Despite its promise to cover local communities all across Australia, the ABC is doing the unthinkable.
EXCLUSIVE: The ABC is set to close down local newsrooms over Easter in a bid to save millions of dollars.
You can watch a video version of this story as it appeared in McKnight Tonight, in the player below.
While newsrooms have previously closed down on Good Friday, this will be the first time there will be no local radio or TV bulletins for four consecutive days.
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In an email sent to News editors, obtained by TV Blackbox, Donna Field – the ABC’s Head of Regional, Rural and Metro News, formally advised managers of the changes.
As you’re all aware it’s been a relentless news agenda since early December.
Bondi, then yet another unprecedented high-risk weather season, and a war.
All these events have put significant load on teams across News.
As a sustainability measure the Easter schedule has been revisited.
Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday will now be national 7pm bulletins ex the NSW newsroom from Ultimo. (Perth will stay local given the time difference) Good Friday unchanged – national bulletin ex News Channel.
Radio news will be national bulletins across Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Sunday and Easter Monday. (Perth will stay local given the time difference)
A statement has even been prepared outlining how managers should advise staff of the rostering changes.
The Easter schedule has been revised to include more national programming for radio and television. This is a sustainability measure that addresses the significant load all teams have been under over the past few months with Bondi, an intense summer of natural disasters and of course the ongoing and demanding coverage of the war.
But this decision has very little to do with staff sustainability.
It’s all about cost-cutting.
An email sent out to ABC newsrooms claims the cutting of local news over Easter is for the sake of staff. It’s not.
In hook-ups with regional managers, it was revealed the news department is millions of dollars over budget. The nationalisation of ABC News over the Easter period is seen as a way of bringing down the budget black hole.
I’m told news boss Justin Stevens is very worried about ongoing costs. His team have been putting on all newsrooms to cut spending.
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This decision to forego localism over Easter is a desperate bid to save money by the ABC, instead of servicing local communities.
Let’s be clear.
This means the 7pm ABC TV news will not be local for four days. It will be one national bulletin, except in Perth due to the time difference.
Local ABC radio stations will NOT have local news – just national bulletins.
While there will be a reporter on hand to cover local news, regional newsrooms know their news will not make the national cut.
And those local news managers are very concerned about what happens if there is a big breaking story. It’s very likely staff will make plans for the four-day period. That means they will not be available to come back at the last minute if the big one drops.
It’s a strange decision for the ABC to go down this path.
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An ABC from ABC News management shows how the dropping of local news on TV and radio will work
Even commercial stations Seven and Nine will have local editions of their 6pm news over Easter. That’s despite budget pressures due to declining advertising revenue.
The ABC News department has not managed to keep the budget balanced. That’s despite the broadcaster being funded by the taxpayer to the tune of $1b per year.
While it is not uncommon for the ABC to default to national bulletins on Good Friday, this new directive is a slap in the face for local communities who rely on local services.
The ABC sells its localism and trusted source for emergency broadcasts.
Those in charge seem to be forgetting that news never stops – let’s hope the big one doesn’t hit while the ABC is in shutdown mode.
The ABC was approached for comment.
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