Whose ABC?

On 1 July 1983, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation came into being. It was like and unlike a church, a theatrical company, a newspaper business and, on a drastic view, an asylum run by the inmates. Its singular nature had destined it to be a field of contest ... Whose ABC? is a history of the national broadcaster in recent times. Since becoming a Corporation in 1983, the ABC has been responsible for many programming triumphs - from Four Corners to Kath and Kim, from Radio National to ABC Online. It has seen controversial managing directors come and go, and much boardroom politics. Boards and executives have campaigned - often fruitlessly - for funding, and engaged in conflict with the government of the day. Whose ABC? is a book about the culture and politics of the ABC. It is the product of extensive research, including interviews with a wide range of people, from prime ministers to presenters. Inglis seeks out the truth of events and creates a panorama of the national broadcaster's changing fortunes. Unfailingly readable, this is both an indispensable resource for ABC-watchers and a vivid biography of a treasured Australian institution. Ken Inglis is Emeritus Professor of History at Australian National University. His books include The Stuart Case, This is the ABC, Whose ABC? and Sacred Places, winner of the Age Book of the Year and the NSW Premier's Prize for Australian History in 1999.