ABC scraps national Sunday night bulletin plan to stick with state news

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ABC scraps national Sunday night bulletin plan to stick with state news

By Calum Jaspan
Updated

The ABC has reversed its plan to implement a national Sunday night 7pm bulletin and will instead continue to air local news bulletins after listening to audience feedback.

The broadcaster in June said a singular bulletin would replace state-by-state coverage on Sunday nights – one of a number of cost-cutting proposals put forward in its five-year plan, which will also result in up to 120 jobs being made redundant.

ABC managing director David Anderson has reversed one of the organisation’s controversial proposals.

ABC managing director David Anderson has reversed one of the organisation’s controversial proposals.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The plan for the national bulletin met strong resistance from staff, who flagged concerns with management over the broadcaster’s ability to meet the needs of its audience as a result.

ABC managing director David Anderson told the national broadcaster’s employees on Wednesday morning that the proposed change to the Sunday night national bulletin was the only proposal the ABC was reversing.

“After listening to audience feedback, it is clear that there are some members of the Australian public who continue to rely on the local Sunday night state bulletin,” Anderson said in an internal email.

“As a result, we will not be proceeding with this current proposal. The ABC intends to proceed with all other proposals and initiatives announced in June.”

Anderson suggested the broadcaster would be looking to identify “more savings” for future reinvestment over the course of its five-year plan, as it continues to divert resources to digital services.

Asked if the reversal of the decision would affect the ABC’s plans to revitalise Stateline, an ABC spokesperson said the proposal remained unchanged.

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Director of News Justin Stevens told staff in June that the broadcaster’s cost-saving plan would enable investments in eight state and territory editions of Stateline for digital channels and traditional TV broadcasting, “adding to our coverage of local stories and issues and enhancing our scrutiny of state and territory governments”.

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Stevens made appearances on multiple ABC radio stations in June to justify the decision, arguing to both ABC Melbourne’s Raf Epstein and ABC Brisbane’s Rebecca Livingston that state-centric stories should hold national significance, and that should it be merited, there was still scope for local bulletins to be scaled up.

“The biggest story in Victoria should be of interest to someone in Queensland as much as it is in WA,” Stevens told Epstein, when pressed on the decision.

Anderson said this morning the ABC was “fully committed” to maintaining traditional broadcasting services for “as long as they are essential” to keep Australians informed and entertained.

“We are dedicated to local news and passionate about its value to communities across the country – including in many areas where commercial media is in retreat.”

Both South Australia’s Premier Peter Malinauskas and Western Australia’s Premier Roger Cook criticised the decision to scrap local bulletins on Sundays, with the former noting it would diminish state political coverage.

The reversal of the national bulletin decision isn’t expected to reduce the planned redundancies at the ABC, as a spokesperson had said in June it wasn’t connected to additional job losses.

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