SBS TV's Subtitling Unit is about to lose one third of its staff. The subtitlers were at the very heart of SBS when it was set up as a multicultural broadcaster 30 years ago. Its output is regarded by many as equal to the world's best. One staff member said recently, 'if the subtitlers were a football team, they would be regarded as a national treasure and promoted, marketed and funded accordingly. Instead, it will now be the victim of a rationalisation to save a few dollars.'
Of course excellence alone does not justify the cost of maintaining subtitling at SBS. It's perfectly valid for SBS management to jettison its subtitling unit if it determines that SBS is fundamentally no longer a multicultural broadcaster and has its charter amended accordingly. It's up to SBS management to come clean on its current purpose, and to suffer whatever consequences there may be if its stated purpose is not justifiable for a standalone public broadcaster. That could mean abolition, or perhaps being rolled into the ABC.
SBS has carried advertising for around a decade, and it appears that commercial imperatives have taken priority over its original purpose of providing content that reflects and promotes Australia's multicultural society. Most foreign language programs were moved out of prime time to make way for crowd pleasers such as Mythbusters and Top Gear (now lost to Channel 9). The German language Inspector Rex, now in recess, is the only foreign language program considered popular enough for scheduling in prime time.
The architect of the commercialisation of SBS is Shaun Brown who, as head of Television New Zealand, was criticised by then prime minister Helen Clark as being overly driven by ratings. But in a curious and encouraging move last month, he stated to Senate Estimates that he does indeed see an important role for SBS as a multicultural broadcaster. He declared that the reliance of ethnic Australians on overseas foreign media is emerging as a threat to Australia's social cohesion.
He gave the example of last year's violence against Indian students. Many members of the local Indian community bypassed coverage in Australian media outlets, and instead used the internet and satellite television to access the Indian media, which was widely regarded as sensationalist in its treatment of the events.
Brown was obviously doing his job in attempting to secure extra government funding for SBS. But he deserves credit for identifying an important