Radio Station 2SER FM has decided to “abolish” the staff position which oversees talk and current affairs programming.
The non profit university station says it has to make cutbacks due to a budget shortfall but a large number of the stations volunteers are strongly opposing the move.
Volunteers have formed a new group to fight the move and say the stations 19 specialist talk programs will suffer or disappear if the decision goes ahead.
A spokesperson for “Save 2SER Talks” said “With no Talks Co-ordinator present in the newsroom, there will be an immediate and noticeable drop in the quality of our talks content.
2SER has forged a strong reputation as a bastion for thought-provoking journalistic content, broadcast throughout Sydney as well as nationally, via award-winning programs such as The Wire.
The cuts are being directed solely towards the news and current affairs side of the station, with no cuts planned to other paid positions or departments.
“2SER provides an increasingly rare and independent voice within Sydney’s media,”
“With this decision, management are effectively saying that news and current affairs journalism has been relegated to a second-string priority at 2SER.”
Several high profile ABC journalists are backing the campaign and are lobbying the joint owners, UTS and Macquarie University to reconsider the move.
More info: http://www.facebook.com/save2sertalks