In September Russell Balding, managing director of the ABC, released details of research conducted by Newspoll to gauge community support for the ABC.

‘This research provides a confirmation that audiences are continuing to enjoy the ABC and they consider that it provides quality content that is distinctively Australian while doing a good job in fulfilling its Charter obligations.’

The survey found that:

• 89% of Australians believe the ABC provides a valuable service to the community.
• The percentage of Australians who believed the ABC does a good job of being efficient and well managed increased from 61 to 68% from the previous survey.
•  82% of Australians believe the ABC does a good job of being distinctively Australian and contributing to Australia's identity.
• Consistent with 2002, 89% of the ABC website users believe it provides good quality information, and the proportion who believe it is ‘very good’ is up from 32 to 38%.
• Many more Australians (76%) believe the ABC does a good job covering country/ regional issues than believe this about commercial media (42%).

The issue of being balanced and even handed was explored more specifically in relation to the 7pm News, 7.30 Report, The World Today, AM and PM. As found in the 2002 survey, the vast majority (ranging from 85-93%) of viewers or listeners believe each program does a good job of being balanced and even handed.

On the other hand - Shock jocks undisturbed bias