Since
when has Christian Kerr become the censorial framer of debate at
Crikey? His call yesterday to stop ABC bitchslapping was like John
Howard calling for compassion towards boat people. Crikey’s the best
forum for unrestrained b*tchslapping around. We don’t need Christian
Kerr to tell us to pull our punches. Kerr puts forward some very
important questions to which he would like answers. So would we all,
but those of us more familiar with the workings of the ABC know it may
not be that easy to get them.

If there are formal ratings
targets, very few people would be privy to them, and they wouldn’t be
the kind of people who would reveal all to Crikey, anonymously or
otherwise. If there are people on packages with ratings-linked
performance bonuses, their contracts would be extremely confidential
documents. Only a tiny handful of people would ever see or be aware of
the existence of such paperwork, so it would be a very dangerous thing
to leak.

You have to understand that the middle and upper reaches of ABC management are populated by the type of people who would watch The Office and Yes Minister
and see nothing remarkable. Yes, they’re incompetent but they also
possess the sort of self preservation instincts that would see them
survive Armageddon. They are very good at keeping secrets.
Nevertheless, here’s hoping some brave soul delivers the smoking gun
evidence.

Just don’t lecture us about b*tchslapping, b*tch.