Aunty hasn′t lost the plot

FOR the 1996 federal election debate between then prime minister Paul Keating and Opposition leader John Howard, Ray Martin welcomed the Nine Network′s 60 Minutes audience with a proud boast. He informed them that they were watching "the national broadcaster". The boast has been repeated for each subsequent federal election debate hosted by Nine.

The ABC would have liked to have hosted those debates as it had done on a number of previous occasions. But the broadcasting of these events alone does not magically transform one television network into a so-called national broadcaster. Recently, some commercial TV channels decided to interrupt their usual programming to broadcast breaking news stories. Because the ABC chose not to, some sections of the media have formed the view that this has resulted in the dethroning of the ABC as the national broadcaster.

There are some historical reasons for the ABC to consider itself the national broadcaster, but the contemporary claim is what I am more interested in.

Start with news and current affairs. The ABC broadcasts more news and current affairs than any other network in Australia, period. The ABC has more than 700 journalists producing more than 14,000 hours of independent and unduplicated news and current affairs content a year on radio and TV -- content free from commercial influence.

Twelve international news bureaus provide a window to the world through an Australian perspective. It is this dedication to international resourcing that allowed the ABC to be among the first broadcasters in the world on the ground in Aceh after the tsunami and, more recently, the first on the island of Nias after the Sea King tragedy. The ABC hosts thousands of pages of in-house online news content. Commercial TV websites rely heavily on wire services.

The immediacy of radio is an area conveniently forgotten or ignored during debates about breaking news or who deserves the title of national broadcaster. Radio is the ABC′s link to the heart of the country. The ABC has 60 local radio stations throughout Australia, four national radio networks (Triple J, NewsRadio, Classic FM and Radio National), and an internet radioservice.

The ABC is the undisputed king of children′s TV programming in Australia. Australian parents rely on it to provide a safe and educational TV environment for their children. This is a responsibility that the ABC takes very seriously. We will not break into this programming without appropriate cause and warning, particularly if the images are arresting and confronting for small children. On TV, from 7am to 10am and from 4pm to 6pm, the ABC has two-thirds of the audience for 12-year-olds and under. Commercial TV does not share that responsibility.

The ABC is an international broadcaster. Radio Australia and ABC Asia Pacific Television broadcast to millions of people in our region. Commercial media do notdo this.

Being a national broadcaster also involves producing a wider and more diverse schedule of programming than the commercial sector does. It includes arts and culture, science, technology, the environment, natural history, education, religion, all varieties of music, politics, social history, books, poetry, language, drama, media, the law, indigenous issues, business and innovative comedy. It also involves broadcasting entertainment and sport. That annoys some in the media who would prefer their ABC to be forever serious and po-faced. For the record, the ABC charter clearly states that it is required to broadcast programs that "inform and entertain". In all these areas, the ABC remains the national broadcaster.

With regard to the recent reporting of the ABC′s decisions not to break into its TV schedule to cover various news items, let′s be clear on the facts. There is no high-level tension in the ABC between the TV and news and current affairs divisions on this issue.

The regular TV schedule, furthermore, is interrupted frequently, and not just for breaking news. It happened recently for live coverage of the marriage between Prince Charles and Camilla, the funeral of pope John PaulII and the HMAS Kanimbla memorial service in Canberra - an event that commercial TV largely ignored.

In relation to the announcement of the date of the last federal election, the ABC broadcast a special TV news bulletin 90 minutes before commercial TV′s coverage of the Prime Minister′s media conference. Yet this break into the ABC TV schedule is conveniently omitted in the reporting on this issue.

The targeting of the ABC′s director of TV Sandra Levy as some sort of villain in this issue is an exercise in puerility and is not supported by the facts. The accusation that ABC TV will not interrupt its schedule for breaking news, and thus is abrogating its responsibility, is without foundation. Since September 11, 2001, there have been 99 interruptions to regular TV programming at the request of the news and current affairs division.

The ABC does, and will continue to, interrupt normal programs to break important news items. It will do so on its own terms. It will not be bullied into slavishly following a commercial or media-driven agenda. The corporation will always consider our editorial obligations as well as the broader requirements of our audience. That is the proper role for a national broadcaster.