ABC Mark Scott

Now I have never met Mark Scott - and it's not very often that I am in violent agreement with him. I see him as a wishy washy bureaucrat who has perfected the art of accommodating the vested interests. And that is why he is at the ABC. And that is the problem. Where is the passion?

And my perception is confirmed by the reading of the first 90% of this missive.

But the final few paragraphs made me rethink. This is what he said.

"The ABC hosted Jay Rosen for a day while he was recently in Australia. He is always good value on the role of social media and the nature of political journalism - in some ways quite a contrarian – and full of encouragement about things we could do better.

He had two suggestions for the ABC, which we are exploring and will likely pursue.

The first is to provide more background, detail and context for members of our audience who are coming fresh to complex stories: like an ETS, or the NBN, or the operations of a hung parliament. The ABC has a role as a patient explainer of these complexities, to help people catch up with the conversation, understand what is being said and to make a contribution if they wish. It plays nicely to our Charter role to provide an educational service to the community. It makes policy more accessible and can bring important issues into the mainstream.

And Rosen said we should plan more thoroughly and consult more widely around what national issues are at play in an election campaign. Long before the campaign starts, talk with the community, engage with experts, undertake polling, think about national challenges: the immediate and the far-reaching.

And then articulate that agenda – let the political leaders know that we will be doing stories on these things, asking questions, seeking policy responses and political insights to them. And if the politicians will not engage, devote space to these issues anyway, using experts, finding divergent voices, doing real investigations.

It would not be the ABC’s agenda, it would be an agenda framed by the audiences we engage with – and the voters who fund us – from all around the nation.

Perhaps it would at least be a way of countering tightly scripted politicians, who want policy discussions only on the day and terms they – not the public or the journalists – have set".

Absolutely - we ARE in violent agreement.

Lets see how it translates into actual content - please don't disappoint me Mr Scott.