Save our SBS Margaret Pomeranz and Quentin Dempster – GetUp!

Read on for a message from former SBS and ABC TV presenter Margaret Pomeranz, and public broadcasting advocate and journalist Quentin Dempster, on what you can do to stop this proposal in its tracks – and click here to sign the petition: www.getup.org.au/saveoursbs

NEVILLE –

The SBS amendment bill was just introduced in Parliament today. This is the bill that, if passed, will see the doubling of ads and commercials breaks on our SBS, effectively turning it into Australia’s fourth fully commercial TV channel.

Why’s this bad? Because the SBS was never intended to be a fully commercial TV channel. Increased advertising will restrict the broadcaster from meeting its Charter obligations. The late Malcolm Fraser and his Coalition Government established the SBS on the back of the Whitlam Labor Government’s initiative, to address a gap in services for an increasingly diverse community. Further commercialisation of our SBS will see the needs of the advertiser put before the needs of the community.

Since putting the call out, more than 47,000 Australians have joined the campaign to protect the integrity of our SBS. Will you add your name to our petition urging the Federal Parliament to reject the further
commercialisation of our SBS? www.getup.org.au/saveoursbs

The introduction of product placement will remove the independence of probing journalism and restrict what presenters may say. Having a product placed on set, within programs will severely diminish the integrity of the SBS, as presenters would be gagged from making any comment that could be perceived to negatively portray the product or associated companies being advertised.

SBS has been home to some of the best Australian content, from quality dramas to world-class movies and documentaries. SBS Radio connects newcomers in an inclusive way, while SBS World News Australia brings us world news that is often neglected by other broadcasters. This is what we love most about our SBS. Sadly, this will all be put at risk if this bill passes.

Putting more advertising on SBS is the Government’s way of removing public funding from its budget. It’s a cut.

Before the last federal election, Prime Minister Abbott went on SBS and promised there would be “no cuts to the ABC or SBS”. Having already broken one of those promises, we’re certainly not going to let him break another and ruin our SBS forever.

We’ll be doing everything we can to get the word out about the damage these changes will cause. However, we’re going to need your help if we’re to demonstrate we have the support of the Australian public. Let our politicians know that we want a strong and robust public broadcaster.

Join us and the Save Our SBS campaign to fight for a non-commercial future for our multicultural broadcaster: www.getup.org.au/saveoursbs

With every good wish,

Margaret Pomeranz and Quentin Dempster

GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you’d like to contribute to help fund GetUp’s work, please donate now! To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here. Our team acknowledges that we meet and work on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and future – and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within Australia and the GetUp community.