MRC commissioned polling indicates most Australians have lost faith in our national broadcaster. Substantive reforms are needed to ensure the ABC stays true to the principles of public broadcasting. By Nick Cater.

The results of a poll commissioned by the Menzies Research Centre this month provide strong evidence that the ABC is falling short of community expectations and failing in its charter obligations as the national broadcaster.

We asked how much Australians would be willing to pay for the ABC’s TV service if it became a subscription service like Netflix or Foxtel. Close to four out of five (79 per cent) said they wouldn’t subscribe at all. When we offered respondents a sliding scale to mark how much they were willing to pay, the average amount was $2.94 a month.

When details of the poll were published in The Australian this week, the immediate reaction from the left-leaning media was to try to discredit it. We received shirty emails from journalists at The Guardian asking us to substantiate the evidence. For our part we are satisfied with the quality of the sampling and confident that the views of the 500 people who responded is indicative of the low esteem in which the ABC is held by a large proportion of the population.

The response to the third question we asked - does the ABC tend to lean towards the right or the left? - helps to explain why Australians have issues with the national broadcaster. Two thirds said it drifted to the left. That view was held by a majority of Labor voters and an even larger proportion of Greens.

The Menzies Research Centre supports the principle of public broadcasting. The ABC, along with other cultural institutions like universities and the arts, should be thought of as an investment in the cultural life of the nation. Even today, with the vast choice of media the internet delivers, there is a place for national broadcasting that stands “solid and serene in the middle of our national life, running no campaign, seeking to persuade no opinion, but presenting the issues freely and fearlessly for the calm judgment of our people,” as its former chairman Dick Boyer described the ABC in 1945.

Yet the ABC has long since ceased to be the impartial clearing house for ideas Bowyer imagined it should become. It can no longer be thought of as a contributor to the healthy development of democracy, nor can it claim to be a centre of national unity.

That so many people would be prepared to give the service up if they had to pay for it shows what a boutique product it has become. It is relatively strong in suburbs close to the CBD and has a dedicated following in the regions. The quiet Australians, however, in the suburbs and towns, are barely engaging.

How do we fix it? Privatising the ABC is not an option in our view. As our polling indicates, revenue from viewers would fall a long way short of being a going concern. At an average of $2.94 a household, subscription revenue would fall a long way short of expenditure. In any case, the purpose of public broadcasting would be lost.

A first step to reform would be a thorough inquiry into its purpose and place in an increasingly information-soaked world.

The last substantial review to the ABC’s charter was in 1983, long before the arrival of the internet or cable TV. Change is long overdue.

There must also be far greater accountability for the ABC, an organisation with a chronically weak governance structure that behaves with scant regard to the people to which it broadcasts.

An independent ombudsman charged with ensuring the ABC remains true to its charter could be a useful step. In truth, however, the changes must go further than that.

Agony Aunty

MRC commissioned polling indicates most Australians have lost faith in our national broadcaster. Substantive reforms are needed to ensure the ABC stays true to the principles of public broadcasting. By Nick Cater.