Lessons for the ABC to learn from the BBC scandal
In this crossposting from The Conversation, journalism professor Brian McNair argues that Australia’s public service broadcaster has a lot to learn from the BBC’s disaster in the UK
As the BBC considers splitting the role of its chief executive and editor-in-chief, should the ABC give serious thought to adopting a similar model?
The ongoing turmoil at the BBC over an ever widening child sex abuse scandal demonstrates the difficulty of the senior manager of such a large and diverse organisation being charged with taking final editorial responsibility for the stories it runs.
There is much for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to learn from the PR disaster engulfing its British cousin. With a roughly similar corporate structure, the ABC should closely monitor how the BBC reacts to an incorrect story that cost director general George Entwistle his job, and move to ensure that it protects itself against a similar situation.
I am not so sure that the ABC has much to worry about. The level of excellence in journalism from the ABC is self evident. The BBC has become unwieldy again, I say again, because it has done this a couple of times before and trimmed itself back, but its time again to shake the weevils out of the flour. I am no expert, but it seems that Entwistle couldn’t cut the mustard, let his subs get shabby and allowed his eyes to wander away from the game. You can’t afford to do that when you are in the midst of directing allegations of the most disgusting of crimes against a senior public figure. 54 days in the top job, then he slips out the side door with a huge bag of lollies, nice work if you can get it.
One day shorter than the famous 1900 siege of the foreign legations’ compounds in Peking. I wonder if they will make a film about Entwistle? “54 days as Beeb King”
The phone hacking scandal inspired Gillard to set up an inquiry into the media. One wonders why she hasn’t called for the ABC to be investigated for paedophile in light of the BBC and Andrew Muirhead scandals. Or will the ABC be included in the Royal Commission?