It has been so long since any substantial Government largesse for SBS that a belief had formed within the corporation they would never be able to drag themselves out of a spiralling descent into debt, budget cuts, falling audiences, disappearing advertising and more debt. So the champagne corks were popping at SBS for “the most significant funding boost SBS has ever received”. But will there be a hangover once the bubbles have burst? Read More
As SBS made its final preparations to absorb the National Indigenous TV channel NITV, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians had to take it on trust they would actually get a place on the SBS Board. Though the Gillard Labor Government had their fingers crossed that good Indigenous candidates would apply, there was no guarantee one would be selected. Why the mistrust and what happened next? Read More
Despite most young journalists now coming from universities, there still lingers among many editors, chiefs of staff and other hard news managers the view that real journalism skills can only be learned “on the job”. And they blame the dilettante intellectuals of academia for making their task harder by filling the heads of young journalism graduates with fancy ideas. How much of this is true and what can be done about it? Read More
Commercial radio throughout the world are often incubators of on-air bullies. Sydney radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands shows all the symptoms, but he is not entirely self-made. For although he’s bright enough to be a successful know-all – just bright enough to be dangerous, as the saying goes – he’s had outside help along the road to being a thoroughly unlikable loudmouth. They may start as bullies, but we then make them monsters. Read More
On any day, it is hard for ethical journalists or people concerned for media freedom to remain optimistic. Not because of what we report on but because in the endless fight for free speech we are regularly undermined by some colleagues in tabloid media. They may make headlines and attract readers, but their methods harm us all. Only 17% of Australians trust journalists, so we should all be worried about the gutter press. Read More
Less than a week after SBS managing director Shaun Brown officially left the corporation’s Artarmon headquarters, one of his closest underlings, the head of SBS television and online content, Matt Campbell, announced he was quitting – the first of Brown’s executives to leave since new broom Michael Ebeid officially took over at SBS. Could this be the start of the much-anticipated shake-up of Australia’s multicultural broadcaster? Read More
Arrests of working journalists by Australian authorities remain a continuing threat to media freedom in the country. Even when those arrests are not followed through to prosecution, they still send a chill through working journalists, impeding their efforts on our behalf. And while social media comes ablaze with indignation whenever journalists are arrested, the media companies themselves are often noticeably mute. Read More
White-anting started early for SBS’s new managing director Michael Ebeid – two months before getting his feet under his new desk in Sydney. Some saw his qualities and qualifications – including his Egyptian heritage – with trepidation or outright animosity. Some senior executives feared for their jobs or their easy life. It was not a good omen for a “new start” for Australia’s embattled multicultural broadcaster. Read More
Egyptian-born, Australian-raised Michael Ebeid is such a cleanskin he’s almost translucent. Yet he has been chosen to be the next managing director of Australia’s national multicultural broadcaster, SBS. Many people rise to senior public jobs out of left field, but there’s usually a trail of some sort. With Ebeid there’s not much. So is he the man who will provide the spark to reignite a passion for Australia’s once-loved SBS? Read More
Ask scientists, economists, sociologists, futurologists and most experts what is the greatest single threat facing the human race and the most common response is likely to be “climate change”. Discounting transient crises, why is climate change not constantly on front pages and leading news bulletins? Why is the environment reporter so far beneath the political editor? What IS going on? Read More
