ABC redundancies as Archives staff are culled

On the eve of its 90th anniversary the ABC has announced changes to the ABC Archives which will remove approximately 58 positions but introduce 30 new roles.

The changes come as the broadcaster transforms into being a digital-first media organisation. In 2021, approximately 90% of audio and 35% of ABC’s video tape collection was converted into digital files.

ABC advised staff proposed changes would improve workflows across broadcast channels, ABC iview and ABC Archives and across teams including ABC Audiences and the classification team. But journalists would be required to research and archive their own stories.

Currently every program or file that is supplied to the ABC is required to pass a quality control check to ensure it meets ABC broadcast standards. Under the planned changes, reporters and producers working on breaking news, news programs and daily programs like 7.30 will have to search for archival material themselves and will be expected to log the metadata of any new material into a Media Asset Management system.

“Technology now enables more efficient content collection, management, discovery and reuse,” ABC said in a statement. “We can therefore redesign the way we work to better support content makers as they serve changing audience needs. This means some roles are no longer required but also provides opportunities to develop new skills and create new and evolved roles.”

The ABC section of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) held meetings for affected staff on Wednesday, describing the move as being “devastating news for many ABC staff and has come as a shock to teams across the country”.

A final number of redundancies is yet to be determined.

Updated:

ABC Managing Director David Anderson today told reporters:
“The archives initiative is something the ABC has had in train for a while, we’ve been digitising the archives, making it more accessible for our content makers. That’s all I have to say about it. We’re in consultation, so when we launch these initiatives … we consult with staff and their representatives, and that will take place over the next six weeks.”

Asked if it will compromise the ability to tell Australian stories if only flagship programs have access to library staff, Anderson replied: “No, we don’t believe that it will compromise our ability to tell local stories. We do value our archives. We work closely with the National Archives Australia. We don’t believe it will. It’s a change we’re putting in place, a transformation for the future – certainly, to allow our content makers to access more easily the archive that we have.”

Source: Guardian