Fit to print - part 2

In light of my grumble about the state of news reporting, it's heartening to see that at least internally the media has high standards.

It's no accident that the ABC has picked up a swathe of Walkley Awards, including sweeping the field in both the television and radio categories. I wonder what would happen if the ABC had a daily paper?

All this makes me feel a few things:

a) This primarily makes me glad that we have the ABC as an alternative to commercial media. It's a necessary and important part of our society and culture to have an institution like the ABC around - a media outlet that is not compelled by commercial considerations, but instead relies on a charter to determine its content and success.

b) It goes some way to increasing the legitimacy of the ABC in the face of criticisms of bias.

c) It lends support to the theory that commercial considerations drive media to be more mainstream, through the trend to tell people what they want to know rather than what they need to know.

Finally, congratulations should go to all winners of the Walkleys.