Great: THE ABC budget will be cut by $254 million over five years and the more efficient SBS will be forced to find $53.7 million in savings, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced today. There are also likely to be major management changes at the ABC, with Mr Turnbull outlining plans to strip Mark Scott’s role to either that of managing director or editor-in-chief, but not both. It comes after sustained industry and government criticism about Mr Scott’s performance at the ABC, with some senior Government figures believing it is time for him to go. Malcolm Turnbull statement: broadcasters to implement efficiency measures “Equally I propose to recommend to the Board that the position of Editor-in-Chief no longer be combined with that of Managing Director. It creates the impression that the Managing Director is directly in charge of ABC News and Current Affairs, which he is not, and given the wide range of his responsibilities, could not be,” Mr Turnbull said. “The Board should expect the head of news and current affairs, like the CFO, to report directly to the Board as well as to the managing director, thus enabling the Board to discharge its statutory obligation referred to below.” Mr Turnbull said it was a matter for the ABC and SBS Boards to determine how the cuts are made. But, he insisted that programming changes at the ABC are not required for the organisation to find $254 million in savings over five years. “All of the savings can be found in operational efficiencies of the kind canvassed in the Peter Lewis efficiency study,’’ Mr Turnbull said. “The Efficiency study found that the ABC and SBS can reduce costs and modernise their businesses, learning form other broadcasters’ practices in adjusting to rapidly changing technology and unprecedented structural change across the media sector.” Any changes made by the ABC, Mr Turnbull said, were as a result of its drive to lift audience levels. He said some of their content changes were driven by research showing the median age of ABC viewers is 61..... theaustralian.au/media/broadcast/abc-budget-cuts-malcolm-turnbull-reveals-254m-savings-measures/story-fna045gd-1227128311777
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 04:59:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015