The Federal Government has appointed newspaper columnist and former lawyer, Janet Albrechtsen, to the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The move ensures there will be a feisty series of board meetings at the top of the ABC in the next five years. Albrechtsen, currently a columnist for The Australian newspaper, is a strident critic of the national broadcaster and is on the record saying she believes the ABC is full of entrenched bias.
She and the ABC’s Media Watch program had a high profile slanging match over bias, misrepresentation and plagiarism in 2002 when Albrechtsen wrote about Islamic youths and Media Watch questioned her sources.
Albrechtsen responded saying Media Watch, “like many things at the ABC… has been hijacked by sectional interests.”
In a column at the time she wrote: “Far from upholding journalistic standards in order to stimulate high-quality free speech, the current Media Watch is devoted to suppressing speech with which it disagrees… It was not concerned with journalistic standards. It was concerned with opinions. That ours did not conform to the left-wing ABC ideology on these matters meant we were targets.”
Communications Minister, Helen Coonan, has announced Albrechtsen’s appointment, saying: “I am confident … that Ms Albrechtsen’s skills and experience will prove a worthwhile asset to the ABC.” Senator Coonan says the appointment will bring diversity to the board.
After receiving her law degree from the University of Adelaide, Albrechtsen moved to Sydney and worked as a commercial lawyer.
She has a doctorate in law from the University of Sydney Law School and has taught as an academic.
Before joining The Australian she wrote for the Fairfax Press and various magazines.
The Friends of the ABC is less confident in the appointment than Minister Coonan, with spokesperson Glenys Stradijot telling radioinfo:
“The Government has demonstrated its disdain for the national broadcaster by appointing one of the ABC’s most strident critics… It appears the Government’s criteria for appointment to the ABC Board is opposition to the broadcaster’s healthy operation… The Government is abusing its responsibility to the community by stacking the board of the national broadcaster with political sympathisers.”
Shadow Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says the appointment continues the Government’s policy of “stacking the ABC with its political mates.”
“John Howard seems to regard the ABC Board as a private club, with memberships to be handed out to his supporters as a reward. The Government’s practice of appointing strident coalition supporters to the ABC Board undermines public confidence in the independence of the national broadcaster,” says Conroy.
Labor believes that there should be an open and transparent process for making appointments to the ABC board.
Less controversial barrister, John Gallagher, has been reappointed and will serve a second term on the ABC board with Albrechtsen and its other members.
The ABC Board is responsible for the ABC’s operations. Up to seven Directors are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Government. The Managing Director is appointed by the Board and another Director is elected by the staff of the ABC.
The ABC Act requires that Directors must be experienced in broadcasting, communications or management, or have expertise in financial or technical matters, or have cultural or other interests relevant to the provision of broadcasting services.
The duty of the Board is to ensure that the functions of the Corporation are performed efficiently with maximum benefit to the people of Australia, and to maintain the independence and integrity of the Corporation. The Board is also responsible for ensuring that the gathering and presentation of news and information is accurate and impartial, according to recognised standards of journalism, and that the ABC complies with legislative and legal requirements.
To view part of the 2002 slanging match, click below.