Tony Abbott-era funding cuts return to strike another blow to the ABC

Extract from The Guardian

Amanda Meade

Finance journalists left reeling after the ABC drops wire service subscriptions, and the latest Holt Street shuffle sees Sharri Markson en route to Canberra

The former prime minister Tony Abbott cut funding to the ABC by $254m in 2014, and the public broadcaster is still trying to find ways to make savings in its budget. Photograph: Andrew Taylor/AAP

Friday 30 September 2016 04.30 AEST 

The ABC is still trying to find savings in its budget after Tony Abbott’s government cut funding by $254m in 2014, forcing the public broadcaster to find staggered savings over three years. First the transcription service was cut, now ABC journalists’ access to wire services is being severely limited. ABC News is dropping several of the wire services it has previously subscribed to, including sports provider SNTV, Getty Images, Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse. It is expected to hit the finance journalists the hardest as they have previously relied on both Bloomberg and Reuters Eikon, which enabled them to take a wider view.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance told Weekly Beast they were disappointed there had been no consultation with staff who would have to bear the brunt of the cuts. The ABC declined to comment.

Sharri Markson heads to the press gallery

The federal parliamentary press gallery is about to get a rather colourful addition to its ranks in the form of Sydney journalist Sharri Markson, who famously went undercover as a university student in 2014 to reveal that universities were indoctrinating students to be biased against News Corp which routinely used its position to wield political power. Who knew?

Sharri Markson has been appointed the national political editor at the Daily Telegraph. Photograph: ABC News 24

Markson executed this breathtaking scoop while editor of the Australian’s Media section, a role which ended late last year before she moved on to become a senior writer on the paper. In a surprising career move, Markson is set to take on the nation’s politicians in her new role as national political editor at the Daily Telegraph.
“This is a return to covering federal politics for Sharri, having previously been Canberra correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph,” the Tele announced. “She has also held senior editorial roles including chief of staff for the Sunday Telegraph and editor of Cleo.”
Markson’s defection to the Telegraph has been on the cards since former Courier Mail editor Chris Dore arrived to run the Telegraph as the two have been close in the past. But Markson’s new gig at the Tele will not be welcomed by at least one veteran journalist. Gossip writer Annette Sharp and Markson have been openly feuding for years. Sharp once described Markson as “a woman whose talent for chasing stories is possibly eclipsed only by her ambition” and Markson has returned fire by publishing an email in which the Tele asked photo agencies for “scruffy/too casual/not sexy/bad” photos of Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage for Sharp’s story.

Holt Street shuffle

But wait, there’s more. When editors move on to other publications their favourite writers usually aren’t far behind, as we’ve seen in the case of Markson and Dore. Now that former Daily Telegraph editor Paul “Boris” Whittaker is firmly in control at the Australian and his faithful Tele scribe Gemma Jones has moved to become the Oz’s chief of staff, another staffer has also made the switch. Simon Benson, who has made quite a name for himself as the the Daily Telegraph’s chief political reporter, is joining the Oz bureau in coming months as national affairs editor.

Brothers in arms

Chris Dore kept it all in the family on Thursday when he published an op-ed about the funding for independent schools, written by his little brother Alex Dore. The younger Dore, who is president of the NSW Young Liberals, revealed quite a lot about how the Dores managed to send young Alex to a private school: “Mum started a business with her hands despite agonising rheumatoid arthritis; dad went overseas to work so he could pay our fees, they forewent holidays, rarely socialised with friends, and went without luxuries such as expensive cars or clothes.”

Twitter gremlins unleashed at Australian Women’s Weekly

The Australian Women’s Weekly might be good at selling magazines (it is still the No 1 magazine in Australia), but its social media form has been a little odd recently. The Twitter account for the Bauer-owned publication has been sending out bizarre tweets with no context like: “Baby born without eyes”; “Did a meteor hit Queensland last night?”; “It took 826 days but ‘recovery is possible’”; “Children who go to bed after 9pm are at risk of being obese” and “Good parenting or global kid shaming?”.