11 votes

Latest $84 million cuts rip the heart out of the ABC, and Australia's democracy

2 comments

  1. [2]
    Silbern
    (edited )
    Link
    This is a common myth about the US I hear a lot, so I suppose now is as good a time as any to address it. We absolutely have publicly funded media assets; most notably, PBS (the Public Broadcast...

    While not everyone will miss every program or service that has gone, and even with its occasional missteps, there is no doubt the ABC is the envy of the liberal democracies that do not have publicly funded assets, particularly the United States.

    This is a common myth about the US I hear a lot, so I suppose now is as good a time as any to address it. We absolutely have publicly funded media assets; most notably, PBS (the Public Broadcast Corporation) and VoA (Voice of America). The former is a nonprofit corporation whose income is predominantly from its content fees and public funding, and the latter is directly managed by a US agency, hence the US government.

    VoA is more geared for foreign readers (though many Americans, including myself, also read it), but PBS is one of the largest multimedia institutions in the US, being watched by over 50% of Americans each month, and consistently ranks with NASA and the court system as among the most trusted public institutions. ABC seems to have been around 70% viewership across all of their outlets, including traditional news, radio, etc as of 2016. I think given PBS' narrower focus on video content, the two are quite comparable, and while I'm sure the Australian ABC is pretty good, PBS isn't leaving us wanting either. Their programming is phenomenal, accessibility is excellent, and they fulfill everything you could ask for from a public media service.

    9 votes
    1. skybrian
      Link Parent
      Also, while National Public Radio apparently doesn't receive federal funding anymore, member stations do and some revenue comes from them.

      Also, while National Public Radio apparently doesn't receive federal funding anymore, member stations do and some revenue comes from them.

      4 votes