New chair Kim Williams wants the ABC to be more like the BBC
The former News Corp Australia and Foxtel chief executive says the national broadcaster should be less inward looking and deliver Australian stories in a global context.
The ABC’s incoming chair, Kim Williams, has outlined aspirations for the national broadcaster to be less inwardly focused and more like its British counterpart, the BBC, an international news juggernaut and exporter of entertainment programming.
Williams will succeed Ita Buttrose in the role when she steps down in March, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the former News Corp Australia and Foxtel chief executive’s formal nomination Wednesday morning.
In an interview with Capital Brief, Williams said to achieve those ambitions the ABC needed to better cast Australian stories in a global context.
“Even though it is often derided and it is subject to the same kind of public flogging the ABC experiences, the BBC still does a pretty good job,” Williams said. “It is an organisation that treats creative and intellectual endeavour as being core to its remit. I think we all need to remember that people now compare things across the whole fabric of the world, not just inside of the domestic Australian context.”
