ABC Local websites are making it easier for listeners to connect with their community and their ABC Local Radio station with the launch of new-look websites this week.
The new sites deliver more for ABC Local Radio and Online audiences, linking them to coverage of news, sport, weather and emergency information, with special feature stories focussing on the events, places and people that make each region unique. As many as 45 new producers are expected to be employed to service the expanded sites.
Director of ABC Radio Kate Dundas says the new-look sites are engaging and easy to use: “They offer our ABC Radio and online audiences a rich, multimedia experience with enhanced features, podcasts, galleries, video stories, and maps – all the tools to keep connected.”
ABC Local Online is a comprehensive gateway to local coverage, and to the best of ABC Online. Content is drawn from the reports and programs of more than 500 staff working around Australia, gathering and producing the best local stories to keep audiences informed and entertained.
According to Dundas, one of the most useful features is being able to contribute to their local event diary.
“It’s a tremendous resource for community engagement and sharing of information. And then of course there’s the amazing collection of recipes provided by food lovers from right around the country.”
Fifty four new websites spanning the length and breadth of Australia, were launched this week, including three new sites for Esperance, Katherine and Coffs Coast.
Meanwhile, Fairfax CEO Brian McCarthy has criticised the ABC for its website expansion, saying it will compete with regional commercial newspaper sites.
McCarthy says the ABC Open network “has the potential to diminish diversity of opinion and choice for regional communities.”
Fairfax Media-owned Rural Press Ltd publishes about 160 newspapers and magazines across regional Australia, in addition to owning about 63 agriculture titles and 21 radio stations.
McCarthy says these titles play “a very important role in regional Australia… We have worked in these communities over many years to develop strong and important relationships with readers and advertisers… We have done this within the framework of commercial reality.”
A sample of the new look sites (Far North Qld) is below.
