ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks has a message of optimism and hope for the future of Australia’s leading public broadcaster.

On two encounters in the past few weeks, he has emphasised the confidence he has in the future of the ABC, particularly as an important content provider of the stories, news and entertainment that bring Australians together.

Most recently in his first speech to an ABC Friends audience and keynote speaker at the ABC Friends NSW & ACT Spring dinner in Sydney on Thursday evening 2 October, he said under his leadership the ABC would be “bold, confident, ambitious and focused on the future”.

He told the large gathering of ABC Friends and supporters that he wanted to reframe success at the ABC based not just on ratings, but on trust, value and impact.

He says the ABC provides the social infrastructure to inform, connect and entertain people – giving people an Australian narrative.

In a world where everything is digital the ABC is more than that – it is a content business, and content is heart and soul of the country. “It’s the story-telling that brings Australians together, … that’s the social cohesion, and the policy behind the ABC.”

Hugh Marks tells us his favourite show is Lateline, a show that could only exist on the ABC, also reflecting his rural background and the fact that his parents were farmers.

Read The Guardian's report

The President of ABC Friends, Cassandra Parkinson and I also met with Hugh Marks at his Sydney office on 18 September to learn more about his vision for the national broadcaster.

We found him not only optimistic about the ABC's future but wanting to convey that optimism within and outside the ABC. He is also looking for more ways in which the ABC can generate revenue, including a combination of additional government funding, the opportunities provided from being a big content originator, as well as by doing things the best possible way.

He talked on both occasions about his ideas for linking local and national ABC content, with local content having the capacity to connect directly to audiences. He had recently visited Townsville, Dubbo and Orange in NSW, talking to local communities and staff, which he obviously enjoyed.

He told his Sydney audience on Thursday evening that in travelling around Australia since his appointment he has seen a “media desert” in certain parts of the country, where the ABC is the only remaining media voice. This situation presents a massive challenge but also a huge opportunity for the ABC.

“Serving all of Australia is in our Charter and is an amazing opportunity because, guess what, we have people in all those places,” he said. “The obligation on us to service these markets is becoming increasingly important.”

With the trend towards all the quality and investigative reporting being behind a pay wall, we see the rights of Australians to quality coverage being further restricted.

In this climate the existence of truly independent, impartial media which covers any story without fear or favour becomes increasingly important, and hence the need for the ABC.

Sharing emergency broadcast content

This led to Hugh Marks announcing a new policy on emergency broadcasting content, effectively reframing who the ABC is by deciding that all content generated in an emergency situation would be made available to any other media in the region, to service their audiences with this important content.

“The ABC does not need to control the user experience,” he said. “The ABC is the content creator and in an emergency environment there are other smaller operators - they should be able to access all that content to service their audiences.”

He also wants to continue to support co-productions between the ABC and other organisations, while being innovative and creative and capitalising on the inherent strengths of the ABC.

You certainly get the feeling that Hugh Marks wants the ABC to engage with as many Australians as possible across news, screen and radio, while growing the impact of the ABC to our society.

He will address ABC Friends Victoria at our annual dinner in Melbourne on 21 November.  Tickets go on sale soon. Come along and meet the new ABC Managing Director and bring your questions.