2,086 ABC Friends supporters and members took part in our ABC news and current affairs poll. Your message is clear: you trust the ABC, you value its serious journalism, and you want it funded to do more.
A loyal and engaged audience
Nine in ten respondents (89%) watch ABC news, mostly on TV, with a growing number tuning in through iView, social media and YouTube. A similar share (86%) watch ABC current affairs. Four Corners was the most popular current affairs program, followed by 7.30, Foreign Correspondent and Australian Story.
Bias? Most say no
Six in ten respondents rated ABC News as neutral. The rest were evenly split: 22% saw some right bias and 18% saw some left bias. Results for current affairs were almost identical.
Criticism comes from both sides in near equal measure. That suggests the ABC is, for the most part, adhering its Charter responsibilities and holding power to account without fear or favour.
| Current Affairs | News | |
|---|---|---|
| Left bias | 126 | 121 |
| slight Left bias | 251 | 263 |
| Neutral | 1,276 | 1,242 |
| slight Right bias | 277 | 300 |
| Right bias | 137 | 152 |
Questions: “Do you think ABC News coverage is biased?” and “Do you think ABC current affairs coverage is biased?“
More depth, less crime and sport
When asked what they wanted more of, 52% ranked national politics first and 33% ranked international news first. Local stories also scored strongly.
A recurring theme in the comments was concern that ABC bulletins are drifting towards a commercial style.
“It seems that it needs to compete with the commercial stations. Bring back the ‘old’ ABC that gave us in depth, good quality and fearless reporting.”
Frances
Paul called for more funding for programs like Four Corners and Foreign Correspondent.
“Truth, integrity and investigative journalism are becoming a scarce commodity in a rapidly evolving media landscape”
Paul
Underfunding is showing
Many of the respondents linked these concerns directly to funding.
“Endless recycling of old series and repeats of programs are an obvious symptom of under-funding,”
Clem
“Despite its constraints it manages to do a better job than the commercial channels but the cracks are showing.”
Lisa
And they are right. The ABC now receives just 0.13% of federal budget outlays, down from 0.21% in 2014-15. As funding cuts take their toll, there has been much less investigative reporting and fewer hard-hitting news stories.
What we’re calling for
“It is fundamental to remain free, fair and available to all.”
Meghan
ABC Friends is calling on the federal government to restore $150 million a year to ABC funding, phased in from 2026-27, to deliver more investigative journalism, more original Australian content and stronger regional and international coverage.
We are also calling for all parties and politicians to guarantee to keep the ABC free: no fire sale to commercial interests, no ads, and no subscriptions.
Your responses show what we all value: a fearless, independent ABC that is free for all Australians.
Thank you to all the friends of the ABC who took part.
Note: This poll was conducted among ABC Friends enewsletter subscribers and social media followers. Results reflect the views of respondents only, and may not be representative of the wider Australian audience.