ABC Life on intense scrutiny, making content for younger audiences, and silencing the critics
ABC Life launched in August 2018 to a flurry of discussion and debate about where a lifestyle website aimed at young Australians sat within the scope of the ABC Charter. Nine months on, Hannah Blackiston speaks with editorial lead Scott Spark about what the team has learnt and why he believes their role is so necessary in the media landscape.
Scott Spark was part of the team that pitched ABC Life, a lifestyle platform with a focus on young Australians which would sit inside the wider net of the network’s digital content. The title was launched under former managing director Michelle Guthrie and its announcement drew criticism for what was presumed would be Buzzfeed-style lifestyle listicles. The Daily Telegraph ran the headline ‘ABC Life means ABC death’ and The Guardian reported ‘ABC in turmoil’.
Spark says he wasn’t bothered by this reaction to the introduction of the platform. We’re sitting in a cafeteria inside the ABC building in Sydney’s Ultimo, which is being renovated and currently resembles the boarding gate at an airport. It’s a time before David Anderson has been named as the new MD, although Ita Buttrose has just taken up the mantle as chair. My first question to Spark is about the backlash, trying the trick of getting the negative questions out of the way first, but he’s quick to point out it comes with the territory.
Scott Spark has been with ABC Life since its inception
Image: Juliette Steen
“We want that trust and the ABC needs that trust from consumers, so we have to be open to scrutiny. I’m incredibly receptive to that feedback, because ultimately we exist for the public and if you’re going to work at the ABC you have to remember it’s a public service. And I love that. I’m very happy to have a conversation with anyone around any scrutiny of anything I’m doing,” says Spark.
