background briefing 4 ..................3

The ABC's next managing director

Much has been reported in the media about Jonathan Shier, due to take over the key appointment of Managing Director of the ABC when Brian Johns' term concludes in March next year. The Managing Director is a member of the board which governs the ABC and the member of the Board responsible for managing the affairs of the corporation. The position also entails being editor in chief.

Importantly, Mr Shier has informed the Australian public of his commitment to the ABC's independence, and support for its role as a comprehensive broadcaster, as opposed to a niche broadcaster simply producing the sort of programs the commercial networks don't produce. He has acknowledged the importance of the ABC in preserving and building Australian content. He has committed himself to fight for more funding for the organisation, to enable staff to make high-quality programs. Senator Alston, Minister for Communications, believes Mr Shier has the necessary skills to ensure the ABC is able to meet and respond to opportunities in the new environment of digital and interactive services.

FABC welcomes Mr Shier's declaration of support for the essential elements of the ABC. Together with the general community, we are anxious to see that these ideals of public broadcasting are fulfilled.

However, we do have some concerns.

As Managing Director of AustraliaÕs most important cultural institution, Mr Shier is entrusted by the people of Australia to protect the ABCÕs independence from political and commercial influence. Closely following interviews with Mr Shier about his background and ideas on the ABC were reports which indicated that he was not entirely a ÔcleanskinÕ, and that he had had stronger associations with the Liberal Party than his use of this term suggests. Political independence is crucial to the integrity of the ABC and we look to Mr Shier to demonstrate his clear support of this principle.

Then there is the issue of advertising. Mr Shier qualified his claims of total opposition to advertising with a suggestion that it might be possible at the 'margins', for example on ABC Online.

While Mr Shier has extensive experience in sales and marketing in overseas commercial television broadcasting, he has no experience in public broadcasting. Commercial broadcasting is a very different animal from public broadcasting. Its very reason for existing, and therefore the very basis of its operations, is to make a profit and provide customers for its advertisers. We hope that Mr Shier's flagging of the possibility of advertising on ABC Online may have been an off-the-cuff comment and that he will reconsider when he has more familiarity with the integrated nature of the different aspects of public broadcasting.

The future of the ABC lies in his hands. His willingness to represent the interests of the Australian community, and to listen to those who care so passionately about their ABC, will be crucial.

Since he ceased work for a minister in the Fraser Liberal government over two decades ago, Mr Shier has worked abroad.

Will he know what Australians seek in their national public broadcaster? He missed the outpouring of heartfelt support Australians expressed to the 1996 Mansfield Review of the ABC which received more submissions than any other inquiry in Australian history.

Why ABC radio speaks for us all

Hugh Mackay writes about the absence of the mention of radio in the introduction of Mr Shier to the media by ABC chairman Donald McDonald. These are extracts from his article in The Age,20/11/99.

There was a big black hole where the word 'radio' should have been.

Was the failure even to acknowledge radio's existence a mere oversight, or is the Board so out of touch with its audience, so obsessed with the cost of running a TV network and so distracted by the technological challenges now being faced, that it has lost sight of what those magic letters 'ABC' actually mean to the Australian community, especially in the bush?

My impression is that the six million Australians who listen to some form of ABC radio in any given week are more likely to be feeling as if they are receiving a unique service.

The ABC's six radio networks come pretty close to defining the character of the ABC. Taken together, they are in tune with the spirit of its charter in a way that is harder for a single television network to achieve.

Television is increasingly a global medium; radio remains the ABC's local, and more distinctive, voice. If Jonathan Shier is planning to build on the ABC's strengths, then, sooner or later, he must immerse himself in the culture of ABC radio.

HUGH MACKAY