Who Are We? Who is Save Our SBS (SOSBS)?

Save Our SBS (SOSBS) was started in January 2007 by a group of loyal viewers of SBS-TV who care passionately about public broadcasting and SBS in particular.

We are members of the public who appreciate the unique and important role which SBS plays as a public broadcaster that has reflected and enriched Australia’s multicultural society.

We operate at a ‘grass roots’ level. No-one is paid and everyone is a volunteer. Our operation depends entirely on the support of active participants.

Although we may choose to work with various peak bodies that have similar aims and interests to ours, we are not aligned with or to any party political organisation or any such group.

What Do We Want? Our Aims?

Statement of Purposes Save Our SBS (SOSBS) defends the independence and integrity of Australia’s multicultural public broadcaster, the Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS). In particular we seek: Adequate funding for the SBS by government; An immediate end to the interruption of programs by non-program-content, followed by the abolition of all advertising on the SBS; Adherence by the SBS to its original purpose as a specialist and distinctive multicultural broadcaster which has meaningful consultation with ethnic communities in particular; An SBS Board appointed on merit and consisting of people with a strong commitment to multiculturalism; and, To work with like minded persons and or organisations in furtherance of this Statement of Purposes.

How Are We Structured

Almost a year after we commenced, Save Our SBS had grown to the point that we needed to formalise our structure.

In early 2008 Save Our SBS became an Incorporated Association under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981. We are strictly a not-for-profit organisation in accordance with the Act, and the Regulations. We adopted the Model Rules and have national registration and as a Registrable Australian Body. There are no shareholders or directors being paid a dividend or the like. At law, that is not allowed. No one is collecting a fee or being paid a wage. No member is benefiting financially from Save Our SBS Inc. Quite the opposite in fact.

Donate To Us

If you would like to help us survive so that we can continue to do the work we commenced, please read the Donate To Us page.

What Happened To SBS?

In late 2006 SBS-TV began interrupting programs for commercial breaks. That was a fundamental departure from its past practice of screening advertisements only between programs. Commercial/promo break interruptions into program are annoying and not natural. These interruptions disregard the viewer experience and destroy the program integrity. Ads and commercial sponsorship are against the spirit to which all public broadcasters should aspire and are not part of the SBS Charter.

SBS is a tax-payer-government funded public broadcaster.

The need to appease advertisers seeking to maximise audiences, has affected SBS programming and resulted in SBS losing its unique character as a multicultural broadcaster admired around the world. Inevitably, future Federal governments will withdraw further from their responsibility to fund the public broadcaster as long as SBS continues to run ads.

The SBS experience has demonstrated that once the commercial foot is in the door, its presence grows.

More than 7000 people signed an on line petition organised by Save Our SBS to protect SBS and stop ads on SBS. We only sought 5000 signatures, Most people heard about us and the petition by word of mouth, email, blogs and a few mainstream media outlets. The petition was handed to the staff of the Minister responsible for SBS, Hon Senator Stephen Conroy in April 2008. The petition  is now closed.

We believe the SBS Board, during the Howard Government’s years and especially in 2006-07, the period when Senator Helen Coonan was then the Minster responsible for SBS, abrogated responsibility to the Australian community by interrupting SBS television programs with commercials and that such undermines SBS’s Charter responsibilities and its programming content.

SBS ought to be properly funded, as it once was, by government. SBS should be independent from government and commercial influence or interference.

A Chronology of Advertising on SBS

You can read a chronology of advertising on SBS by Darce Cassidy at this link: http://saveoursbs.org/archives/194

Web

More information about Save Our SBS is available at: www.SaveOurSBS.org

The URL: www.SaveOurSBS.org.au redirects to www.SaveOurSBS.org which is the official web site of Save Our SBS Inc.

 

SaveOurSBS

 

Save Our SBS is independent from the organisations named below.

 

Friends of the ABC (FABC) http://friendsoftheabc.org OR http://www.fabc.org.au/national supports Australia’s other public broadcaster

Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) http://www.fecca.org.au promotes multiculturalism, community harmony and social justice