ABC MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS

The constant threats to shut up our National Broadcaster on political grounds by cutting funding has to stop. The visual downgrade of a wonderful organisation under successive Liberal governments does them no service. Littke wonder you imagine left-wing bias in the ABC when governments try to manipulate opinions.

No matter what your politics or your opinion of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, its cost, its inefficiencies and its perceived left-wing bias, it is a bastion of balance in the Australian media scene.
Without the ABC we would be opinion the the whine, whinge and scream of the like of Alan Jones or Sam Zamanic or any of those other radical bigots who, despite their supposed popularity have less of the audience share than SBS. Yet, like a minority of villagers in Linton, they have a voice much bigger than their balls.

Without the ABC we would be inundated with nothing but Foxtel sensationalism and the perverted logic of Rupert Murdock which has me quivering in my rolls of fat. The Young Liberals who are pushing for the ABC to be privatised, led by Cory Bernardi (No longer a member of the Liberals) wanst to kill off diversity and encourage our penchant for hate.

A privatised ABC would be captive to the needs and prioritise of advertisers and open to payment for comment which would totally skew news and information to avoid upsetting their source of revenue. If the government threatens the ABC with financial sanctions imagine what Coles and Woolworths could do to it.

What chance for both sides of the story being told. Even though it may have what people believe to be a left wing bias it is the only national broadcaster to give both sides of every story whether you fucking like it or not.

Sometimes it is good not to like something you hear, that's what it means by hearing different arguments, and it is hearing both sides that gives us the choice to divide for ourselves and not be dictated to by one side or the other.
Should we not be free to make our own decisions?
With a privatised ABC we may never get to hear the other side because it may not be a pleasing sound to the ears of the advertiser.

A commercially driven ABC would be at the mercy of 'corporate imperatives' and 'shareholder greed'. A commercial ABC with such a huge broadcasting range both in Australia and Overseas would see an exodus away from local and state-wide radio services to the national network. We might see a more efficient ABC but we would also see a centralising of opinion at a national level at the expense of local and community broadcasters.
The slow dissolution of the newspaper empires is a prime example. News Limited and Gina Reinhart would have the ability to massively sway general opinion and that is something very few of us would want.

When I was involved in establishing Community Radio back in the mid-70's one of the prime directions we were to go was away from traditional radio and toward the promotion of local community services and local news to which small communities like Linton could tune for information directly relative to them.

Diversity in radio and television whether it be vision like Channel 31 or the sound of Voice FM is a priority for any democracy..