Samuel's Blog

2UE’s Byrnes and Maynard promoted

It looks like the restructuring at 2UE has finally come to an end, with the role of Program Director being filled by Greg Byrnes, and the new “News Chief Of Staff” position (new name for “News Director”?) being filled by Clinton Maynard.

Looks like a solid lineup running the practical day-to-day air operations at 2UE, and that’s exactly what they need after the recent round of sackings and retrenchments, and their lapses in the ratings.

I wonder if this means everyone in the 2UE newsroom will have to call Clinton Maynard “Chief”?

Samuel

2 comments August 16th, 2006 at 06:25am

David Young to “swing open the rusty gate” for the final time

2CC gardening host David Young is calling it quits…only 4 months after his ABC competitor Mark Carmody did the same thing.

This weekend coming (August 19 & 20) will be David’s last on 2CC. The stalwart of Canberra horticulture made the announcement during his show on Sunday August 13, after a decade (or thereabouts…I can’t remember if he started in 1997 or 1996…it was probably 1996) on 2CC, and a 12 year stint on ABC Local Radio before that. David was also the gardening reporter for Ten Capital News (the TV station now known as Southern Cross Ten). David is well known for hosting garden tour/holidays to many places around Australia and the world. David is also the bearer of a Churchill fellowship and an Order of Australia Medal.

Unfortunately, the only photo I can find of David is a tiny outdated photo from one of his tours.

If anybody has a more up-to-date or better photo, could you please send me a copy…I’m happy to give you attribution for the photo if you like. (I suppose I should have gone with the camera to see David at the retirement expo last year).

I’ve had a delve into my (not very comprehensive!) archives, and found a gem from 1997…it is the Sunday outro for David Young’s Garden. This uses what I consider to be the best theme music 2CC have ever used for David Young, and unfortunately I neither know the name of the music, or possess a complete version of it.

The outro runs for nearly 30 seconds, and can be played or downloaded by clicking here.

I will be sure to give David a call on the weekend to wish him all the best for the future…I’ll also get the recorder going just in case 2CC’s current longest serving presenter receives a tribute or gives a speech of some sort…somehow I think his last two shows will be filled with callers wishing him well. I know that I will miss him, he has been the relaxing voice of the weekend for me for many years, his “thing” is the inspiration for the Persiflage Puzzle…I think a lot of people will miss him, he would have to be one of the longest continuously serving people in Canberra Radio at the moment, and this is truly a very historic moment.

Mike Frame and Vicky (whoops…I heard her last name once…but she is usually just called “Vicky”) will fill-in for the rest of the ratings period, but after that, who knows? (Endless re-runs of David’s years on 2CC perhaps?, Mike and Vicky forever more? Some other show??? The possibilities are endless.)

Samuel

2 comments August 15th, 2006 at 10:50am

Clinton Maynard to fill in for John Kerr

John Kerr has just made an announcement that, had it not been broadcast, I would not have believed. Next weekend (August 19 & 20) Clinton Maynard, one of 2UE’s many excellent reporters, will be filling on for John Kerr on New Day Australia. It looks like Clinton is one of 2UE’s up-and-coming talk presenters.

This reminds me of 2CC, where newsreader/sport presenter Kris McKenzie is their up-and-coming talk presenter…filling in every now and then for other presenters.

It will be very interesting to see how Clinton handles this, he is an excellent reporter, but New Day Australia is the “deep end” these days as there is no producer…the presenter has to answer all the calls himself, as well as monitoring the emails and still running a show. I do hope they tell him about the very real chance of getting a couple calls from people who think they’ve called the number for a taxi.

I get the feeling that I’ll be giving Clinton a call at some stage on Saturday or Sunday.

Best of luck Clinton!

John Kerr made the announcement around 1:30am, and it left me wondering…whatever happened to former New Day fillin Spencer Kirk?

Samuel

3 comments August 13th, 2006 at 02:04am

Canberra Radio Ratings #2 Are Underway (and Samuel is part of the survey)

Yep, the ratings nearly got underway without me noticing…I must have been thick to think that the spate of promotions running on 2CC and 2CA could be running with no attachment to a ratings period.

The ratings period starts today (Saturday August 12) (edit: Actually it started on Sunday August 6, Nielsen are handing out books during the survey period) and will run through until the end of Saturday August 19 (Another edit: Nielsen have updated their website…the survey runs until the end of Saturday September 2).

(To clarify that messy paragraph, the survey period is Sunday August 6 to Saturday September 2 inclusive, apoligies to anybody who was confused by the multiple edits to this post over the last 16 hours).

So what will happen? Well 2CC and 2CA are off to a good start…no bus ads for 2CC, but a more inventive way of advertising, each day 2CC are inviting listeners to nominate a business as the finest business in a particular category, the business with the most nominations in that day’s category receives a large framed certificate declaring them the finest business in their category, as voted by 2CC listeners…the certificate naturally enough contains a very big 2CC logo, and 2CC are giving away a holiday to one lucky nominator.

2CA are relying on a $75,000 giveaway, and Canberra’s best breakfast duo (Paul and Leighton), and the word of mouth which seems to be spreading about that excellent music station.

FM 104.7 are trying to counter their large loss in the last survey with ads for their breakfast program in Canberra’s worst “newspaper” City Ads (the freely-distributed glossy advertorial nonsense device).

Mix 106.3 and FM 104.7 appear to have put their ads on some taxis again, although not in the large numbers they did last year.

Local ABC haven’t bothered to fix any of the problems that led to their dismal performance last ratings.

So my predictions…2CC and 2CA will both gain, 2CC won’t gain as much as they did last time, and 2CA will probably jump considerably with their large cash giveaway and their breakfast duo.

Mix will retain top spot, although I doubt they will gain…in fact I think it is almost certain that they will lose some market share. FM 104.7 will continue to lose listeners, but nowhere near as dramtically as last survey.

ABC local radio will also lose market share (mostly to 2CC), but the drop will be less than last time. The other stations could do just about anything…and JJJ will gain audience share from 104.7.

My household was chosen as one of the households to fill out survey books…I’m looking forward to doing my civic duty, and helping quality stations to thrive in the process.

Samuel

August 12th, 2006 at 12:52am

Email from Lawsie’s office

Yesterday was John Laws‘s 71st birthday, and as I mentioned, I sent him an email to wish him a happy birthday.

Well yesterday at 12:40pm, I received a reply from Lawsie’s office, which was quite a surprise as I have never received a reply from his office to any of my other emails, and was certainly not expecting one. I was very happy just knowing that Lawsie would read my message.

Anyway, the reply from Lawsie’s office:

Dear Samuel,

Thankyou for your kind birthday wishes. We have passed them onto John, he really appreciates your support and hopes you continue to enjoy the program!

Kind Regards,

The John Laws Morning Show

Whilst I’m sure it was a “canned” response, I am very appreciative of this email, as Lawsie would have received a deluge of birthday emails, and it would have been much easier to not reply at all. The fact that he (or his staff) have replied is very heartwarming, and I publicly thank them for it.

Samuel

August 9th, 2006 at 07:18am

Happy Birthday Lawsie

Ye gods, it’s a year since John Laws turned 70…a whole year…how is that possible? Who sped up the calendar?

Anyway, Lawsie is 71 years old today, so happy birthday Lawsie!

Last year, when Lawsie turned 70, I tried to ring in to wish him a happy birthday, but I was about the 750,000th person to call in so they (Lawsie’s producers) added my name to a list of well-wishers, I also sent him a birthday card. I remember I spent most of the morning listening to Lawsie, I even sent him an email. John Williamson also dropped in to Lawsie’s studio to sing a few songs.

I remember walking across the Dickson Playing Fields about a week after Lawsie’s birthday, and people were still greeting him with birthday messages when they rang up to talk to him.

I’ll be at work for most of Lawsie’s show, but I remembered to send John a birthday email…I sent this at 2:36am whilst listening to Lawsie’s former exectutive producer Stuart Bocking, who is now the host of New Day Australia.

Happy 71st birthday Lawsie,
I can’t believe it is a whole year since your last birthday…I remember where I was when John Williamson invaded the studio, and where I was when I left a birthday message with one of your producers.

I hope you have a great day John, and I hope that back of yours isn’t causing you too many problems these days.

Best wishes,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra

Samuel

August 8th, 2006 at 07:56am

Melbourne Radio Ratings

I was going to write a report about the first Melbourne radio ratings period following the 3AW/Magic frequency swap, and then I realised that the ratings periods in Melbourne overlap.

Ratings #3 (which I covered here) went from February 12 to April 29, which places it before the frequency swap.

Ratings #4, which I was about to write a report for, went from March 26 to June 10, which puts the frequency swap in the middle of the ratings period.

Ratings #5 started on May 7 (six days after the frequency swap) and finished on July 29, I will write a report about this ratings period when the results are published, as this will provide a direct comparison of the time directly before, and directly after, the frequency swap.

Samuel

August 6th, 2006 at 06:40am

2CA Giving Away $75,000

On November 14, 1931, 2CA started broadcasting on the AM dial with a frequency of 1050kHz (they subsequently changed to 1053kHz when the industry changed from 10kHz stepping to 9kHz stepping…radio historian Wayne Mac talks about that during Samuel’s Persiflage #2)

Anyway, 2CA will be 75 years old on November 14 this year, and as such they have decided to have a birthday promotion. The prize they are giving away is $75,000. So, how does it work? Well the 2CA website explains that quite well:

“What would you do with $75,000? Pay off the rest of the mortgage? Finally take that overseas holiday? From Monday, listen out for 2CA’s $75,000 Birthday songs, as soon as you hear one, be the first caller through on 62411053 and you will be in the running to win $75,000! It’s 2CA’s $75,000 Birthday songs, on the new sound of Canberra’s 1053 2CA.

I get the distinct impression that they are just copying and pasting radio scripts on to their website, but it seems to work.

Today is Monday, so for your chance to win, tune your dial to 1053AM and keep an ear out for the “birthday songs”…I’m sure there will be plenty of promos giving you more explicit instructions.

Incidentally, John B1_B5 wrote an article, not all that long ago, about the early years of 2CA in which he stated that 2CA started off in a shop in Kingston, with a 50 watt 4 stage transmitter employing a mercury vapour Rectifier, the antenna for this device was mounted on the roof above the shop. For more information about the early years of 2CA, see this page on John’s website.

Also of interest, John Kerr was 2CA’s breakfast host from 1960 to 1965 (or 1966), he was also the breakfast host on 2GO Gosford for 13 years starting in 1973…2GO are celebrating their 35th birthday on November 19, a mere five days after 2CA’s 75th birthday. I get the feeling John will be kept quite busy and excited during that week. With any luck he will be in Canberra for a day or two…it would be nice to meet up with him here in Canberra, even if only for a coffee.

Samuel

July 31st, 2006 at 12:52pm

Canberra Radio Ratings: Survey #1 for 2006

In mid-June the Canberra radio ratings were released…I then analysed the figures and promptly forgot to write anything about them. Regular readers may recall that in early May, when the ratings period started, I made some predictions. I am pleased to be able to announce that I got quite a few things right.

So without further ado, here are the results for Canberra Radio Ratings Survey #1, 2006, for Sunday May 19 to Saturday June 3 inclusive

Let’s start with the overall picture of the ratings:

As predicted, FM 104.7 lost top spot in favour of Mix 106.3, and as stated, FM 104.7 are going downhill rather quickly (largest audience loss in Canberra). It was quite interesting (and not in the least bit surprising given the quality of 2CC programming, their excellent coverage of the ACT Budget, and the ads they ran on buses) to see 2CC gain the exact percentage of the market that their direct competitor, 666 ABC Canberra, lost. 2CC also jumped into second place in their market (talk) and had the highest audience gain of any radio station in Canberra.

JJJ continued their topsy turvey results, this time they lost a few listeners, ABC Classic FM gained a few listeners (seems to be quite popular in doctors’ surgeries), Radio National lost audience as predicted…they just aren’t local enough to maintain an audience now that they podcast almost all of their useful programs.

2CA and NewsRadio were the real surprise packets of these ratings.

2CA, with no advertising, managed to gain a decent bit of the market, probably due to two factors. Firstly they have the best playlist in Canberra and the word is spreading, and secondly they are the only music station on the AM dial…the 2CC advertising helped, as some of the people who saw the ads and decided that they would check out 2CC probably didn’t like it, and then found the best music station in Canberra…it sounds similar to Mix 106.3 these days, but it is better…much better.

Daniel Gibson did very well for 2CA on breakfast, so I do find it curious that they launched a new breakfast duo right after the ratings were released, but Paul & Leighton do appear to have hung on to Daniel’s audience and then gained some more…I’m overhearing their names more and more around Canberra, 2CA are more than likely on a winner with them.

NewsRadio had a very surprising jump in the ratings…admittedly they were broadcasting the federal budget proceedings and other parliamentary excitement…but a jump of 1.5% of Canberrans? We’ll have to keep an eye on them for the next ratings.

“Other” also had a decent jump, other of course being the measurement for non-listed stations, and (I think) people who are not listening. Apparently there is a new station called Raw FM or something which is gaining popularity in the target demographic of JJJ and FM 104.7.

For the record, the top three single station gains went to 2CC (+1.7), NewsRadio (+1.5) and Mix 106.3 (+0.8). The top three single station losses went to FM 104.7 (-3.4), ABC Local Radio (-1.7) and JJJ (-0.7)

Now, the market vs market summary:

Quite interesting to see Talk closing in on Music, and “other” also making a gain.

Now the same comparison, but with station averages instead (other cannot be included in averages due to the ever-changing number of others):

Now for the overall ABC vs Commercial figures:

Everybody is losing out to the “other” category.

On average per station:

Despite the ABC category having a larger overall fall, the commercial stations had a larger average fall.

Somebody I know said the following very patronising statement in a group setting I was involved in a few weeks ago “…it’s like the “AM” button on the radio…you never use it, but it’s good to know it’s there!”

How accurate was this person I wonder?

Not very accurate by the looks of it…35.8% (and climbing) of Canberrans prefer to use the AM button.

On station averages:

So there you have it, the Canberra Radio Ratings for Sunday May 19 to Saturday June 3 inclusive. The summary from Nielsen Media Research can be found here

At this stage the date for the next ratings has not been announced.

Samuel

2 comments July 30th, 2006 at 06:24am

2UE Manager Quits

2UE’s general manager, Ian Sheppard, has quit. His decision comes hot on the heels of last week’s sacking of at least nine 2UE staff which, according to insiders, was yet another decision from Southern Cross Broadcasting in Melbourne.

Radioinfo had this to say:

Ian Sheppard, who only last week presided over the sacking of at least nine 2UE staff, some of them having worked at the station for more than 12 years, today fell on his own sword.

The announcement came at a short staff meeting at around 12:30pm where Sheppard was reported by insiders to have said, “I can no longer work at a radio station where there are so few staff”.

According to Southern Cross Group GM, Graham Mott, who will take over management of the station in the short term, Sheppard was offered a job at Channel Nine. He told radioinfo, “Ian Sheppard has done a wonderful job here at 2UE in all his years as both Sales Manager and more recently General Manager. We’re very sorry to see him go, but it’s a great opportunity for him at the Nine Network and we wish him all the best.”

His resignation has come at the end of a tough week for Sheppard. Having had to sack a slew of staff on Friday, on Tuesday, he had to endure a very public taunt from Ray Hadley, on rival station, 2GB. In a spray that also targeted Bill Caralis and John Laws described Ian Sheppard as being, “So lightweight he keeps his office windows shut in case he gets blown away”.

Graham Mott will once again commute from Melbourne until a suitable replacement is found.

Reading between the lines there, it would appear that Ian Sheppard is sick of Melbournites making decisions for a Sydney radio station, and who can blame him? 2UE’s ratings have slipped considerably since SCB Melbourne started interfering in their operations, and Ian Sheppard has consistently been left with the job of answering public questions about each and every change. Will SCB learn from the loss of a very talented manager? I hope so, but I’m not holding my breath.

Samuel

July 7th, 2006 at 05:13pm

Stargate SG1 Returns to Channel 7 Tonight at 11pm

During my perusal of the local television guide I noticed that Channel Seven are bring Stargate SG1 back to Australian screens, starting tonight at 11pm. This will be series nine of SG1.

Oddly enough, despite Stargate SG1 series nine and Stargate Atlantis series two being run in tandem on US television (and presumably linking story lines somewhere along the way…much like the previous series’), the two shows will not be shown in tandem in Australia. This means that Australian viewers will have to continue to wait for the conclusion of the three-episode, dual-series cliffhanger ending to series one of Stargate Atlantis.

None the less, it is good to have Stargate back, and I’m looking forward to SG1 series nine.

By the way, 11pm is the time for Canberra and Sydney, others areas are likely to be the same, but check your local television guide for details. Next week SG1 is scheduled to start at 11:20pm due to the preceeding program running longer than usual.

Samuel

June 29th, 2006 at 07:57pm

Jon Stanhope’s 2CC Appearance

I’ve now put Jon Stanhope’s 2CC appearance and the relevant talkback callers from after his appearance online. Jon Stanhope only gave 2CC half an hour, and insited on giving long-winded answers. There are a few interesting things in Stanhope’s appearance, although I think the callers after Stanhope left were more interesting.

All of that is online at https://samuelgordonstewart.com/wp-content/Stanhope2CCDriveShow20060627.mp3 (56 minutes, 26.5MB)

Here is my summary of events including the start time of each event in the MP3:

*0:00 Mike Welsh interviews Stanhope about his budget decisions.

*5:20 Caller Caroline asks about the source of class size figures in “Towards 2020”. Stanhope rambles about not knowing exact answer and that he didn’t bring the figures with him.

*8:15 Caller Hannah puts her daughter, Ashleigh, on the phone to tell Stanhope that she wants to stay at her current school. Stanhope says he wants to ensure everyone gets a good education.

*9:10 Caller Andrew asks about reimbursement of uniform costs for people forced to change school due to closures. Stanhope rambles about consultation and doesn’t answer question, stating that the government haven’t worked that out yet.

*11:50 Caller David asks about rate rises. Stanhope tries to justify rate rises. At the end of Stanhope’s answer, David asks if Stanhope has taken a breath yet.

*16:35 Traffic report

*17:20 Caller Wendy asks how the government is addressing the issue of young children having to cross major roads to get to school if the government goes ahead with the school closures. Stanhope doesn’t answer question, but rambles about “difficult decisions”.

*21:25 Mike Welsh asks Stanhope why he thinks people move to private schools. Stanhope talks about options that the government is considering for public schools. Stanhope also says that everybody should get over their anger and accept that the government is committed to “Towards 2020”.

*25:00 Stanhope then leaves, taking the pile of emailed questions Mike Welsh received with him.

(Ad break removed)

*25:40 Caller Sharon talks about problems with school closures in Kambah

*29:00 Caller Jonathon (student at Kambah High) not impressed with Chief Minister and closures.

(Traffic update and ad break removed)

*31:50 Mike Welsh says Chief Minister has undertaken to look at all the emails he has received and that 2CC might bring Stanhope in for another segment soon.

*32:25 Caller Mark annoyed with Stanhope taking forever to answer questions and only giving 2CC and callers half an hour of his time.

(Ad break removed)

*36:20 Caller Wendy talks about how she met Stanhope at Westfield Belconnen and wanted to have a chat about school closures, Stanhope gave her a rehearsed speech, she interrupted and said she didn’t want to hear numbers and percentages and just wanted to chat about school closures and he told her that she was very rude and would stop interrupting. Mike and Wendy then talk about school closures.

*41:10 Caller Steve works in a school and talks about school closures and budget money which could be better used on other things.

(News, ad breaks and irrelevant segments removed)

*45:00 Caller Steve (a different Steve) disappointed with Stanhope. Steve annoyed with Stanhope’s arrogance, labor party school closure ads, school closures, new jail, appeal against bushfire inquiry amongst other things. Steve’s solution is to remove self government.

(irrelevant segments, news and ad breaks removed)

*50:40 Emails: Pete writes “Tell Stanhope to answer questions and not blabber on”. Hooter Boy writes “I’d rather get wisdom teeth out than listen to an hour of Jon Stanhope”.

*51:10 Caller John (aka John B1_B5) talks about Stanhope “rabbiting on” and asks who is footing the bill for the labor party school closure ads.

(Partial ad break removed)

*55:40 Labor party school closure ad. The ad says “Spoken by P. Mills, paid for and authorised by Matthew Cossey, ALP Canberra”. Matthew Cossey is the ACT Branch Secretary of the ALP, for more info about him see http://www.act.alp.org.au/people/people.html?seat=staff^Cossey^Matthew If that link gives an error, click on “People” on the left hand side of the screen and then follow the link to Matthew Cossey

For the record, between 4pm and 6pm there were 12 ALP ads about school closures, and one Australian Education Union ad against school closures.

2 comments June 28th, 2006 at 02:57am

Chief Turnip on 2CC

Chief Turnip Jon Stanhope will be on 2CC on Tuesday (27 June) at 4PM answering calls from the public. If you would like to ask him a question (and get an answer), here is your chance.

I wouldn’t be surprised if callers are limited to one or two questions as 2CC are likely to be swamped with calls during this segment. I’m also not sure how long Jon Stanhope will be on-air for, but I suspect it will be from 4pm-5pm. I will contact 2CC to clarify this.

2CC is 1206 on the AM dial, and their open line number is 62554444. Drive Show host Mike Welsh has a promo running for the segment where he says that it will be a chance for people to ring in and put their questions to the Chief Minister.

I plan on recording the entire Stanhope segment and putting an MP3 of it online. I’ll let you know once that is done. I also have plans for a live webstream for the benefit of the interstate/international audience. I’ll have more details tomorrow morning. (Although I will update this post with the duration of the Stanhope segment as soon as I have the details to hand).

Also, as a few people at 2CC read this site, this post is probably going to attract the attention of 2CC management…if you have a problem with me putting the Stanhope segment online, please contact me so that we can discuss it.

Samuel

4 comments June 26th, 2006 at 07:22am

ABC Editorial Guidelines…and they think they’re a good thing?

As I was watching Media Watch on Monday night, a rather unusual part of the ABC editorial guidelines popped up:

Everyone makes mistakes, but here at the ABC broadcasters are expected to correct their mistakes and then do better.

The process is spelt out in the ABC editorial guidelines and it’s generally well understood by journalists and program makers.

This week Communications Minister Helen Coonan announced two new appointments to the ABC board, including the controversial historian Keith Windschuttle.

Last year in his Earle Page Memorial Oration, Mr Windschuttle made this – now infamous – claim about the history of the ABC.

[ABC broadcaster Alan] Ashbolt managed to find jobs for a small group of Marxists and radicals like himself. In the ensuing thirty years that group, its appointees and values, have captured the organization.

— Vilifying Australia, The perverse ideology of our adversary culture, by Keith Windschuttle

Under the ABC editorial guidelines, broadcasters must back up their opinions with facts.

We wonder whether Keith Windschuttle would be able to back up his extraordinary claims in the same way.

Putting ABC advertorial comments (“but here at the ABC broadcasters are expected to correct their mistakes and then do better”) aside for a moment, the editorial guideline quoted struck me as rather odd, namely:

Under the ABC editorial guidelines, broadcasters must back up their opinions with facts.

Oh well, so much for independent thinking and freedom of the press. That guideline might sound good on the surface, and it was definitely used by Media Watch to discredit Keith Windschuttle, but that guideline makes absolutely no sense for a broadcaster with talk radio and television discussion programmes in its lineup. The guideline inhibits broadcasters’ opinions and thoughts, and means that the audience are not getting the full picture…and the ABC aren’t going to try and give it to them.

Allow me to give you a few examples, all pertaining to the ACT government, as those are the examples that spring to mind.

Firstly, the school closures announced in the recent ACT budget are, in my opinion, a political stunt designed to sweep other budget details under the media radar, and to enable the government to close a smaller number of schools. 39 schools seems like a rather silly number of schools to close, and a number which is bound to grab headlines, some of the proposed closures are downright silly, and some of the merger plans even sillier (turning Campbell High into a 7-12 school and effectively killing the college environment on a block of land which doesn’t have enough room for the extra students, for example).

I think that the ACT government learned a thing or two from the massive public outrage over the closure of Ginninderra High last year, and decided that in order to close a small number of schools they would need to add a bunch of other schools to the list, pretend to consult the public, and eventually say that they are only closing the small number of schools and have the spin doctors announce that they are “saving 25 schools” or something to that effect.

I also think the have managed to mostly slip a lot of small details (such as a change in measurement method for rates increases so that they appear to be smaller) under the radar, and with the media almost entirely focussed on the schools, the opposition aren’t having much luck bringing those small details to public attention.

How does this relate to ABC editorial policy I hear you ask…quite simple…I cannot back up that opinion with facts, quite simply because there are none…I can’t prove that the government only ever intended on closing a small number of schools, and I can’t prove that there are a bunch of small devious things hidden in the budget, because I don’t specialise in reading zillion page government documents…and it is a public document, which gives the government a valid excuse about not sweeping anything under the carpet. I can’t prove these things, they are an opinion, and as has been said to me on many occasions in a different context, an opinion is not an axiom (A self-evident or universally recognized truth).

Moving on to example two, Andrew Barr. Andrew Barr took over former treasurer Ted Quinlan’s seat on a countback after Ted Quinlan retired from the ACT government. Andrew Barr was instantly given the education portfolio, which had been a public relations disaster under Katy Gallagher. That led me to believe that Andrew Barr, as the new kid in a big important portfolio, would be used as a skapegoat for all the government’s educational ills…the longer Andrew Barr spends in that role, and the worse things get, the more convinced I am of this.

None the less, it is an opinion, one not founded in verifiable truths and facts (I doubt anyone, even the Chief Turnip himself, can see what happens in the Chief Turnip’s head), and one that I would not be able to propose on-air at the ABC. The topic would be a discussion point, and would prompt debate about government plans and personalities…but alas, that is not within the bounds of ABC editorial guidelines.

And how about one more example? Ted Quinlan…who knows why he jumped ship…I think he decided that he was not willing to hand down the worst budget the ACT has seen and continue to battle the frivolous expensive plans of senior government ministers (pointless busway anyone?)…after all the rumors had been circulating on commercial talkback of government budget problems since October/November last year…why stay when you know it’s worse than anybody thought, and the Chief Turnip is insisting on interesting accounting to make it look a tad better?

Again, I can’t back that up with facts…but it sounds reasonable, it probably is reasonable, and since when was politics a cut and dry case of facts? Political reporting and analysing is all about reading between the lines, being a tad cynical, and putting ideas out there for the public to discuss.

The ABC editorial policy prevents broadcasters from speculating, and it prevents broadcasters from speaking their mind…it’s almost a case of believing everything that everyone says. The ABC obviously forgets that what we regard as fact may actually be a fabrication, and next week we might find that out…surely it is better to let the broadcaster go out on a limb and speculate that the fact is a fabrication because they believe it is, rather than forcing them to accept the false fact…or does the ABC disapprove of broadcasters who think for themselves?

Samuel

8 comments June 22nd, 2006 at 12:21pm

Waiting For Nielsen

I’m waiting for Nielsen to get the Canberra ratings online so that I can link to them and verify the data. If they haven’t done it by this afternoon I’ll press ahead with the ratings results anyway.

Samuel

June 16th, 2006 at 01:34am