In the debate about Australian content on TV, we need to look further than the ABC
As streaming becomes an increasingly common way to consume TV, policies need to adapt to reflect the shift, writes the University of Melbourne’s Denis Muller in this crossposting from The Conversation.
One of the main functions of the media is to tell a society’s collective story, both to the society itself and to others.
People instinctively grasp the importance of this, and an established way of assessing how well a society does it is to quantify the local content appearing in its media, especially on television.
In Australia, this issue is always lying just under the surface of public debate, and occasionally breaks through to open controversy. It usually takes the form of an argument about how much local content, especially drama, is shown on ABC TV.
Sean Keenan in Australian sci-fi drama Glitch. The show’s second season was a co-production between ABC TV and Netflix. ABC TV/IMDB
We’re creating mountains of local video content, if anyone wants to send some of that funding our way!
Like so many who push barrows Muller uses a soft metric. The healthy response to today’s media market is that which recognises opportunity. Public funds should be focused on quality, a measure today that works. This is why scandi drama is everywhere and popular. It’s good.
There is no argument for putting more money about. Rather we should be sure that the people handing it out are tough taskmasters driven by quality outcomes. Starting with the abc, which is led by people fixated by form and ignorant of substance.
Rake, Harrow, the upcoming Mystery Road, General Monash and me bereft of substance? Unlike I s’pose, MKR, the Bachelorette and oh I dunno, say RBT?