Friends in high places: ABC chair Ita Buttrose and News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch (Images: AAP)

This is the time of year when ABC viewers see ads for that book about history from that bloke on that Radio National show and think, “Oh, my dad might like that.”

Needless to say, getting your books promoted extensively on prime-time TV is a huge boon for any publisher. The cost of TV advertising is way beyond the actual income any normal book brings in. So who is on the end of this unique advantage? HarperCollins, which you may remember is owned by those notable ABC fans at News Corp.

Beyond the irony of the ABC having such a fruitful relationship with a company owned by the employer of Chris Kenny, Chris Mitchell, Janet Albrechtsen and countless others who dedicate a considerable amount of their professional energy to slamming the public broadcaster, there’s the question of how all this actually works.

The ABC entered into this commercial partnership with HarperCollins back in 2009, and some Australian publishers feel there’s a lack of clarity about the deal and whether it will ever come up for tender or renegotiation.

“It is frustrating to see such a big contract apparently locked away without opportunities to get involved or tender,” Hardie Grant co-founder Sandy Grant told Crikey. “The ABC is a prime source of potential book content and we have had situations where discussions we initiate with journalists [about potential books] have ended up published by HarperCollins due to some form of obligation.” 

We asked the ABC if there was any public tender process in determining who publishes its books, but it didn’t get back to us by deadline.

This isn’t the only bit of literary domination from News Corp at the moment — as editor Peter Rose notes in December’s Australian Book Review, the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards’ judging panel has a remarkable number of News Corp figures on it. Six of the 10 judges have a close association with The Australian, including The Oz’s literary editor Caroline Overington, senior writer Troy Bramston, and the publication’s former editor-in-chief/current columnist Chris Mitchell.

Then there’s the fact prime minister Scott Morrison made the appointments just before the May election.