ABC local radio: blocked out!

monitoringwell

ABC National Director of Audience and Consumer Affairs

I WISH to lodge a formal complaint and enquiry regarding the structure of talk back on Local Radio.

A few weeks before the federal election, the regular morning presenter in Tasmania announced that his program would no longer conduct open-line talk back. Tim Cox introduced a new format called ‘The Morning Agenda’.

In this format, Mr Cox and his team would set the talk back topics of the day. Listeners could no longer phone the program with anything on their minds, and air valid concerns. Instead, listeners were invited to phone an off-air number and request to raise their topics of concern. The station would decide whether to introduce their topics.

The telephone number for requesting topics of discussion would not be a 1300 number. Therefore, people calling from outside Hobart would have to make STD phone calls to request their topics.

There would no longer be a dedicated talk back component of the program. Instead, talk back would be integrated with ‘The Morning Agenda’. The ABC would not only decide the talk back topics of the day, but would also determine random times for taking calls.

Suddenly, listeners with particular concerns were blocked out. They would have to wait for windows of opportunity to air their issues, or make special off-line requests for discussion.

Suddenly, just a few weeks before the election, politics were frequently ruled out of discussion. With approval of the gigantic Tamar Valley pulp mill project expected in a few weeks, this issue was frequently not canvassed. When discussion was allowed, it was terminated at the presenter’s will.

Along with a number of people that I know, I made numerous complaints about the new rules. I received replies claiming that the old format had become tired, with falling listenership.

In one fell swoop, we had lost our dedicated hour of open line talk back. This, with an election and pulp mill approval pending. Now, the election has passed. The pulp mill has been federally approved on the narrow grounds of marine effluents and migratory species. Yet, despite these narrow grounds and widespread lingering concern, I observe that issues surrounding the mill are rarely canvassed on ‘The Morning Agenda’.

All of the serious long-term followers of current affairs that I know share my anger that interviews, music and trivia have largely replaced challenging listener input. Yet, the Tasmanian manager of Local Radio, Catherine Hurley, has completely dismissed my concerns.

That is why I lodge this formal complaint.

I assert that ABC Local Radio now denies listeners reliable access to debate.

I formally complain that the public broadcaster now refuses its audience the long-held right to freely determine debate. Now, it calls all of the shots in its new format aptly named ‘The Morning Agenda’.

Therefore, I claim that the ABC has abrogated its role of challenging executive government on behalf of its listeners.

I notify widespread anger for this impingement of long-held democratic process.

I raise a formal question on behalf of many disenfranchised Tasmanian listeners: has dedicated open line access been replaced in other states by integrated programming in which agenda and debate are set by the ABC? Even if you dismiss my concerns as Catherine Hurley has done, I insist upon a direct reply to this question.

I hope that I will not receive a rote reply from you. Determination of debate and access to it are democratic questions that concern Parliament and media commentators.

Yours sincerely,

(monitoringwell)