After decades of denial, the ABC has finally picked up a mirror and taken a good long look at itself. The nauseating bias and relentless promotion of fringe left-wing activism may finally be coming to an end.

Cause for hope arose during an interview with ABC Chair Kim Williams, who has been given the unenviable task of reviving a wounded brand.

Two weeks into the job, Mr Williams lit a fire under ABC staff, roasting them for past behaviour that has pushed all but the most devout ideologues away from the publicly funded network.

‘If you don’t want to reflect a view that aspires to impartiality, don’t work at the ABC. I think this is a very serious issue…’ said Mr Williams, during a recent podcast.

Costing the taxpayer over a billion dollars a year during a financial crisis, the pressure is on for the ABC to justify its existence or risk becoming a voluntary subscription service. Its UK equivalent, the BBC, has seen its funding slashed, shows cancelled, and is on the hunt for commercial deals as licence fees dwindle. Despite securing a partnership with Disney for Doctor Who, the BBC is not a commercially viable network and neither is the ABC. Both have spent so long in the crib of public funding that they have forgotten how to appeal to a broad audience.

‘This is a publicly funded organisation, it is a publicly accountable organisation, it is a respondent to legislation to the national Parliament and it must always aspire to be as fair-minded in its work as it possibly can be,’ added Mr Williams.

For many years, the ABC has been accused of harbouring left-wing bias. Poll after poll has confirmed that this is how a significant portion of Australians feel. It is no surprise that its conservative audience has abandoned the network. Audience walk-outs on the scale witnessed by the ABC do not happen for no reason. Whether it is the content or the tone, something has to change.

Coverage of the Voice to Parliament referendum serves as a perfect example. Before the vote, the ABC ran wall-to-wall promotional content painting the Voice as both a foregone conclusion and a necessity for national spiritual progress. Many felt the ABC acted as an extension of the Prime Minister’s campaign, leaving a handful of private media companies to cover the other side of the debate. After Australia rejected the Voice, the articles and commentary that followed were primarily of despair and concern for state treaties left in limbo. Nowhere did we see the ABC hailing the voice of the people and there were certainly no celebrations for the rejection of race politics.

Anyone who wishes to debate this point need only watch the live coverage.

After the referendum was called, the first question asked by ABC reporter Patricia Karvelas of Warren Mundine was, ‘Is reconciliation now dead in this country?’ The follow-up quoted an activist who accused the ‘No’ team of running ‘a dirty campaign of lies’, with Karvelas asking, ‘There were many things that your campaign said that weren’t true, do you regret taking that approach?’ And as a third comment, she went with, ‘Indigenous people – clearly not you – think this is a time of heartbreak and mourning.’

No congratulation from Karvelas. No recognition that race politics was rejected. No balance whatsoever. No desire to understand the other side of the story embraced by the majority of Australians and, by extension, funders of the ABC. The rest of the desk sat there looking morose, shaking the heads, unable to comprehend how they had misread the nation.

Mr Williams added during his interview:

‘It [the ABC] needs to ensure that there is a very conscious movement to better reflect the panoply of Australian society and its journalistic workforce. But that doesn’t give people a leave pass to abandon the aspiration to impartiality. That’s just not available for discussion, nor should it be.’

Despite Mr Williams’ good intentions, he may find himself the lone voice of sanity in a pit of vipers, tarantulas, and scorpions.

As some of the amusing comments on The Australian read:

‘If reporters fail to observe impartiality guidelines, they should leave the organisation. Good grief, Kim! You will be sitting there on your own!’

‘It will be interesting the first time Mr Williams clashes with the all-powerful ABC staff collective.’

‘Now, walk-the-walk…’

‘Translating these bold words to action will require some high profile and very public sackings accompanied by fresh hiring and fresh ideas.’

‘Admirable sentiments, Mr Williams, but we’ve heard it all before.’

The consensus from the readership of The Australian amounted to, ‘Nice words, doubt it’ll work.’

This is not the first time Mr Williams has made promising comments about the future of the ABC. Soon after his appointment for the role was announced, replacing Ita Buttrose, Mr Williams said, ‘I think I’ve had constant public scrutiny in most of the organisations that I’ve run. I’m not averse to scrutiny, and in fact I think scrutiny is part and parcel of things that matter. It’s a public institution and it’s accountable to the public.’

Albanese dubbed Mr Williams the ‘Renaissance man’ but one has to wonder if this is the cultural change the Prime Minister envisioned when he said:

‘There aren’t too many Australians I can think of who have both studied composition in Italy and been an AFL Commissioner. Kim is a true Renaissance man … Kim is someone who gets the ABC and he’s someone who understands instinctively what a national broadcaster can and should be.’

For many years, ABC left-wing bias has been documented and dismissed as ‘conspiracy’ by the right and left respectively, which rather proves the point. A sizeable chunk of Australians ignore the ABC and see it as a pointless drain on tax dollars. Hopeful comments from Mr Williams aside, we are a long way from seeing conservatives on the payroll or watchable opinion shows.

Still, let us imagine for a moment that Mr Williams is a wizard and achieves a magical revival of the ABC. Would you watch it? Or has the ABC worn out its welcome…

Get 10 issues for just $10

Subscribe to The Spectator Australia today for the next 10 magazine issues, plus full online access, for just $10.

SUBSCRIBE 10 issues for $10 REGISTER 3 articles a month

Already a subscriber? Log in