I know, why didn't I call this blog The Australian watch? But anyway.
The Australian decided to wish the ABC a happy birthday today by slagging them off in timeless Australian fashion:
'At age 75, it is time Aunty abandoned its adolescent mindset. It is a misallocation of taxpayers' money to fund shows such as Spicks and Specks while neglecting news and current affairs coverage in Darwin or Hobart. While hit programs such as The Chaser's War on Everything would be unlikely to be funded by the commercial sector, quiz programs would be happily taken over by commercial broadcasters, freeing up funds for news, current affairs and investigative journalism.'
I like Spicks and Specks, so do many people, and it doesn't seem to have dawned on The Australian that maybe the ABC's funding troubles are directly tied to.....I don't know.......the lack of funds given it by the federal government. Ever keen to see the ABC go into privatisation The Australian can't even envisage the most obvious solution.
'As The Australian has observed on many occasions, the ABC continues to be afflicted by what seems to be almost an endemic bias.'
Yet, The Australian seems completely blind to it's own. This is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. As has been demonstrated recently, The Australian is quite partial to outbursts against the 'Psycho Left' or 'The Coalition of The Whining' where the Left is castigated, misrepresented and dually shat on. Cut and Paste acts as a bulletin board where Right-wing pundits are sourced from around the world to coax us to the dark side, and the Left are quoted at their very worst. The opinion page is made up of conservatives of varying degrees and the odd Labor party member for 'balance'. It's a joke. Oh, and there's Phillip Adams, they don't let you forget that.
'What they fail to acknowledge is that the mainstream parties they criticise are supported by 90 per cent of taxpayers, while the left perspective they adopt is shared by the remaining 10 per cent.'
Really!!!! My god people they aren't only Left, they're green Left!!!! And if you had any doubts as to where The Australian stands on the issue of the ABC's future funding:
'SBS, like many public sector broadcasters around the world, has shown that it is possible to generate income from the private sector without becoming its captive. The ABC should channel its creativity into developing original funding arrangements and focus on its core business as a provider of accurate, balanced information.'
Accurate and 'balanced' just like The Australian....Oh please. And never mind the fact that the overwhelming majority of Australians don't want the ABC to reach for the private sector to generate funds.
Sure the ABC is publicly funded, but if you're going to attack it for bias you'd better look in your own backyard first and make sure you're at least aware of where the centre is. These constant Murdoch media attacks appear as nothing more than silly attempts to redefine the middle.
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