Dear Aunty:
The ABC, our dear Aunty, has been attacked again by a right-wing government. Yawn. Right on cue!
When will they ever learn that we, the people, love the venerable old girl? She shows excellent signs of keeping up with the times, running a rich stream of online activities adding to her accomplishments on radio and TV. We admire her.
The ABC is one of the best things about Australia. We know it and we trust it. It is the best source of information we have. This latest attack by the coalition government could be seen as a diversion from weeks of flat-footed political blunders, which have cost it preferred-party status in its first 100 days. Quite an achievement. Nevertheless the attack must not be written off. A party that can ask the lowest paid among us, childcare workers, to forgo their wage rise may well stoop to elder abuse. Aunty’s budget could be cut, and she could be sent out to sell advertising!
A useful piece of research to add to the defence of the ABC has been done by Ian McCauley (New Matilda, 9/12/13). I quote: ‘Commercial media are funded by what is to all intents and purposes a sales tax. For example, if you buy a new car, around $500 of what you outlay is on advertising. Last year $13.1 billion was spent on advertising, of which $4.9 billion was for commercial TV and radio, and $4.2 billion was for newspapers.
‘To put these figures into a digestible form, we are paying about $1,500 a year per household for advertising, of which $500 is for commercial TV and radio… By contrast we are paying about $120 a year for the ABC.’
So I pay $500 for commercial media which I despise, and $120 for the ABC which I use all the time. Ten, Nine and the rest of the bunch are getting a good deal out of me, that’s all I can say.
Jill Keogh, Federal
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
