Cutting the head off a monolithic left biased ABC by getting rid of Scott, one wonders if it will make any difference to the leftist groupthink we see every day from the ABC.
We have waited for Turnbull to do something about it but he seems too reluctent to "offend" anybody from the ABC, why? because he needs them more than any other Conservative MP to further his march to the lodge.
He has done nothing to pull them into gear, he has done nothing but let them run their own biased and aggressive war against the Libs since the very first minute they won office. The only time in Australia's history where a new govt. didn't get a honeymoon period.
They gave Rudd more than 2 years, covered for him the whole time whislt knowing he was out of control and cosseted Gillard the whole of her term even though she and her govt were incompetent and dysfunctional:
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the search is on for a new ABC managing director to replace Mark Scott, ruling out his term being extended.
Firing a shot at the ABC, Mr Turnbull said its journalists were left-leaning and described high-profile presenters Leigh Sales and Emma Alberici’s budget interviews with his colleagues, the Treasurer and Finance Minister, as “aggressive”.
In an interview with conservative News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt on his Sunday morning Network Ten program, The Bolt Report, Mr Turnbull responded to reports that Mr Scott wanted to extend his term beyond next year and said the board was searching for a candidate to replace him.
“It’s not up to him to extend his term,” Mr Turnbull said.
“The ABC is currently engaged in a search for his successor. Mark Scott’s tenure as managing director of the ABC is coming to an end and they’re looking for a successor.”
The ABC was criticised this week for its post-budget interviews with senior government ministers.
On Lateline, Alberici accused Finance Minister Mathias Cormann of trotting out nonsense figures before initially cutting him off when he attempted to respond to her allegation. And on the 7.30 program, Sales was criticised for continually interrupting Treasurer Joe Hockey when he was answering questions.
Mr Turnbull yesterday admitted he found the interviews “aggressive”.
“You mention two interviews, Leigh Sales’ interview with Joe Hockey and Emma Alberici’s with Mathias Cormann: they were both very aggressive interviews,” he said.
“I would say as somebody who used to interview people for a living, both as a journalist and then as a barrister and of course as a politician, I would say that a more effective interviewing style is one that is less aggressive and more forensic. But that’s in effect an editorial opinion.”
Tony Abbott acknowledged the hostile nature of one ABC interview during the week.
“Michael, I know you are determined to critical. I know you want to be as critical as you can possibly be,” Mr Abbott said to ABC journalist Michael Brissenden during a conversation about why the government had chosen not to adopt Labor’s superannuation tax.
Asked if the Prime Minister was right in a broad sense about bias at the public broadcaster, Mr Turnbull said the ABC, like most media organisations, was determined to hold the government to account and said politicians always felt the media was too critical of them.
“I do think the ABC and the journalists of the ABC, if you like, lean more to the left than to the right, but you would say that about most journalists. Clearly that’s going to be more obvious when we’re in government and clearly the job of the media is to hold the government to account,” he said.
While rejecting suggestions specific ABC journalists named by Mr Bolt were left-leaning, Mr Turnbull said the ABC did not have the right to be biased.
He said there was a tendency for directors at media companies to refuse to get involved in editorial matters. “Well, I’m sorry, with the ABC, there’s an Act of Parliament that says you should,” he said.
“The responsibility for ensuring that the ABC’s news and information services are balanced and objective and impartial and accurate is in Section 8 of the Act and that responsibility lies with the board of directors. I have been assiduous both publicly and privately in reminding the directors of the ABC that they have to get involved.”
Yesterday, the ABC denied accusations its presenters were left-leaning or partisan in their approach. A spokesman for the public broadcaster said journalists were subject to editorial policies set by the board and based on the highest standards of journalism.
“We believe our broadcasters do a good job in meeting these high standards under the unique pressure of live interviews,” he said. “The ABC investigates all complaints, undertakes program reviews and commissions independent audits to ensure these standards are met.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/turnbull-says-search-is-on-for-abc-boss-to-replace-ma...
