\n\tSYDNEY: The Australian national broadcasters ABC and SBS will lose a combined A$43.5 million ($40.8 million) over the next four years due to budget cuts, and the ABC's contract for the Australia Network is being terminated.<\/p>\n
\n\t“The funding cuts will be disappointing for audiences. The government gave repeated commitments before and after the election that funding for the corporation would be maintained,” said Mark Scott, ABC’s managing director.<\/p>\n
\n\tScott said while the ABC would look to make its operations more efficient, the funding cuts would regrettably and inevitably result in redundancies and a reduction in services. Scott said the decision to cut the funding for Australia Network was very disappointing, given the ABC was only one year into a 10-year contract with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).<\/p>\n
\n\t“Countries around the world are expanding their international broadcasting services as key instruments of public diplomacy. The ABC had negotiated a detailed strategy with DFAT to develop relationships with major broadcasters in the region and to target locals likely to trade, study in or travel to Australia. This partnership had resulted in expanded audiences in key markets and was on track to deliver all agreed targets.<\/p>\n
\n\t“This decision runs counter to the approach adopted by the vast majority of G-20 countries who are putting media at the center of public diplomacy strategies to engage citizens in other countries.<\/p>\n
\n\t“It sends a strange message to the region that the government does not want to use the most powerful communication tools available to it to talk to our regional neighbors about Australia.<\/p>\n
\n\t“The agreed strategy with DFAT based on broadcasting, online partnerships and social media was proving successful. This decision cannot be justified in terms of performance against agreed priorities.”<\/p>\n
\n\tScott said the ABC board would now have to examine how the ABC delivers its international charter obligation, which requires it to broadcast programs that, among other things, “encourage awareness of Australia and an international understanding of Australian attitudes on world affairs.”<\/p>\n
\n\tIn addition to the funding cuts, the ABC will also have to manage the cessation of funding for the online disability website ABC Ramp Up <\/em>at the end of this financial year.<\/p>\n \n\tScott said the ABC was aware of the tight fiscal environment and constantly reviewed its strategy and performance to find better work practices and greater efficiencies.<\/p>\n \n\t“The ABC is very tightly geared. We have been diligent in reducing backroom costs over recent years to ensure the ABC can deliver better and more varied content to our audiences. That strategy has enabled the ABC to self-fund important new initiatives like iview, ABC News24, triple j Unearthed online<\/em> and a range of other new digital services.”<\/p>\n \n\tScott said the budget made it clear the Lewis efficiency exercise would impose additional demands on ABC budgets over the next few years. The Department of Communications has been conducting a study into ABC and SBS efficiency with the assistance of ex-Channel 7 CFO and recently appointed CFO of Southern Cross Austereo, Peter Lewis.<\/p>\n \n\t“The task ahead will be extremely challenging for ABC management and staff,” Scott said.<\/p>\n \n\t“We will need to make funding cuts, while trying to also save money to invest in new priorities to ensure the ABC remains a compelling feature of the Australian media landscape—a public broadcaster in the digital era.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SYDNEY: The Australian national broadcasters ABC and SBS will lose a combined A$43.5 million ($40.8 million) over the next four years due to budget cuts, and the ABC's contract for the Australia Network is being terminated. “The funding cuts will be disappointing for audiences. The government gave repeated commitments before and after the election that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-top-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n