The transition from print to the electronics has been made more successfully by journalists than the trip the other way.
Chris Anderson is about to find out whether that holds true for journalism management as well as its practice. The former Fairfax executive has been appointed to the new position as head of Information Services Television at the ABC. He takes up the job in mid-May and will oversee the ABC’s television news, current affairs, international TV service into Asia and eventually pay-TV.
He said this week that the Prime Minister, Paul Keating, was “”absolutely right” with his push into Asia.
“”I’m a great advocate of the region. I used to chip Malcolm Fraser when he was Prime Minister when I was on the üHerald that he should push the role of government into Japan and the tiger economies.
But on how that affected the ABC he wanted to understand first what the resources were and to collect information.
The ABC’s service into Asia through ABC International TV uses an Indonesian satellite and can be picked up throughout the region if you have a dish.
ABC staff have been upset over what they see as a mixing of commercial and free-to-air services. Anderson has reassured staff by saying he has twice resigned over matters of editorial integrity when at üThe Sydney Morning Herald.
In 1988, when Fairfax was coming to terms with new management under Warwick Fairfax’s Tryart, he resigned as editor-in-chief of üThe Sydney Morning Herald over management interference in editorial matters, sparking a three-day journalists’ strike in his support. A week later he was appointed group editorial director on the Fairfax board, a position he retained until resigning six weeks before Fairfax went into receivership in December 1990 after rejecting Anderson’s advice to get more equity in the company.
Since then it has been reported that he was involved in some of the syndicates to purchase Fairfax, and presumably would have had a continuing major role if they had come off, but instead it went to Conrad Black’s bid, leaving Anderson out of the media for a while, working for the recruitment company, Spencer Stuart in Sydney.
But journalism has been his career. He was a copy boy with Sir Frank Packer while putting himself through an economics degree.
“”I’ve been in journalism since I was 17,” he said. “”It’s a big part of your life; it’s hard to give up.
“”I care about journalism; I take it seriously. I like to do it better.”
He said there had been an explosion in the past few years of the product of current affairs and information programs.
“”I think the ABC has got to cater for all the varying constituencies,” he said. “”It is there essentially to cover a whole range of areas that perhaps the commercials are not going to cover.
“”But by and large there is nothing wrong in also making programs that are acceptable to a broad audience.”
In any event ABC news was second rating news with 20 per cent of the audience on many nights. That had been unheard of a few years ago.
The ABC had a charter which caters for its varying constituencies, but there was no reason why it should not also seek audience share. The ABC staff was very professional. did their job very well and therefore attracted the audience.
“”Those things coincide _ the maintenance of quality and audience share,” he said. “”And I have no problem if a lot of people tune in and watch.”
However, he was reluctant to put a more definite view on the ABC’s direction.
“”I’m not by nature a tentative player, but I like to know what I am talking about and I would like to understand a situation before commenting fully,” he said.
The great strength of the ABC was the breadth of its coverage, its credibility, its reliability, its standards and quality. But the ABC had to cover things for other smaller constituencies which the commercials were loath to do because they did not attract ratings.
Anderson’s main success was turning around the decline in üThe Sydney Morning Herald’s@ circulation decline after being appointed editor in 1981 and then editor-in-chief in 1983. Gavin Souter in üHearlds and Angels described how Anderson faced criticism from the board as he, with others, appealed to younger readers. The board thought the paper was losing its loyal older readers, which, of course, it was doing any way for other reasons.
Anderson persevered and the circulation went up.
Souter describes him as a “”consummate editorial administrator; bureaucratic but not to the detriment of journalistic flair and professional skill.”
Anderson, 48, is obviously happy to be back in the media. He says, “”The media is marvellous for its intellectual stimulation and challenge.”