It is usually the media industrial complex that calls for Truth in Advertising laws to apply to politicians. I am kind of sympathetic but would also like to see the same applied to journalists and academics.
Take this contribution from Jenna Price in the SMH. Please remember the Price is not just a “journalist” but also an academic - teaching the next generation. Woe is me. This is what she wrote:
Under the eye of Ita Buttrose, the budget for the ABC has withered and perished.
Withered and perished. Hmm. Let’s go to the actual data. Public source data available to all on the interweb. According to the ABC’s externally and independently audited, yes audit accounts for 2022 and 2023, the ABC’s expenses have increased from:
$1.114 billion in 2021, to
$1.140 billion in 2022, to
$1.204 billion in 2023.
That’s a $90 million increase, yes increase, over 2 years.
That’s not withering and to suggest otherwise is just a categorical and deliberate lie. I would venture many Australian business to dream of a billion dollar plus budget with an annual average increase of $45 million.
The context for Price’s screed was that ABC management cancelled The Drum. Again. The data is available should Price want to check it out. Viewership was collapsing. And just because the ABC call lines were busy does not mean that people were watching the show in sufficient numbers to justify the exorbitant expense of producing the show.
Response from the audience was immediate. The ABC local radio text line was inundated with sad viewers. The ABC switchboard received 2104 contacts, one of the largest reactions ever.
2104 contacts. OMG.
The fundamental problem with the ABC is not lack of resources but that too much of its product that people don’t want to consume - even if they don’t have to pay for it directly.
The obvious solution - make the ABC a subscription service. That way, anyone who wants it and values it can pay for it.
The reality is, it would go broke within months.