From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 11 June

No-one should be abused for doing their job. While the temptation to ‘rattle someone’s cage’, or to lob a personal jibe in a blistering tirade is sometimes irresistible, it is anti-social.

THE evolving vagaries controlling the dissemination of news – the way in which we are informed of events, has led to an acrimonious end; an unhealthy scepticism; a disturbing degree of misunderstanding; and a growing antagonism from some sections of society.

Indubitably, social media, in all its widespread forms, has altered irrevocably our viewing and response patterns. News has become cyclical infotainment. To remain relevant, news outlets must compete with the pace of social rivals. Everyone with a phone has been gifted a klaxon to the world, including the conspiratorialists, the deluded, the ill-advised, and the plain, bloody silly!

Impartiality, once a journalistic imperative, is now deemed a subjective option; once unacceptable editorialising has become de rigueur. Evidential claims are attributed to unidentified sources and serve as a ruse to mask multifarious reporting deficiencies, personal opinion, or lazy journalism. Behaviour, which previously would have resulted in an employee castigation, is encouraged as part-and-parcel of a desirable, combative mode of broadcasting. What matters most is the number of reader clicks!

The prized ‘gotcha’ moment headlines, when the Prime Minister admits not knowing the cost of a pound of butter, and which so delights the interviewer, generates endless mirth and earns praise from colleagues. Consequently, those who disagree with the methodology, and are outraged by such shenanigans, feel no compunction in adding their unrestrained views to the public debate.

While abrasive techniques are the accepted on commercial television, there is, within the taxpayer-funded Australia Broadcasting Corporation, a more nuanced and thorny philosophy at play. There is a charter to be respected, and honoured. It is ABC’s greatest strength, and its current Achilles.

The broadcaster faces an impossible and intensifying predicament. It is impossible to be all things to all people. Always, there will be those who look for dark shadows where there are none; endless criticism of bias if the shared view runs contrary; reading intent and not content; a genuine diminution in the regard for the ABC; and the need to compete with the opposition. To be relevant to the audience.

Currently, much of the swirling, toxic dialogue is self-inflicted and exacerbated by the loudest complainants.

ABC broadcasters have a responsibility to their followers. Their tenure is not a licence to espouse personal views, regardless. Indeed, it is a most unenviable and perilous position – a Scylla and Charybdis of gargantuan dimension.

We live in the age of celebrity. The squeaky door scores the oil. The cannon of the work is secondary to follower numbers on Twitter.

Incrementally, ABC anchors have been allowed to insinuate themselves to the centre of the story; to suppose they are setting the agenda; controlling the nation’s narrative. Reporters quote colleagues in affirmation, and address associates by monikers. In part, the ABC has become a sheltered workshop for mediocrity. Standards are debateable. It has been allowed to become its own worst enemy.

The solution is patently simple. It requires a stringent calibration. The crisis is egodriven. ABC broadcasters must be pushed to extricate themselves; to step-back from the centre of the story; to ask those questions which might represent the audience perspective. The role of devil’s advocate is complicated. Questions must be robust and challenging. The implacability, civil. It requires assiduous application.

The ABC is a symbol of our democracy. It must be protected, at all costs.

Roland can be contacted via [email protected].