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Today’s Media section in The Australian covers ABC radio’s ever-shrinking audience, noting in particular that 774’s Virginia Trioli has achieved the considerable feat of driving off half her Melbourne listeners in just two years. The report is paywalled, which is a pity because it also reproduces this listener’s letter to Editor-in-Chief David Anderson:
In May, a long-term listener emailed Mr Anderson directly to vent his frustration with the direction of the national broadcaster.
“I write as a previously avid listener of ABC radio in WA,” the man said.
“I say ‘previously’ because I feel invisible as a member of the listening audience and no longer bother to tune in much at all,” he wrote.
“I hear interviews of authors, artists, influencers, politicians and environmentalists who almost certainly turn out to be pushing a minority woke agenda of some sort which is lapped up and promoted by the presenter as fact and editorialised to the point where no other opinion is heard – or if it is, is denigrated as racist, sexist, misogynist or homophobic.
“Balanced talk back radio is no longer a feature.
“The real reason (for the audience exodus) is the constant narrative being delivered to appeal to minority groups which can only represent, in total, approximately 10 per cent of the listening audience. You have lost the other 90 per cent.
“This is not just my white, middle aged male opinion … the ABC is certainly perceived in this light by a considerable percentage of the Australian public and if you and the board of directors allow the current narrative to run unchecked, your presenters will be talking to ‘dead air’ in the not-too-distant future.”
Whether Anderson is capable of grasping his correspondent’s point is moot. Worth bearing in mind is that he joined the national broadcaster after an ill-starred career as a bicycle messenger and rose by Peter Principle degrees to his current exalted position without gaining any hands-on experience whatsoever of managing a working newsroom.
Given Anderson’s talent for the ever-upward drift, we should perhaps be consoled that he found work at the ABC rather than a hospital.
— roger franklin
Looks like the article did not make the hard copy.
Peter Evans’ old breakfast session on the ABC illustrates so much about how the ABC has changed. He used to entertain us on ABC radio from 1965 to 1985.
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Unlike most current ABC presenters he had impressive ratings. He didn’t simply have a reasonable audience share in the time slot ratings either – for most of that period he actually had the highest rating breakfast session on radio. So different today.
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Peter Evans wasn’t a cardboard woke cut out like so many ABC presenters. He was a fascinating mixture of conservatism and antiauthoritarianism. A one off. He was a cantankerous, humourous, highly intelligent traditionalist yet he also liked to challenge the status quo – often gleefully singling out particular ABC petty bureaucratic practices for ridicule. .
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He was joined at the end of his session each day by Terry Lane for a short period before Terry Lane’s own program started. That short conversation each day was a lot of fun and often quite informative. While they were always funny together they often debated serious issues.
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Terry Lane as I recall had more left of centre views but unlike many on the left today had an open fair mind.
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He was also highly intelligent like Peter Evans but whereas Peter Evans could be a bit harsh at times Terry Lane was always kind and understanding. These two very different people got on so well even though they often had differing views. It was actually heart warming to see. It’s rare these days.