Our viewers and listeners may also be assured that ABC management and staff will continue to talk. And it is time we confronted the issues head-on. The first is editorial independence. I am accused by some of threatening this fundamental principle of public broadcasting, largely on the basis of a decision by the Director of ABC Television not to renew Paul Barry s 12-month contract as the presenter of Media Watch. No matter, it seems, that the program will re-appear in 2001 with what will be its fourth presenter.
Editorial independence is one matter.
It is surely another matter for management to make judgements about the performance of ABC Television and take decisions on what programs will be broadcast and who will present them. Very few people in Australia have come in for as much media criticism as I have. I have not lashed out at anybody over this. Indeed, on Thursday I did three interviews on the ABC and the line of questioning was professional, tough but fair as it should be. I am also accused of trying to dismantle the ABC s television science unit through the cancellation of the TV science series, Quantum, after May next year.