ABC News (Australia)

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  ABC News, the news division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, once had its entire daily schedule dictated by an American general. After the United States entered the Second World War on the 7th of December 1941, General Douglas MacArthur set up his headquarters in Australia. He used his wartime authority to order every Australian radio station, from the ABC to its commercial rivals, to broadcast only three news bulletins a day. Those bulletins had to run simultaneously at 7:45 in the morning, at midday, and at 7:00 in the evening. Even weather forecasts were banned, on the theory that they might help the enemy.

  That level of control sits oddly next to the ABC News of today, a division that runs a 24 hour television channel, a dedicated news radio station, and a website reaching millions of people each month. How did a broadcaster once forced to synchronise its bulletins with its commercial competitors win the independence to report freely? Who has steered the division through the decades since, and what does its on-air sound and look reveal about how it has changed?

• 2. One Division, Many Platforms

  ›

  Under the ABC News banner sits a 24 hour television channel, first launched as ABC News 24 and now called simply ABC News Channel, alongside a dedicated news radio station, ABC NewsRadio. The division is responsible for all news gathering and production across the ABC's television, radio and online platforms, both nationally under the ABC News name and across the Asia-Pacific under the ABC Australia title.

  Its online arm includes written reports and video, a mobile app called ABC Listen that also carries podcasts, and every ABC News television program available on demand through ABC iview. The ABC News website is organised into sections covering sport, health, science, arts and culture, fact checking and the environment, alongside news published in languages other than English.

  By 2018, that online reach was estimated at about 4.8 million people in Australia every month, a scale built from decades of change in who ran the division and how it sounded and looked on air.

• 3. A Voice Under Control

  ›

  When ABC News began broadcasting in 1932, its radio service pieced together stories from cable dispatches out of London, from its own bureaus across Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific, and from local Australian newspapers, much as commercial radio stations did.

  The ABC's odd 7:45 am bulletin owed its timing to a commercial restriction, not a wartime one. Its original news deal with newspapers required that broadcasts not go to air earlier, protecting newspaper sales. Government notices later banned radio stations from broadcasting some major wartime events entirely. The federal government held less power over newspapers than over radio, so newspapers often reported stories that radio was forbidden to mention. That 7:45 am bulletin survived on ABC Local Radio until the 19th of September 2020, when it was cancelled to save costs.

  After years of negotiation with the Australian Government, ABC News launched its first fully independent news bulletin on the 1st of June 1947. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 later wrote that independence into law, requiring the ABC to maintain a news and information service both inside Australia and for audiences beyond its borders. That legislated independence set the stage for decades of turnover in who would run the division, and how it would present itself.

• 4. A Revolving Door Of Directors

  ›

  In 2004, the division was known as the News and Current Affairs Division, and John Cameron took over as its director from Max Uechtritz. The 2008-2009 financial year brought expanded international news programming, continuous news coverage across platforms, new programs, and a range of senior appointments. Kate Torney became director of the News Division in April 2009.

  In November 2014, a funding cut spread over the following five years forced the ABC to shed about 10 percent of its total staff, roughly 400 people. Regional and local programming lost ground to national programs, and the Adelaide television production studio closed, apart from its news and current affairs section. Gaven Morris was appointed Director of the News Division in late 2015.

  On the 10th of April 2017, ABC News adopted a new visual identity. ABC News 24 and ABC NewsRadio were both rebranded simply as ABC News, and their previously separate social media accounts were merged into one. The director's title changed again, to Director, News, Analysis and Investigations, in 2017-2018, with Morris still in the role. That same financial year, the ABC launched a program called Regional Connecting Communities, funding extra jobs in the regions and more resources for local news, weather and live reporting.

  Justin Stevens was appointed director of the division, now named ABC News, Analysis and Investigations, on the 31st of March 2022. Media executive and producer Kimberly Lynton Williams AM, known as Kim Williams, was appointed chair of ABC News on the 7th of March 2024, a term expected to run until the 6th of March 2029. On the 21st of August 2024, ABC News underwent a multi-platform rebrand. The website gained more personalisation features and video content, alongside a new logo. Its on-air imaging adopted an electric blue colour scheme and elements drawn from the ABC's lissajous logo.

  In March 2026, ABC staff held a one-day strike over pay and working conditions, the first walkout at the broadcaster in 20 years. Two months later, on the 28th of May 2026, Simon Robinson was appointed director of the division.

• 5. A Theme That Outlasted Decades

  ›

  From ABC television's earliest days in November 1956 until 1985, every bulletin opened with 'Majestic Fanfare,' composed by Charles Williams. From 1956 until the early 1980s, the version used was an abridged recording performed by the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra, taken from a session recorded in 1943. Each bulletin originally opened with footage from the day's top story, with the words 'ABC News' superimposed over the picture; that approach later gave way to a generic graphic title sequence.

  In 1982, to mark the ABC's 50th anniversary, a new version of the fanfare was commissioned, blending the original orchestration with new electronic elements. For about a year in the mid 1980s, the fanfare was set aside for a synthesised theme called Best Endeavours. It was written by Alan Hawkshaw, who had also composed the theme for Channel 4 News in the United Kingdom. A reworked version of Majestic Fanfare, with the original orchestration raised by one tone, was arranged by Richard Mills and recorded by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1988. It stayed on radio until August that year, even though it had already left television back in early 1985.

  From 1985, a new theme composed by Tony Ansell and Peter Wall took over, and it lasted 20 years, surviving even a 1998 brand refresh. In 2010, the group Pendulum sampled and remixed it, and the resulting track reached number 11 on the Triple J Hottest 100 chart on Australia Day 2011.

  The Ansell and Wall theme was replaced on Australia Day 2005 by a piece written by Martin Armiger and John Gray. For a couple of years, its opening notes closely resembled the earlier Ansell and Wall work, prompting Peter Wall to challenge the ABC. Wall reached an agreement with the broadcaster. The disputed opening notes were removed, and the piece was re-arranged in 2010. Armiger also remixed the 2005-2010 theme into a more upbeat, synthesised version.

  In August 2024, the Ansell and Wall theme returned in an updated form as part of the wider ABC News rebrand. David McDonald remastered it from the original multi-track studio recording and rerecorded its piccolo part. He also layered in samples of a children's drumkit, the same one he had originally bought for his daughter, to give the fanfare a bassier low end.

• 6. On Screen, On Air

  ›

  On the 4th of March 1985, ABC restructured its television news entirely. The 7 o'clock bulletin merged with the current affairs program Nationwide to create a single program called The National, which moved to a 6:30 pm timeslot. The National was judged unsuccessful, and on the 9th of December 1985, less than a year later, the news returned with a new set and new graphics.

  In 1998, the set was updated again, with a new opener featuring a light blue globe and the ABC logo, and matching new graphics. On Australia Day 2005, the look changed once more, adopting an orange and blue globe motif with an overhauled set and graphics. That package lasted until the 21st of July 2010, the day before ABC News launched its rolling news channel.

  In January 2010, the ABC announced a dedicated 24 hour digital television news channel, to be named ABC News 24. The channel began preliminary broadcasting with a promotional loop in early July that year. At the same time, the ABC renumbered its existing ABC HD channel from 20 to the logical channel number 24. ABC News 24 officially launched at 7:30 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on the 22nd of July 2010, simulcasting its first hour of transmission on ABC1.

  With that launch, every 7 pm bulletin around the country received a graphics overhaul to match. The old blue and orange globe opener gave way to sliding panels showing images specific to each state, and new studio sets were built in every capital city to match the new ABC News 24 look. Those new studios, raised city by city, anchored a network that would soon stretch across every state and onto radio besides.

• 7. Across The Country

  ›

  Every weeknight, Alan Kohler presents a national financial bulletin from Melbourne, one strand among many in the division's daily schedule. From the ABC's Ultimo studios in Sydney, Joe O'Brien presents an 8:30 pm weeknight update.

  News Breakfast airs on weekdays from 6 am to 9 am on ABC TV and the ABC News channel, broadcast from the ABC's Melbourne studio. James Glenday and Bridget Brennan present it, with Emma Rebellato reading the news, Catherine Murphy on sport and Nate Byrne on weather. The program also streams online and airs on ABC Australia across the Asia-Pacific. On weekends, Weekend Breakfast runs from 7 am to 11 am from the ABC's main national news studio at Ultimo. Johanna Nicholson and Fauziah Ibrahim present that program.

  ABC News at Noon launched in February 2005, replacing a program called Midday News and Business. That program had itself followed the long-running World at Noon. Ros Childs presents ABC News at Noon on weekdays and Melissa Mackay on weekends, from the Ultimo studio, airing at midday across every state and territory. Western Australia gets a separate edition, produced two to three hours later, because the standard delay was judged too long to stay current.

  Sarah Ferguson presents 7.30 from the ABC's Parramatta studio in Sydney, Monday to Thursday at 7:30 pm. A major state political story can still bump it in favour of a local edition. Michael Tetlow presents ABC Late News from Perth, Monday to Friday at 10:30 pm eastern time. A separate Western Australian edition airs at 10:30 pm western time and later repeats on the ABC News channel; Tetlow also later hosts 15 minute News Overnight bulletins.

  The ABC also runs a wide slate of national current affairs programs, among them Insiders, Four Corners, Q&A, Landline, Australian Story, Foreign Correspondent and Media Watch. State by state, the division runs its own bulletins too. New South Wales broadcasts from the Parramatta studio with Jeremy Fernandez. Queensland broadcasts from Brisbane's South Bank with Jessica van Vonderen. South Australia broadcasts from the Collinswood studio with Jessica Harmsen. Tasmania broadcasts from Hobart with Guy Stayner. Victoria broadcasts from Southbank with Tamara Oudyn. Western Australia broadcasts from East Perth with Pamela Medlen. ABC Australia, the channel broadcast to the region beyond Australia's borders, carries a version of this same current affairs lineup internationally.

  On radio, ABC NewsRadio runs national bulletins on the hour and half hour, with rolling coverage filling the rest of each hour. Outside peak times, it carries partner content from the BBC World Service, NPR and Deutsche Welle. Radio Australia covers the Asia-Pacific with regular bulletins produced in Melbourne, drawing on reports from foreign correspondents based in the region.

  Three current affairs programs anchor ABC radio's schedule. AM airs in three editions. A 10 minute edition runs at 6:05 am on ABC Local Radio. A 20 minute edition follows at 7:10 am on Radio National. The flagship 30 minute edition airs at 8 am, also on Local Radio. The World Today runs a single 30 minute edition at 12:10 pm on Local Radio and Radio National. PM airs a 30 minute edition at 5 pm on Radio National, plus a flagship 30 minute edition at 6:30 pm on Local Radio. Julian Morrow hosts Sunday Extra, which folds in two older programs, Background Briefing and Ockham's Razor, and replaced a program called Correspondents Report.

  The old flagship 7:45 am state bulletin had begun in 1939. In its final years, it was the only bulletin introduced by an 18 second version of Majestic Fanfare, while every other bulletin used a shorter, 9 second version. That same reporting operation, spanning television, radio and online publishing, also earns ABC News recognition across the industry each year.

• 8. Recognition

  ›

  In March 2024, ABC News won the 2023 Gold Lizzie for Best Title at the IT Journalism Awards, a shared honour between ABC News Story Lab and ABC Radio. The division also won Best Gaming Coverage and Best News Coverage that year.

  Best News Coverage went to three stories about data breaches affecting Australians, beginning with 'See your identity pieced together from stolen data,' written by Julian Fell, Ben Spraggon and Matt Liddy. Julian Fell also wrote 'Why the FBI calls this Gold Coast man when it finds a trove of stolen data,' with photography by Tim Leslie. The third, 'This is the most detailed portrait yet of data breaches in Australia,' was written by Julian Fell, Georgina Piper and Matt Liddy.

  Matt Liddy is credited on two of those three winning stories, alongside Ben Spraggon, Georgina Piper and photographer Tim Leslie. All three stories carried Julian Fell's byline, work that became the division's most awarded of 2023.