Got a piece over at the Drum this morning, which goes over some stuff I’ve raised here earlier:
Is the ABC illegitimately competing with commercial media outlets by offering online opinion with its online offerings?
This is a separate question from, say, the manifestly spurious claims of bias that crop up about sites like The Drum. The idea that’s been put about recently is that the ABC is making life hard for commercial media businesses by dragging eyeballs away from their websites and email bulletins.
Go read and comment over there, if you like.
Off-topic to an extent but the thing that worries me more than the ABC competing with commercial outlets is ABC-generated content being syndicated on News Limited sites, for example columns by Leigh Sales and Mark Colvin appearing on The Punch. I’m sure there was no nefarious intent in the arrangement, but it could engender relationships that may be difficult to navigate in the future.
Is there any formal ABC stance on relationships between the ABC and commercial outlets? It strikes me that a lot of ABC radio ad TV commentary draws on personnel and content drawn from commercial outlets.
Hi Ben. Need to check this out, but I think there are some formal and informal arrangements providing the ABC exclusivity wrt its staff when it comes to broadcasting, but writing is a different matter. Let me get back to you, but as you suggest, such things may need rethinking in the brave new multimedia world.