The Encore Interview: Mark Scott
After establishing a career in newspapers, including a 12-year stint at Fairfax, Mark Scott has been the managing director of the ABC since 2006. In 2011, he was appointed for a second five-year term. He speaks to Encore’s managing editor Brooke Hemphill about his plans for the public broadcaster, the changing role of the ABC in a multi-platform world and the ramifications of launching ABC3 and News 24 in the same year.
THE MULTIPLATFORM ABC
Mark Scott on how the ABC is leading the charge with fast-tracking TV content, the soon-to-be launched ABC television companion app, and how the broadcaster has embraced opportunities in the multiplatform space.
Mark Scott can certainly walk the talk but the reality is that the ABC has become increasingly middle of the road and risk averse. Cutting edge Australian documentaries have disappeared and replaced by lame doco series, the drama is middle of the road, backward looking and often very poorly written. And what can one say about News24? It has almost no audience and is so repetitive it is hard to watch. It is a 25 million a year vanity project and waste of money and should be closed down with the money put into some serious journalism on ABC1 and ABC2 with lots of feeder news into its digital platforms.
I hope if the Coalition wins the election it is not vindictive and doesn’t slash and burn but instead holds an independent inquiry into the current operation of the ABC, its management but most importantly a really intelligent analysis of its content. It is fine to want all the toys as Mark Scott desires but the real issue is about the quality of the content. And here the ABC even with more money has struggled under Mark Scott.