On the ABC

Alex Anderson writes: Re. ” Amid denialism on company tax cuts, the ABC lets us all down” (Monday)

Bernard and several writers have somewhat put the boot into the ABC over the return of the “cabinet files” and the withdrawal of the Alberici article. Crikey has however done us all a service with the link to that text.

The thought of what might have gone on in “secret” to pressure the ABC to return the cabinets is alarming enough, but the story of the correspondence from the PM and other minsters to the ABC which caused the Alberici paper to be withdrawn on the clearly face-saving excuse of not meeting journalistic standards is terrifying. I am old enough for the name Goebbels to still mean something.

How strong can we expect the ABC to be in the face of the right-wingers who hold the purse strings and have already damaged the quality of the ABC through both funding cuts and loading the organisation with their chosen lackeys?

If we care about independent media to provide quality information then surely we should put the boot in where it belongs and scream from the rooftops for the inept government to keep its dirty hands off.

On Winter Olympics ratings

Dean Ellis writes: Re. “Seven’s Winter Olympics ratings spin” (Monday)

Well may Glenn Dyer say that Seven’s Winter Olympics ratings have broken records, but, nothing will save Seven in the West. Why? This is because despite the audience in Perth and the wider West breathlessly watching Matt Graham’s dramatic leap into the finals of the men’s moguls in Pyeongchang on Saturday night we in the West were subsequently denied the opportunity on Sunday night to witness live our hero’s leap for further medal glory. In it’s limited wisdom Seven declined to broadcast the medal round of the men’s moguls in the West and broadcast instead the execrable My Kitchen Rules!

Then, when the Olympics broadcast did finally commence, the main commentator came on babbling about: Graham; silver; protest; good landing; bad landing; etc; etc. It then dawned the event had occurred just as the Russians were agonising over their stuffed cabbage rolls. Shame on you Seven! I suggest Seven start thinking about proximity and meridians of longitude and time now and not wait ‘till the next lucrative broadcast marketing opportunity.