It’s her ABC

WITH the resignation of Australia′s governor-general possibly hours away, the ABC TV news team was preparing to cover the announcement live.

But first there was a hurdle to be scaled. ABC television director Sandra Levy, the person with absolute control of the schedule, had to give her permission.

ABC head of national coverage Walter Hamilton emailed Levy′s deputy, Marena Manzoufas, asking to break into children′s programming if a flagged press conference about then governor-general Peter Hollingworth′s future was called.

The email exchange of May 8, 2003, obtained by The Weekend Australian, offers a revealing insight into the mind of the national broadcaster′s most powerful television executive and was shared among staffers in both divisions, who were astounded by its finality.

"I have spoken with Sandra who would prefer there was no newsbreak in children′s time, and if there is an announcement from Hollingsworth (sic) that it be taken up in the 6pm news break," Manzoufas wrote.

 

 

 

Hamilton: "May I confirm. If the GG resigns, we do NOT have access to the TV Network until 6pm?"

Manzoufas: "Correct. This is what Sandra decided."

"What Sandra decides" has become the way the ABC is run, and internally and externally there is growing concern that the taxpayer-funded ABC is losing its branding as the national broadcaster. If Hollingworth had announced his resignation any time between ABC TV′s The World at Noon and the 6pm newsbreak, ABC television could not interrupt Play School, no matter what its journalists wanted.

We asked Levy yesterday if she had been reluctant to interrupt children′s programs for the Hollingworth announcement. "This is a hypothetical question. The view of Television is that if it is important enough for News and Current Affairs to request additional time or break-ins to the schedule, then it is important enough for us to make it happen," said Levy.

As it was, Hollingworth did not go for another two weeks, and when he did resign on May 25 they covered it live.

ABC broadcasters say Levy has made it very clear she does not agree that news should take priority.

"She holds the division in contempt," one source said. "She has no interest in journalism and is driven largely by ratings."

Levy has a background as a drama producer, both for the ABC and the commercial sector. A Jonathan Shier appointment, she has taken pride in bringing higher ratings to her watch, and sees Andrew Denton′s Enough Rope and Kath and Kim as the jewels in her crown.

But her critics say she is undermining the ABC′s status as the broadcaster of record. Is it still the national broadcaster if it doesn′t take every big breaking news story live? It certainly wasn′t when coalition forces invaded Iraq in 2003 and the ABC didn′t immediately cross to rolling coverage of the war as the commercials did. It wasn′t when John Howard called an election last year, when again Seven and Nine took the speech live.

But these incidents became a pattern when two of the most significant news events in recent times took place and the ABC, once again, stuck to schedule. When the pope died on Sunday morning two weeks ago, it coincided with news of the Sea King crash in which nine Australians were killed. But the ABC chose to continue running its music video program Rage, followed by Poko, Basil Brush, Angelina Ballerina and The Fairly Odd Parents. For two hours, cartoons were screening on Aunty while Nine and Seven were taking a live feed from the Vatican. It wasn′t until Barrie Cassidy, the host of Insiders, fronted an (unscheduled) newsbreak at 8am, that ABC viewers were told the pope had died. The ABC then returned to normal programming until Insiders began at 9am, at which time the news was covered again. The program did run 15 minutes over to accommodate the news.

Levy has consistently denied she refuses requests to break schedule and it is impossible to track the internal bureaucracy of the ABC, but insiders say the director of television′s stubbornness about not bowing to breaking news demands prevails.

Yesterday Levy told The Weekend Australian in answers to written questions that interrupting the schedule was subject to "very strong Australian Broadcasting Authority restrictions" about running "most news content" during programs such as Play School. "News and Current Affairs requested to go to air with the announcement of the Pope′s death at 8am. An additional 15 minutes was added, at their request, and which Television endorsed."

Levy insists she did not receive a request from news to cover the return of bodies of Australian servicemen and women on April 5, which was carried live by Nine and Seven. News and current affairs director John Cameron was so roundly criticised, largely by other media including ABC radio, newspaper columnists and commercial radio hosts, that she was forced to issue a statement on April 6, saying the decision was made "to cover it fully in the main TV news bulletins, when the vast majority of viewers are tuning in to see the main news of the day". One journalist said when he saw the relatives weeping he realised the national significance of the event and was ashamed the ABC was not there.

Yesterday the ABC did carry the HMAS Kanimbla memorial service for the victims live, while the commercials did not.

Cameron said there was no stand-off between him and Levy over breaking news. "This issue is one whipped up not by genuine public interest but by other sections of the media," he said. The ABC had been caught in the crossfire of the ratings battle between Seven and Nine′s news outfits, he said.

Fanning the flames was a leaked email from Cameron′s predecessor Max Uechtritz, now the head of news at Nine. Uechtritz had written to a Nine colleague of the Sunday morning coverage: "As for the ABC. I was ashamed of my old outfit ... from 5.30 to 9 o′clock I kept switching over to see if the national broadcaster was finally servicing its taxpayers. Nyet, nein, non. A disgrace. We can be thankful, I guess, about Sandra Levy′s unwillingness to break schedule for anything these days."

Uechtritz attempts to defend his turf from Levy′s clutches have been well reported, although they are denied publicly by both parties. In one of frequent clashes, Uechtritz, a former war correspondent, wanted more airtime to cover the war in Iraq. We understand on this occasion managing director Russell Balding backed Uechtritz and coverage of the invasion eventually took priority. Levy said yesterday "all decisions about the Iraq war coverage were made by News and Current Affairs and supported by Television".

But it was the ABC′s failure last August to cover Howard′s election announcement that really raised the alarm that Aunty was off course. Levy said at the time no request was made. But Hamilton had it in writing. Now Levy blames a "miscommunication".

A decision to not take a live feed of the election debate was also controversial. Balding said in a statement, believed to have been influenced by Levy, that it was delayed until 10pm rather than broadcast simultaneously with Nine at 7.30pm to ensure it would "be available to the widest possible audience".

But many ABC TV journalists say giving up the debate to Nine in the name of ratings is a disgrace. "In the past, an inability rather than a lack of determination was behind us missing events," one veteran said. "But I do think now it′s become a serious issue. I hate to see the occasions where the commercial networks are knocking us off. I am concerned we are being usurped by Seven and Nine."

So where is Balding in all this? He is an accountant, without any editorial experience, who prefers to let his directors run their divisions. Some sources say Levy is such a powerful figure he is terrified of her. Similarly the ABC board is stacked with Howard Government appointees with largely no experience in broadcasting. It is easy for Levy to intimidate them.

She has centralised decision-making governing commissioning, production and scheduling of programs. While the ABC charter dictates the broadcaster cover all aspects of Australian life from news to children′s to drama to arts, Levy has gained a reputation for focusing on light entertainment and drama at the expense of news.