ABC News (Australia)

ABC News
Division of: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Founded: 1956
Headquarters: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Area served: Worldwide
Broadcast programs: ABC News Breakfast
The Midday Report
7.30
Lateline
Lateline Business
Insiders
Four Corners
Behind the News
Q&A
Catalyst
Landline
Offsiders
Art Nation
Business Today
One Plus One
Afternoon Live
Contact Sport
The Drum
The Quarters
The World
Newsline
State to State
Capital Hill
Parent: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: ABC News website

ABC News is a national news service produced by the News and Current Affairs division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - the division is responsible for all newsgathering and production of news output for ABC television, radio and online services. Although the ABC is owned and funded by the Australian Government, the editorial independence of the ABC is ensured through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act (Cwlth) 1983 .[1]

The flagship radio news programs, AM, The World Today and PM are broadcast over various ABC radio outlets. The division also produces ABC NewsRadio, Australia's only 24-hour continuous news radio channel, as well as producing hourly radio news bulletins and programmes on ABC Local Radio, ABC Radio National, ABC Classic FM and Triple J, and Australia's only free-to-air 24 hour news channel, ABC News 24.

Contents

Television

ABC television news bulletins are broadcast throughout the day - including the flagship nightly 7pm state-based bulletins. Bulletins focus strongly on issues of state relevance, with a greater inclusion of national and international news items than are found in the news bulletins of commercial broadcasters.

National bulletins

ABC News Breakfast

Presented from the ABC's Melbourne studios, ABC News Breakfast is broadcast each weekday from 6am - 9am on ABC1 and ABC News 24, presented by Virginia Trioli and Michael Rowland, with sports presenter Paul Kennedy and weather presenter Vanessa O'Hanlon. The programme is also shown online and on the ABC's Australia Network in the Asia Pacific region.

9am News

Presented from the ABC's Melbourne studios, ABC News is broadcast each weekday from 9am - 9.30am on ABC1 and ABC News 24. The bulletin is presented by either Virginia Trioli or Michael Rowland, with sports presenter Paul Kennedy and weather presenter Vanessa O'Hanlon. The bulletin began airing on ABC1 when ABC News Breakfast moved from ABC2 in 2011.

The Midday Report

Currently referred to on television as ABC News due to being broadcast live in differentiating time zones on ABC News 24.

The Midday Report is presented by Ros Childs from the ABC's main national news studios at Ultimo, and airs on ABC1 in each Australian state at midday in the local time zone and on ABC News 24 at midday Australian Eastern Standard/Daylight Time. A separate edition of the bulletin is produced for Western Australia two to three hours after the original broadcast, as the time delay was deemed too long to remain up-to-date. Both versions air on ABC News 24.

The bulletin was launched in February 2005 to replace the less successful Midday News and Business, preceded in turn by the long-running World at Noon. The Midday Report features a daily financial report presented by a rotating team of reporters including Sue Lannin, Alicia Barry, Nicole Chettle, Di Bain, Simon Palan, Rebecca Hyam, Michael Janda and Lexi Metherell.

Brigid Glanville, Nicole Chettle, Deborah Rice and Tracy Kirkland are the main fill in news presenters for the Midday Report.

ABC News for Australia Network

Regular dedicated news bulletins are produced and broadcast for Australia Network in the Asia Pacific region. Bulletins are presented from Melbourne by Beverley O'Connor and feature reports from ABC correspondents based in and around the area.

News Updates

National news updates are presented on ABC1 throughout the day with evening updates presented live in most states by the respective state news presenters. The ABC's Melbourne studios produces the 8.30pm weekday update for both Victoria and New South Wales. National updates are also available on demand via ABC News Online.

State bulletins

ABC News' flagship 7pm bulletin is produced and presented every night from the capital city of each state & territory and features a national financial bulletin presented on weeknights by Alan Kohler in Melbourne.

Canberra

ABC News Canberra is presented from the ABC's Dickson studios by Virginia Hausegger on weeknights. Weekend bulletins are presented by Craig Allen with sports presenter Chris Kimball. Weekday weather forecasts are presented by Mark Carmody.

New South Wales

ABC News New South Wales is presented from the ABC's Ultimo studios by Juanita Phillips on weeknights and Felicity Davey on weekends. Weekday weather forecasts are presented by Graham Creed. The regular fill-in presenters for the 7pm bulletin are Deborah Rice and Jeremy Fernandez.

The Sydney bulletin was first presented in 1956 by veteran newsreader James Dibble until June 1983 when he was replaced by Richard Morecroft - who remained as presenter for the next two decades[2].

Northern Territory

ABC News Northern Territory is presented from ABC Northern's Darwin studios by Claire Mackay during the week and Louisa Rebgetz on weekends. Fill-in presenters for the 7pm bulletin include Eleni Roussos and Iskhandar Razak.

Queensland

ABC News Queensland is presented from the ABC studio at Network Ten's Mount Coot-tha facilities by David Curnow on weeknights and Anne Kruger at weekends. Weekday weather forecasts are presented by Jenny Woodward.

South Australia

ABC News South Australia is presented from the ABC's Collinswood studios by Jessica Harmsen (née Schacht) on weeknights and Anita Savage on weekends. Weekend bulletins feature local sport bulletins presented by Neil Cross.

Previous presenters of the Adelaide-based bulletin have included Dominique Schwartz, Michael Smyth, Jane Doyle, Clive Hale, Kelly Nestor, Rebecca Morse, Glenn Taylor, Maxine McKew, Virginia Hausegger, Janice Peterson and John Lombard.

Tasmania

ABC News Tasmania is presented from the ABC's Hobart studios by Peter Gee on weeknights and Angela Ross on weekends. Weekday weather forecasts are presented by Simon McCulloch.

Victoria

ABC News Victoria is presented from ABC Victoria's Southbank studios by Ian Henderson on weeknights and Tamara Oudyn on weekends. Weekday weather forecasts are presented by Paul Higgins.

Western Australia

ABC News Western Australia is presented from ABC WA's East Perth studios by James McHale on weeknights and Pamela Medlen on weekends. Trevor Jenkins presents sports news on weekends.

Presentation

1956

The news theme used from 1956 to 1985 was "Majestic Fanfare", composed by Charles Williams. From 1956 until the early '80s the version used was abridged version performed by the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra, from a recording made in 1943. Each bulletin opened with a clip from the top story of the day, with the title "ABC News" superimposed over the footage. Later, this onscreen approach was replaced by a generic graphic title sequence. In 1982, to celebrate the ABC's 50th anniversary, a new version of the theme was commissioned, which incorporated both orchestral and new electronic elements. With the exception of a period in the mid-'80s, during which a synthesised theme was used for 12 months or so, this was used on radio until August 1988, and on television until early 1985. A reworking (up one tone)of "Majestic Fanfare" was arranged by Richard Mills and recorded in 1988 by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

The 1988 orchestration is still used exclusively for ABC's radio news bulletins across all stations, except Triple J, which uses a 1991 remix of the original "Majestic Fanfare", and NewsRadio, which has always used specially-composed themes since its inception. The original theme package was written by Peter Wall and Tony Ansell.

1985

The ABC refreshed its structure and look in 1985 when the 7 o'clock news and the following current affairs programme (at that time, Nationwide) were combined to form ABC National (usually known as "The National"). The news theme used was "Best Endeavours", written by Alan Hawkshaw. This piece of music was at that time, and is still, the theme for Channel 4 News in the UK.

1985 - 1997

After The National was deemed unsuccessful, that same year the news was refreshed again with a new set, graphics, and theme, composed by Tony Ansell & Peter Wall (www.wallmedia.com.au). This theme was used for almost 20 years, even after the refresh in 1997. In 2010, it was sampled and remixed by the group Pendulum and this revised work went on to be placed #11 on the Triple J Hottest 100 chart on Australia Day 2011.

1997 - 2005

In 1997, the set was updated, a new opener featuring a light blue globe and the ABC logo was introduced, and the theme remained the same but was tweaked. The graphics also changed to match the new look.

2005 - 2010

The theme for ABC News changed on Australia Day (26 January) 2005, and was written by Martin Armiger and John Gray and for a couple of years bore a resemblance to the original Peter Wall / Tony Ansell work in the opening signature notes. Wall challenged the ABC and was successful in reaching an agreement. The opening notes were removed and the work was re-arranged in 2010. The new look made use of an orange and blue globe motif. At the same time the set and graphics received a major overhaul to fit in with this look. This package was used until 21 July 2010[3]

2010 - present

With the launch of ABC News 24 on 22 July, all 7pm bulletins across Australia had a graphics overhaul to match the look of ABC News 24. The opener replaces the blue/orange globe style with a series of sliding panels, featuring images specific to each state. The theme from the 2005-2010 era was remixed by Martin Armiger, its composer, giving it a more upbeat, synthesised feel. The same sets have been retained from the 2005-2010 package until new ones can be built to match the ABC News 24 set, however the graphics have changed to match the "sliding panels" look and are more akin to the feel of ABC News 24.

ABC News 24

In January 2010, the ABC announced that a dedicated 24-hour digital television news channel, named ABC News 24 would be launched during the year.[4]

The new channel commenced preliminary broadcasting with a promo loop in early July 2010, with the ABC re-numbering ABC HD channel 20 to logical channel number 24.

The ABC News 24 channel was officially launched at 7.30PM Australian Eastern Standard Time on 22 July 2010 and simulcast its first hour of transmission with ABC1.[5] The news channel utilises the ABC's existing resources including more than 1000 journalists in 60 newsrooms across Australia along with 12 foreign bureaux.

Radio

ABC radio news bulletins are broadcast throughout the day - including the flagship state-based bulletins. Bulletins focus strongly on issues of state relevance, but also feature more national and international news stories.

National bulletins

The main national bulletins are broadcast on ABC Radio National and ABC Classic FM on the hour, 24 hours a day. In addition, the national youth station Triple J airs its own bulletins from 6am to 6pm on weekdays and from 7am to midday at the weekends.

State bulletins

Statewide bulletins air from the capital city of each state and territory throughout the day on ABC Local Radio, incorporating national financial bulletins from Sydney. National bulletins air on ABC Local Radio at all other times.

See also

References

External links