Friends of the ABC is urging people to respond to the government’s media review, which has recommended changes to cross media ownership and the ABC charter.

Cross-media ownership rules, “which protect what little mainstream media ownership diversity Australia has left,”  will be scrapped according to FABC, which is urging people to comment on the review.

FABC is also concerned that the review will give the government a reason to limit the scope of the ABC and SBS in the sphere of new media. The review says the charters of the ABC and SBS “should be clarified with regard to their digital expansion to give commercial operators certainty about the boundaries of public broadcaster activities,” which FABC says will mean ABC and SBS will be restricted in their online presence, allowing commercial media to dominate the new media sector.

FABC says it is “imperative that the ABC thrives as a strong, independent alternative in a country whose culture and democracy are at risk of being undermined by a dangerously high concentration of mainstream media ownership. It is also imperative that Australia maintains what little mainstream commercial media diversity it has left.”

The group wants the ABC’s charter to be untouched, “to remain broad and encompassing.” It also says cross-media ownership rules should to be strengthened to protect media diversity