ACAJ criticises cuts to ABC (Nov 2014)

Rural Media South Australia is a member of the peak national body representing rural and regional journalists across Australia - the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ).

ACAJ is saddened and disappointed that rural and regional Australia appears to have been disproportionately hit hardest by cutbacks at the ABC - one of the country's most trusted and respected news organisations.

Recent news of the proposed closure of regional offices, RN's daily Bush Telegraph and weekly state-based TV current affairs programmes the ACAJ believes will have an immediate and detrimental effect on the coverage of important issues outside our major cities .

Cost-pressures on the ABC's News Division have already restricted the access to and reporting of these stories at a time when there have also been drastic cutbacks affecting the rural and regional media more generally.

The ACAJ urges Mark Scott and the ABC Management as well as the Federal Government not to overlook the important role rural and regional journalists play in supporting remote and regional communities. To cut these services is another blow to rural Australia.