Marcus May
Marcus May, our regular MurdochWatch correspondent, welcomes an election year with some observations on the political environment for the ABC
In my review of 2022 in December that year, in an article titled “The Art of Demoralisation: The Liberal Party strategy on the ABC”, it was noted how the ABC haters, the Murdochs, Viscount Rothermere’s Daily Mail, the IPA (Institute of Public Affairs) and some Liberal politicians were firmly engaged in a long-term strategy to undermine, to destroy the ABC, either by direct method (Liberal Party’s overwhelming vote to privatise it – which still stands), or by a strategy to inch by inch, headline by headline, attack by attack, whittle away at the ABC’s credibility and public support.
So, as we approach the next federal election this year, and need to know who is for, and who is against, a free and independent ABC; has anything changed since 2022?
Well, let’s look at the recent evidence available:
Institute of Public Affairs research fellow Saxon Davidson slams the ABC. “ABC simply just do not hide their bias,” Mr Davidson said.
— IPA, December 2024
“Furious viewers have blasted the ABC. 'Another taxpayer funded divisive load of s**t.”
— Daily Mail, December 2024
Sky News host Danica De Giorgio says “these allegations of bias have again prompted the question, do we really need a public broadcaster?”
— Sky News, March 2024
Sky News host James Morrow has called the broadcaster “out of touch”.
— Sky News, October 2024
“The ABC went from one disgrace to another” and “descended into base ideological rants”, writes Rocco Loiacono.
— Sky News, November 2024
Herald Sun Senior Writer Patrick Carlyon has claimed the ABC has been “ambushed” by agendas.
“It [ABC] has been ambushed by agendas … it’s become irrelevant over the last decade, and I think it’s become really noticeable this year.”
— Murdoch media, December 2024
The media union has called Peter Dutton’s behaviour towards two ABC reporters “unnecessarily aggressive” as the public broadcaster vowed to continue to ask the opposition leader and others tough questions.
Dutton has twice clashed with ABC reporters at separate doorstops this month, and the confrontations have been amplified by Sky News which has run the press conferences in full and described the incidents as a “brutal attack” and “torching” by Dutton.
— Liberal Party, October 2024
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. It is the same strategy by the same people – whittling away at the ABC’s credibility until public support collapses.
Nothing has changed, and as Crikey stated earlier this year, it’s a coordinated effort:
The opposition's talking points are increasingly generated by the News Corp commentariat.’
If you look at the independent website They Vote for You, you will see this:
We should keep these MPs voting patterns in mind when considering our votes at this election. There is a the real possibility according to political analysts of Peter (“The ABC is Dead to Me”) Dutton leading the Coalition to victory in this year’s Federal election. Aunty needs every friend we can muster to ask our key electorates “Will you use your vote to support our public broadcaster against its enemies?”
ABC Friends will be campaigning at the election for people to vote with the ABC in mind. We would welcome your help and support.
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