Opinion: Posturing from broadcasters isn't the way screen content policy should be made | nathanaelcooper
The issue of local content on Australian television has reared its head again with news last week that the Seven network has halted the production of children's television andIt's a subject that comes up about every six months, particularly in the last three years since former federal communications minister Mitch Fifield announced an inquiry into local content on TV and radio and achieved precisely nothing in the process.
C-rated content, he argues, costs a lot and hardly anyone watches it, so Seven shouldn't be obliged to make it under the terms of its licence agreement with the government which allows it to broadcast.Hardly anyone watches it because a lot of the children's television made in Australia is absolute garbage that is created purely for the purposes of fulfilling the licence obligation rather than in the interest of creating television that parents might want their children to watch.
What should happen is Minister Fletcher should find Seven in breach, turn off its signal and not allow it to broadcast until it meets its obligations. A licence to broadcast to the nation is a privilege, not a right, and there are responsibilities that come with that privilege. If the broadcaster is not able to meet its obligations because of years of poor programming decision making, that is not the fault of the government or the viewer, but the fault of the broadcaster.
But government policy does urgently need to be created that is in step with the current operating conditions broadcasters face. These rules were made before the internet and, as for many sections of the media, the advent of the internet has created some challenges for TV.and conducted hours of hand-wringing that has achieved nothing.
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