ABC: Don’t Mention The War
June 8, 2009 – 11:08 pmby John Lacey
Whether you think the Chaser sketch was funny or not, offensive or not, the words of the ABC managing director Mark Scott seem really rather ominous.
We need to fully review the ABC’s approval processes for programs that deliberately challenge public attitudes.
Programs that ‘deliberately challenge public attitudes’ require greater scrutiny than programs that merely reflect the popular world view?
Now it seems entirely possible that this is mostly a PR exercise to appease the masses but supposing it isn’t, what will that mean – not just for the Chaser – but for ABC programming in general? Will programs that offer a variety of viewpoints (Insiders, The 7:30 Report, Q&A) be carefully edited to only reflect the most popular opinions at given moment? Let’s not forget that Media Watch was taken off air once for having opinions that weren’t ‘popular’ with ABC management.
Surely the true merit of the ABC (not needing to appease advertisers) is its ability to offer a variety of viewpoints, even unpopular ones.
If there is anything to be taken from the Chaser experience it is two-fold. Australians are very protective of their children. And they don’t care for dissenting vantage points. It is at this point that I stop to reflect on the title of this very website: Somebody Think Of The Children.
A friend told me last night that she liked the title of the site. Working in a government office, she told me, those words are plastered on the office wall to remind people to consider the interests and needs of children when organising events. Though most of us will recognise it as part of Stephen Conroy’s ‘Clean Feed’ rhetoric. The implication was always that if you weren’t happy to have the government censor the Internet that you didn’t care about children, that the Internet was a wretched place of depravity that only Mr. Conroy could make suitable for families and children.
In an abstract way I agree with the general sentiment. We should be thinking of the children. We should be thinking about the lost competitive advantage our kids would endure if they lost a resource as useful as the Internet in its current form. We should be thinking about the harm our children will endure if the only information they come into contact with is carefully filtered by the government. We should carefully consider the consequences of sheltering our children away from real world ideas and concepts. You could be forgiven at times for example, given their seemingly anti-sex stance, that Family First have forgotten how families are created. Immaculate conception, anyone?
Freedom of speech isn’t just about having the ability to express your opinions, it is also about having a tolerance for the opinions of others – even (especially!) opinions that differ from your own.
7 Responses to “ABC: Don’t Mention The War”
The more I hear about this stuff, the more I’m considering moving to another country. It all seems to come back to lack of responsibility of the individual and forcing views on others. And, having others take responsibility for the former… such as the push to have obese people’s lap band surgery paid by taxpayers.
By Vanessa on Jun 9, 2009
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25607620-5006022,00.html
“Child welfare groups were outraged the team would be on full pay. They have called on all wages to be donated to children’s charities.
Georgette Fishlock, whose son Tyler was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two, said the payments were an insult to every sick Australian child.”
By Vanessa on Jun 9, 2009
Maybe we should have ‘I hate children’ tattooed on their foreheads? Or execute them and harvest their organs for medical proceedures to save children, drain their blood for our little tyke’s blood-transfusions and tear off their skin for kiddie-plastic-surgery?
By james on Jun 9, 2009
When I read that comment yesterday, my interpretation wasn’t nearly as ominous. The phrasing was so outside the dialogue we’ve seen of this whole Chaser shitstorm, that I read it more as Mark Scott having a little jab at the ridiculousness of the situation. Now I’m not sure how to interpret it…
By Icaria on Jun 9, 2009
And now someone’s lost their job over this. Fantastic.
By Pharaoh on Jun 10, 2009
You know what. I fucking hate children. I don’t like them anywhere near me. I think there should be a LOT more adults only places etc. But you know what else? I hate child abuse more, and deciding what information does and doesn’t get to your little darlings ears with totalitarian precision fucking pisses me off even more than hearing a screaming little brat running through the shops.
That skit was fucking hilarious and made me laugh my clit off.
The only people who should be losing their jobs are these dumb, conservative, wowser bastards.
Fuckin’ hell.
By AileenWuornos on Jun 18, 2009