Fraser laments decline of 'multi' in SBS culture

Jewel Topsfield
October 21, 2008

FORMER prime minister Malcolm Fraser, whose government established SBS, has endorsed a statement warning that the public broadcaster was in danger of losing its way, with "mainstream replacing multicultural".

The statement says "big money" was going into the locally produced motoring series Top Gear while coverage of community events and customs had declined.

"Since the introduction of sponsorship and advertising to SBS in the 1990s, the service has steadily become more generalist and less specialist and multicultural," says the statement, which was posted on the Save Our SBS website today.

"English-language lesson programs, greatly valued by new arrivals, have been phased out of the TV schedule. SBS should focus on the special needs of viewers rather than on selling consumers to advertisers."

Others to endorse the statement include author Raimond Gaita, playwright Stephen Sewell, human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, poet Judith Rodriguez and the president of the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council, George Zangalis.

It comes after federal MP Petro Georgiou — who helped create SBS when working as an adviser for Mr Fraser — said he was concerned about how SBS' $180 million annual budget was being spent.

Save Our SBS secretary Darce Cassidy said he hoped the statement would spur the public into making submissions to a public inquiry into the role of the national broadcasters announced by federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy last week.

Mr Cassidy said four-fifths of prime time on SBS was now in English. In a submission to the Federal Government, Save Our SBS says the interruption of programs for advertising, which was introduced in 2007, should be stopped immediately, followed by a ban on advertising.

A spokeswoman for SBS, however, said the balance between English- and foreign-language content had been 50-50 for the past decade. "Save Our SBS is a single-issue lobby group opposed to advertising on SBS, but that decision was made almost 20 years ago and every single dollar of the modest revenue it raises is invested back into content," she said.

"On television, that means programs such as the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking documentary series First Australians can be made, as well as cutting-edge dramas such as The Circuit and East West 101."

She said SBS had made a submission to the Federal Government outlining its plans to expand services to include more foreign-language content, including English-language tuition.

Federation of Ethnic Communities Council chairwoman Voula Messimeri said the council supported SBS' bid for increased funding and a second TV channel with more foreign-language content. "SBS was and remains an essential element by which multiculturalism gets driven in Australia," she said.

Source: The Age

Only losers watch the stupid box anyway.