coast.


It was not the first time and ABC have now corrected the story. ABC's response is posted HERE
SCORE +1