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ABC / SBS board appointments

Updated: Communications Minister Conroy will announce 2 board members to ABC and SBS and Friends of ABC is pleased.

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abc2_logo2The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, will announce 2 new ABC board members today as part of an overhaul of the board appointment process. Former Opera House boss Michael Lynch, former head of the Australia Council and chief executive of the Opera House, and author and former ABC executive Julianne Schultz, will become directors for the next five years.

The Sydney Morning Herald notes one insider said the Government had rewarded the Labor-leaning “arts mafia” with its choice from a shortlist of several names selected by an independent panel after more than 300 people applied for the board seats, vacant for 10 months and 13 months.

Updated: Friends of the ABC welcomes the appointments.

“It’s an extremely welcome change to have people with strong backgrounds in local culture and a commitment to public broadcasting appointed to the ABC Board,” said Glenys Stradijot, a spokesperson for Friends of the ABC (Vic).

“Though Friends of the ABC support will remain qualified until we know more about the type of ABC the new appointees will work towards.

“FABC encourages the new board members to become more open than the existing board – to inform and engage with the community about the ABC they envisage.

FABC remains committed to the network increasing local content, noting the ABC now produces no television drama of its own, depending entirely on external production. Specialist program units, like the ABC’s Natural History Unit, have been closed.

Meanwhile, Senator Conroy will also announce today that Elleni Bereded-Samuel, a former presenter on Ethiopian TV and chair of the SBS community advisory committee, and Joseph Skrzynski, a Sydney Film School board member, will be appointed to the SBS board for five-year terms.

Source: smh.com.au

One Response

  1. well, this is a surprise – see how these board appointments are people with actual experience in the types of things the ABC and SBS do… rather than all the appointees of the Howard government, most of whom had no experience or knowledge of the broadcasting/arts/news industries.

    Just shows even more how ridiculous the Howard appointees were.

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