To listen to ABC Radio National can be, admittedly, often frustrating, especially when contrasting its usual mix of programming aimed at affluent middle Australian inner suburban elites with other radio programming from around the world available in Australia and on the internet. Of course, Radio National is certainly several notches above standard commercial radio.
But its standard template seems mainly to consist of not very penetrating federal political gossip and dissection of all political minutiae treated as if all of it is of vital importance, arts and lifestyle programmes. The political programming hovers forever over carbon tax, global warming, boat people and internal Labor and Liberal party factional politics.
Its international roundup fits into predictable stereotypes. This problem can be sketched by choosing just one subject: the US. In ABC Radio National’s eyes, Hollywood is artistic and therefore fascinating and morally authoritative. Film stars are important people because they’re creative, directors even more so because they are intellectuals. The more obscure or shocking the film, if it’s done in the name of art, it must be respectable, courageous. Republicans are suspicious and against the environment, even more so their presidents, Democrats make occasional mistakes but are basically way cool.
If this character sketch is unfair, and it may well be, it is not terribly unfair and therein lies the problem of ABC Radio National. Its often bland programming appears to be a product of blandness in general. The contrast becomes clearer to the average listener when Radio National is contrasted with National Public Radio in the US. NPR, from which Radio National occasionally takes programmes, is regarded as representing the liberal or progressive end of the journalism spectrum, somewhere vaguely on the left of the spectrum of politics. But to listen to NPR is far more often an exercise in exploration of the variety of the world; there is always something interesting just minutes away.
In part, the problem is one of sheer mass. A nation like the US has much more history and a vaster palette of culture and topics from which radio programmes can be created. By contrast, Australia is young and much smaller, encouraging Radio National’s constant gazing at affluent inner suburban navels.
To listen to NPR is to enter into a world of variety where everything is not necessarily the urgent big picture perspective that Radio National seems to make the sole criterion. NPR member stations have the advantage of feeding local content into a national network of affiliated stations so that programmes on the small events of people’s lives or the dramas of daily life are treated as just as interesting and reflective as the big-issue stories, and often more so. Those who listen to podcasts should try listening to programmes such as This American Life and Planet Money, just to pick a couple, to see the remarkable difference between a culture of blandness and a culture of creativity in broadcasting.
Some of the qualitative differences can also be detected by listening to ABC News Radio, a 24 hour news broadcaster established over a decade ago as a broadcaster of parliamentary proceedings in Canberra. Because Parliament only sits a few weeks of the year, much of the rest of News Radio’s annual scheduling is taken from radio stations around the world including from the US, the BBC and the English language service of the German national broadcaster, Radio Deutsche Welle, to name just a few. ABC News Radio, which can be heard in Perth on 585 on the AM dial, is a vastly superior and far more interesting broadcaster than its better known and larger sister, Radio National. It casts its net wider, is interested in more things, provides a more interesting summary of the world and the difference is immediately noticeable. What this adds up to is that it would be quite reasonable to call for a thorough review of Radio National’s approach. It is not, in important ways, at the same standard as the rest of the world.
In Perth a gem of a radio station will be holding its annual Radiothon. 98.5 Sonshine FM is the only Christian station in WA and one of the few that can be listened to (apart from ABC Classic FM) without being subjected to endless crudity, ridicule of others and coarseness. Its mix of contemporary pop, often infused with very good music inspired by the Christian faith, is an oasis in Perth. Other radio stations are often trashy and coarse; a family can turn on Sonshine FM without fear and enjoy it. For decades, it has filled an important role in Perth life and has survived and prospered with the support of its considerable listening audience. The Radiothon will air from 12-18 November and it is one event in the year certainly well worth supporting.