By Maddison Howell
A protest by just five people against cuts to the ABC’s budget in 1976 sparked a grassroots movement that has since grown into a national network of more than 80,000 supporters.
Recently, ABC Friends has marked its milestone 50th anniversary, half a century of fighting to protect Australia’s public broadcaster, and a special exhibition is displayed in Shepparton through a multimedia exhibition documenting five decades of community advocacy.
This exhibition brings together a collection of campaign materials, vintage stickers, faxes, newsletters and other memorabilia that had been gathering dust in a Melbourne storeroom.
What was nearly lost to time has now become a record of how ordinary Australians have campaigned, lobbied politicians and rallied to defend and affirm the ABC’s place in Australian life.
For Dr Jennifer Bowen, discovering the collection was like uncovering a treasure trove of media history, with the material revealing how the movement has evolved alongside the broadcaster it fights to protect.
“Since 1976, ABC Friends has shown how much the ABC is valued by the community – for its companionship to audiences, its children’s programs, its music, sport and emergency broadcasts, and news that is consistently voted the most trusted in Australia,” Dr Bowen said.
“50 years is a long time, and throughout that time there have been Friends of the ABC groups all across Australia promoting the same set of ideas that the ABC is supporting Australians in many ways.”
“We all have a connection from our childhood to the ABC, it’s something that knits together Australian lives, and that’s worth protecting,” she explained.
Today, ABC Friends says it has more than 80,000 members and supporters across Australia, using social media and other channels to keep the public informed about media policy and the importance of an independent broadcaster.
This exhibition will be available to view at the Goulburn Valley Regional Library from the 1st to the 21st of October.
