eNewsLetter – 20 November 2007 – General Edition – 1

Save Our SBS, Tuesday, 20 November, 2007

Save Our SBS eNewsLetters

Below is a copy of the Save Our SBS eNewsLetter as per the date given. Other editions posted in the “eNewsLetters” category on this web site. You can also access the eNewsLetters category at  http://eNewsLetter.SaveOurSBS.org

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eNewsLetter  –  20 November 2007  –  General Edition  –  1

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS

Welcome

This is the first Save Our SBS eNewsLetter.

Very occasionally we will issue more Save Our SBS eNewsLetters’ and other emails to keep you informed about issues of importance. These will not be regular events. There is no charge to receive these.

The Coalition to Rebuild Public Broadcasting

Look at this link http://coalition.SaveOurSBS.org now. That is a web page copy of the email from “The Coalition to Rebuild Public Broadcasting” that we sent out last week. Email that link and the web page to your friends. TIP: Visit the web page, then, HIGHLIGHT (Ctrl + A) that entire web page, COPY (Ctrl + C) the page, and, PASTE (Ctrl + V) it into a NEW (Rich Text) EMAIL and Send to your friends. When you’ve done that, click at step 2 half way down the web page to send the pre-worded email to the politicians from yourself. It’s easy Tell you friends too.

Recently Save Our SBS was approached and asked to join forces with the Friends of the ABC (NSW, Qld, Tas, Vic & WA) to form the “The Coalition to Rebuild Public Broadcasting” for a joint campaign. This has now occurred. The purpose is for a specific campaign the centres around the state of neglect of both SBS and the ABC. As both SBS and ABC have been seriously neglected by government and with the advent of SBS continuing to interrupt programs for advertisements, ABC web sites are now threatened with ads and currently there is no legislation to prevent that from occurring. There is more in store unless you act now.

Aside from the joint campaign above, Save Our SBS and Friends of the ABC remain separate organisations independent of each other.

If public broadcasting is to survive, your help is needed.

Please click http://coalition.SaveOurSBS.org now.

Election 2007

If you are wondering what the political party policies are regarding SBS funding and advertising especially you might like to read “What Each Party Will Do With SBS: Election 2007” at https://saveoursbs.org/archives/127.

At time of publication of this Save Our SBS eNewsLetter, the ALP, Greens and Democrats had all written to Save Our SBS stating their SBS policies in relation to the above. Their policies are quite different from that demonstrated by The Liberals & Nationals who, while in government had ample opportunity to tighten legislation to stop advertisement interruptions into programs on SBS. They did not do so. Despite request from Save Our SBS neither the Liberals nor Nationals have emailed us their SBS policies. We can only assume they remain the same as practiced to date while in government.

It is the view of Save Our SBS that the Liberal & National coalition government have not been any friend of SBS nor funded it fully.

We strongly recommend that all people read the SBS party policies at: https://saveoursbs.org/archives/127 before voting on Saturday 24 November. Be informed before you vote.

Petition Update

Separate and in addition to the above campaign, the Save Our SBS “No Advertisements or Sponsorship on SBS” four point petition is still gathering signatures. Tell your friends about this one too.

Click http://petition.saveoursbs.org to read then sign the petition.

Although the petition has not yet been presented to the Minister we know that the Office(s) of the current Minister and Shadow Minister are fully aware of the petition and its contents. Both offices have been in contact with Save Our SBS. The petition will be presented to the Minister when the parliament sits in 2008 .

In the meantime more signatures are needed for the petition to have its full impact. So if you know anyone who has not yet signed and who would agree with the petition, ask them to sign. The more signatures the better. Most importantly help publicise the petition in mainstream and alternative media as much as possible. If you are good at phoning talkback radio or writing letters to the editor please do so as they help a lot.

If you’ve not already done so, read and sign the petition calling for SBS to be fully funded by government, stop the ads on SBS, and install a Board that demonstrates a commitment to multiculturalism without political or commercial influence or interference. Click on the logo or http://petition.saveoursbs.org to read then sign the petition.

 

FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR FRIENDS

Mary Kostakidis

Shortly after the No Ads on SBS petition was launched, long time presenter of World News Australia, Mary Kostakidis, was reported as leaving SBS. She has not been seen on ‘the-box’ since mid August this year.

In the last two months many thousands of people have contacted Save Our SBS about the Kostakidis departure and the current SBS management and their attitude. As a result, in late August / early September 2007, petition numbers grew at a rapid rate.

 

  

SBS viewers do not agree with the commercialisation of SBS nor the interruption into programs for advertisements. Save Our SBS thanks those people who took the time to write to Save Our SBS and sign their name on the No Ads on SBS petition. However many more signatures are needed on the petition to effect any change. Tell your friends.

As far as we know, at the time of publication of this Save Our SBS eNewsLetter, SBS and Kostakidis are still not in agreement. It has been reported that Julian Burnside QC is representing Kostakidis in this matter.

 

Shaun Brown

  

This is the face of the man, who, along with the support of the SBS Board, decided to commercialise SBS. His name is Shaun Brown. He is the Managing Director of SBS. If you are wondering what else Shaun Brown has in mind for the future of SBS and his justification for interrupting programs for ads, read the in-depth editorial “We Don’t Believe You Shaun” – SBS BOSS ADDRESSES THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (29 August 2007) at https://saveoursbs.org/archives/123. Save Our SBS disagrees with the direction that Shaun Brown is taking SBS.

Volunteer Position: “National Spokesperson”

Save Our SBS is currently seeking a National Spokesperson for the organisation. The position is like all positions at Save Our SBS in so far as it is a volunteer position. As such there is no payment.

The Save Our SBS National Spokesperson needs to be able to speak very freely, without fear of losing their own job or other consequences and possibly might be either an academic, have close connections with the ethnic communities and organisations or a high profile person with media experience or a combination of all of the above.

Like all volunteer jobs at Save Our SBS this one is very much a ‘grass-roots’ position. The nature of this volunteer position will evolve as the organisation grows.

If you are interested please click here to email us about this position or otherwise contact us via the Contact Us page on the Save Our SBS web site. Tell us your name, phone numbers and other contact details and outline your experience and why you would like to take on this volunteer position. As we are a volunteer organisation, there will be a delay before a response is sent so please do be patient. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence. Privacy is assured.

Save Our SBS Meeting

A public meeting of Save Our SBS is scheduled to be held in the first part of 2008 in Melbourne. If you are interested in attending and would like further details sent to you closer to that time please click here and add yourself to our meetings mailing list.

Why Save SBS?

In late 2006 SBS-TV began interrupting programs for commercial breaks. This is 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, will affect and has already affected SBS programming. SBS is now losing its unique character as a multicultural broadcaster which was admired around the world. Unless people complain in very large numbers, such as by signing the petition inevitably, the federal government will withdraw further from its responsibility to fund the public broadcaster should SBS continue to run ads.

SBS have given every indication that they intend to step up their pursuit of commercialisation of the broadcaster.

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

Who is Save Our SBS (SOSBS)?

Save Our SBS is a not for profit community organisation. We are not aligned with or beholden to any political party or any such group. We care passionately about public broadcasting and SBS in particular and were formed as a direct result of SBS interrupting programs for advertisements. We are very concerned about the direction that SBS is heading in and the commercialisation of SBS.

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.

www.SaveOurSBS.org

WHY HAVE I RECEIVED THIS EMAIL? WILL I RECEIVE MORE?
You are subscribed to the SaveOurSBS.org email subscription service and you have been sent this email because at some point you made contact with us sent us your name and email address to be part of our subscription service, you may have participated in one of our campaigns, signed a petition organised by us, corresponded with us and we are now sending this as a courtesy email.
Occasionally we will send you information such as the “Save Our SBS eNewsLetter” or other SaveOurSBS.org email updates.
Alternatively a friend or colleague of yours may have forwarded this email to you, not us. If that occurred, please refer to the person who sent this email to you for further details.
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ABOUT SAVE OUR SBS
SaveOurSBS.org was started in January 2007 by a group of loyal viewers of SBS-TV who care passionately about public broadcasting in Australia and SBS in particular. SaveOurSBS.org is a not for profit community organisation.
We are not aligned with any political party, or party political organisation or any such group.
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