ABC news merger in the ACT ‘makes sense’

The ABC is merging its news and radio divisions in the ACT.

ABC News Boss Gaven Morris and Director of Radio Michael Mason informed staff of the plan in a memo yesterday.

Increasingly, the ABC is dismantling the divisional barriers and becoming just “the ABC”. 

Our audiences see us that way, and so should we. 

Working together as one team harnesses our skills and knowledge, is efficient and helps us create the best content. 

To achieve this, they are considering how to work towards a model in Northbourne that will combine the ABC Radio and News teams. The existing structures are based on divisions – predominantly News and Radio. While some content is shared, workflows and content delivery are still largely based along divisional lines. 

Especially in a smaller office like Northbourne, it makes sense for us to come together as one team.  

To lead this process we are creating the new role of Editor, Canberra, and will be seeking applicants for this position internally and externally. The Editor will replace the existing positions of ACT News Editor and ABC Local Manager Canberra. This is the only change at this time. 

The aim of a model will be to allow us to share expertise, better integrate coordination and planning, and reduce duplication of roles and tasks. It will help us offer a stronger digital service, provide our audiences with a seamless experience across our platforms, and give the best treatment to the stories that matter most. 

The ABC says there are no plans to merge other sites.

ABC Local Manager in the ACT, Andrea Ho explained the rationale behind the change to radioinfo:

Ever since joining the ABC working at a regional station where eight staff had three reporting lines outside the station when we were only serving the one audience, I’ve wondered why we had to be so separate. Plenty of us have argued for a more integrated setup.

Well – now, here it is…! To my mind it represents an enormous, rare chance to really make meaningful structural change that will really consider the audience first.

 

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