End of Radio Australia HF broadcasts!

[HankOnthewater]

Is this a political move, without any chance of succeeding?
Nick Xenophon to introduce legislation to force ABC to reinstate shortwave radio service - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Anyway, an Australian politician says that broadcasts need to continue.

[El Pinguino]

Hopefully they don't demolish the towers so there will still be hope..( I think the RA Darwin transmitters are still in use by assorted godbotherers).

They keep banging on about ABC's ***NT*** HF service... it was far more than that... Look at the map... if you are 'mobile' anywhere that doesn't have a red pin then odds are that all you have had is was HF

We live in hope...

Map shows ABC regional offices but it serves the purpose quite well.

[alctel]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Umm, press releases are not new - they came out all the time during Harper's time, from many departments. Harper just tightened up the guidelines. Some of the depts. had similar guidelines that preceded Harper - DND for instance has always stressed that anyone is free to answer questions from the media, as long as you stay within your area of expertise, don't disclose classified info, defer to higher authority or public affairs when the questions are outside of your purview, etc. etc. This is why most levels and sections of govt (as well as major corporations) have media relations depts./ spokespersons/ etc. - it ensures that the official line is clear and unambiguous.

The point is that scientists in the Public Service have always had avenues to address the public - I just don't recall it being very common for them to do so, during either liberal or conservative reigns over the past 40 odd years.

There was a complete ban on speaking to the press, at all, unless it was funneled through a political apparatchik at the PMO's office.

Which meant in practice that the only way press could speak to departments (especially environmental issues) would be through the PMO.

Further details can be found in any of of a million articles, like this one http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle27171269/

Under the Conservatives, access to federal scientists was restricted by a government policy that required scientists to contact media managers whenever approached by a reporter. Often, reporters were questioned by government public-relations experts before a decision was made about whether a scientist would be made available for an interview.

The government’s media managers wanted to know the line of questioning in advance. Sometimes they’d ask for questions to be submitted by e-mail, and then hours or days later you’d get not a helpful scientist on the phone, but a written statement that seemed drafted by a team of bureaucrats.

Often, requests to speak to scientists were simply denied. That was usually the case if you wanted to talk to someone about climate change, or about radiation monitors run by Health Canada, or about viral infections in salmon.

Research by Vancouver-based science writer Margaret Munro revealed the Privy Council Office, the secretariat of the federal cabinet, was involved in decisions about when scientists would be allowed to talk and when they would be muzzled.

................

But last week, Dr. Miller-Saunders and all her colleagues across the country learned they are no longer required to get approval from media handlers before talking to the media.

I'm not sure why you are defending this - it was pretty blatant government censorship at it's very worst and attracted a lot of attention and criticism from all over the world and the policy and it's consequences are easy to find online.

ANYWAY, this is pretty far off topic from Australian HF so I'm gonna leave it.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I wonder how many lsteners these stations would have nowadays?

Not thousands... maybe not even hundreds. Maybe the $2.4 was just for 20 or 30 listeners.

........

Hey Mark, you just taking the piss or was this a fair dinkum thought bubble of yours?

I can personally name a dozen or more ABC HF listeners in my local area so I wonder where the other dozen or so might be living...

OK I accept I am a minority as I live below 43S in Oz but really there has to be thousands of listeners around and the main reason we listen to ABC HF is that there is NO alternative! No other method of communication exists - even the message stick is no longer a PC option.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by alctel

Further details can be found in any of of a million articles, like this one Federal scientists eager to share their research now that muzzles are off - The Globe and Mail



I'm not sure why you are defending this - it was pretty blatant government censorship at it's very worst and attracted a lot of attention and criticism from all over the world and the policy and it's consequences are easy to find online.

ANYWAY, this is pretty far off topic from Australian HF so I'm gonna leave it.

Somewhat topical that you asserted that public broadcasters are essential to maintain the truthfulness of the media. Then, not just a little ironically, you back up your claims with "any of a million articles" from the media, that are unadulterated codswallop. I worked in the government during that time, and had a fair amount of experience in dealing with media relations, so am very familiar with the guidelines that were in place.

The media are not interested in telling the news, or telling the truth - they are in the business of telling stories that will get you to tune in. For the private media the motivation is pure profit - larger readership/viewership, larger ad revenues. Public media are motivated by that, as well as by politics and ideologies.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Hey Mark, you just taking the piss or was this a fair dinkum thought bubble of yours?

I can personally name a dozen or more ABC HF listeners in my local area so I wonder where the other dozen or so might be living...

OK I accept I am a minority as I live below 43S in Oz but really there has to be thousands of listeners around and the main reason we listen to ABC HF is that there is NO alternative! No other method of communication exists - even the message stick is no longer a PC option.

Tecsun Australia recently sent 500 HF radios to the Solomons.. https://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2017/0...impending.html
Probably 310ET's.... about $A50 .. bonzer little radios.

Ironic if they were paid for with Australian aid money.... so the locals could listen to RNZI

[El Pinguino]

Sitting here in the cool of the evening listening to RNZI on 9765...
Info updates and warnings regarding the fires in the Christchurch area are being broadcast on FM, MW, and HF...

An hour or so ago they advised that if you were listening on FM to retune to MW frequencies as the local FM towers ( and one assumes the local cellphone stuff) were about to be burnt down......

So much for relying on FM and cellphones anywhere for disaster information......

[JPA Cate]

Extremely cogent, statement, El Ping, but not too many who could help are listening.

Ann

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Extremely cogent, statement, El Ping, but not too many who could help are listening.

Ann

It wasn't about soliciting help, Ann, it was about promulgating warnings to the locals... 'pack your camel and head for the hills .. er .. coast' stuff

The fact that it was being broadcast on HF was simply down to the fact that RNZ AM/FM ( domestic ) and HF ( international) share the same content at that time of day.

Seems their MW antennas were not under threat being in locations remote from the Christchurch fires...

Same sort of scenario as we have seen in the SW Pacific with cyclones and tsunamis except there is no MW in many areas , just FM or HF .... or just HF......

RNZI have said they have no intention reducing their HF presence.

[Alan Mighty]

Michelle Guthrie, CEO of ABC, at Senate Estimates on 28 Feb 2017:

"[Michelle Guthrie] refused to concede that anyone other than the 15 people who called the ABC to complain, or the 51 who gave submissions to a Senate committee, had been affected by the decision to scrap the shortwave radio service.
"She appeared before a Senate estimates committee on Tuesday, answering questions about the decision to end the broadcasting of local radio through shortwave channels in the Northern Territory and Pacific region. The decision was been widely criticised, including by all major parties.

"During the sitting, Guthrie was also unable to provide evidence of prior consultation on the decision and claimed the ABC was not the official emergency broadcaster."

See more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/feb/28/michelle-guthrie-says-it-is-not-her-job-to-lobby-for-abc-funding
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[HankOnthewater]

And another link to recent news:
ABC boss Michelle Guthrie grilled in Senate Estimates over axing shortwave radio service - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Hmmm, like in post #70, the ABC stated "less than 15 people complained....."
And..... likely the HF listeners do not have internet or not even a phone maybe? How could they complain?

Last things: it appears ABC never consulted with its stakeholders (listeners) prior to the decision to close. They did after the decision was made. I can't figure that one.

[Djarraluda]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

Michelle Guthrie, CEO of ABC, at Senate Estimates on 28 Feb 2017:

"[Michelle Guthrie] refused to concede that anyone other than the 15 people who called the ABC to complain, or the 51 who gave submissions to a Senate committee, had been affected by the decision to scrap the shortwave radio service.
"She appeared before a Senate estimates committee on Tuesday, answering questions about the decision to end the broadcasting of local radio through shortwave channels in the Northern Territory and Pacific region. The decision was been widely criticised, including by all major parties.

"During the sitting, Guthrie was also unable to provide evidence of prior consultation on the decision and claimed the ABC was not the official emergency broadcaster."

See more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/feb/28/michelle-guthrie-says-it-is-not-her-job-to-lobby-for-abc-funding

She appeared to be totally reliant upon an argument (?!?) that it was not important because emergency/disaster rouge weather alerts were issued direct by BOM on Shortwave, so therefore ABC were not denigrating their responsibility under the ABC Charter!
Roger

[El Pinguino]

Here we go again....

https://www.change.org/p/abc-chair-h...D0FyhEZTSOX6Ht

There is still hope!

[tp12]

The Aus federal government, from the conservative side of politics, has been complaining about our national broadcaster, the ABC, for a long time. They've cut funding and, last year, appointed an ex-Murdoch executive (Guthrie) as the head of the ABC .... HF radio isn't the only thing to go ... 200 jobs are also going, announced today ... who saw that coming?

Not to mention appointing a mining lobbyist to the board recently. Ironically, also named Guthrie (no relation)

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by tp12

The Aus federal government, from the conservative side of politics, has been complaining about our national broadcaster, the ABC, for a long time. They've cut funding and, last year, appointed an ex-Murdoch executive (Guthrie) as the head of the ABC .... HF radio isn't the only thing to go ... 200 jobs are also going, announced today ... who saw that coming?

Not to mention appointing a mining lobbyist to the board recently. Ironically, also named Guthrie (no relation)

Hard-right zealots hating on state broadcasters, and on media in general, is a trend in more places than Australia, as Lodesman continues to demonstrate.