History of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Talks from prominent figures of the time such as King George V, Pope Pius XI, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and H. G. Wells were also broadcast.
[1] By 1933, regular program relays were in place between the ABC's stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth – it was not until 1936 that Hobart was connected with the mainland, through a cable under the Bass Strait.
It was not until 1934 that the ABC hired its first journalist – the service continued to be expanded, with the appointment of a Federal News Editor in 1936, and in 1939 a Canberra correspondent to cover national politics.
[16] During World War II, the ABC continued to recruit staff, including a greater proportion of women to replace men who had joined the armed forces.
An early challenge to its independence came in June 1940 when wartime censorship was imposed, meaning that the Department of Information (headed by Sir Keith Murdoch) took control of the ABC's 7pm nightly national news bulletin.
Today known for the continuing series of Boyer Lectures initiated by him in 1959, he had a good but not too close with the general manager Sir Charles Moses, and remained chair until his retirement in 1961.
[19] During the war, the ABC's news bulletins attained a reputation for authority and independence, and from 1942 onwards, were broadcast three times daily through all national and most commercial transmitters.
The Club encouraged children's contributions of writing, music, poetry and art, and became one of the ABC's most popular programs, running six days a week for 28 years.
[21] The increasing availability of landlines and teleprinters allowed the organisation to gather and broadcast news and other program material with much greater efficiency than in the previous two decades.
[21] A Light Entertainment department was formed, to produce programs such as ABC Hit Parade, the Wilfrid Thomas Show, Bob Dyer's Dude Ranch and The Village Glee Club.
[21][24][25] Over the next three years, planning for the introduction of a national television service was put in place – land for studios and transmitters in Sydney and Melbourne was acquired, and overseas tutors were brought to Australia to assist with training.
[27][better source needed] Weekly current affairs program Four Corners began in 1961, followed in the same year by Profiles of Power, a series of interviews with prominent Australians.
However, extensive archival research within the ABC following the closure of the old Gore Hill studios in Sydney revealed that, although some early videotape-only content was erased, much of the primary footage had been shot on film and most of it was retained.
In 1991, Tom Molomby wrote:[31] In 1981, ABC Radio began carrying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander broadcasts in Alice Springs and later Northern Queensland, while at the same time comedy and social history units were set up, and news and current affairs output expanded.
[33] A new concert music department was formed in 1985 to coordinate the corporation's six symphony orchestras, which in turn received a greater level of autonomy in order to better respond to local needs.
Open-air free concerts and tours, educational activities, and joint ventures with other music groups were undertaken at the time to expand the orchestras' audience reach.
Radio Australia also carried more news coverage, with special broadcasts during the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and (in the early 1990s) the Gulf War.
In readiness, the ABC had fully digitised its production, post-production and transmission facilities – heralded at the time as 'the greatest advance in television technology since the introduction of colour'.
Soon after the introduction of digital television in 2001, Fly TV and the ABC Kids channel launched, showing a mix of programming aimed at teenagers and children.
[40] All networks celebrated 100 years of radio in 2001 with special broadcasts marking the event and a limited edition CD released, with highlights of the ABC's output since 1932.
[50] A high incidence of breast cancer in female staff working at the ABC's offices in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong led to the closure of the site in December 2006,[51] with TV and radio operations being moved to alternative locations around the city.
The ABC's Managing Director, Mark Scott, announced in August 2007 that new studios would be built on the site, following the final release of the Review and Scientific Investigation Panel's report.
[53] In the lead up to the 2007 federal election, the Howard government endorsed a proposal submitted to the Australian Communications & Media Authority by the ABC to launch a second digital channel targeted at children.
[63] In December 2015, it was announced that former BSkyB (UK), Star TV (Hong Kong), and Google executive Michelle Guthrie would take over from managing director Mark Scott, who was to retire in April 2016.
[107] Subsequently, Indigenous Affairs editor Bridget Brennan became the first person of colour to appear on the show when she was invited onto the program, a week after an all-white panel had discussed the Black Lives Matter movement.
[108][109] In 2021, the former Attorney-General in the Morrison government, Christian Porter, sued the ABC for defamation over an article written by Louise Milligan about an historic rape allegation.
Rental from some of the vacant space in the city centre would earn additional income to offset the ongoing effects of the significant funding cuts since 2014 and the recent indexation freeze.
[119] In April 2023, criticism was levelled at the ABC, including by its own Media Watch program, for seemingly ignoring a legitimate news story about the conduct of independent senator Lidia Thorpe.
[120] The ABC was widely criticised in May 2023 for deciding to commence its live coverage of the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla by holding a largely anti-monarchy panel discussion instead of reporting directly on the event as it got underway in London.
[125][126][127][128][129] The Coronation: A discussion about the Monarchy in 2023 was hosted by Jeremy Fernandez and Julia Baird and featured anti-monarchists Stan Grant, Craig Foster and Teela Reid as well as monarchist Julian Leeser.
