It’s always sad leaving somewhere you love, but for journalist Sarah Ferguson, leaving Washington DC during the January 6 hearings – one of the biggest stories of our age – is particularly difficult
. Fortunately, though, she is coming home, “always a wonderful thing”.
In stark contrast, Australia’s federal election in May was almost textbook-perfect in its adherence to proper democratic principles. Watching from afar, with husband Tony Jones, formerly of, the lead-up was challenging for Ferguson. “It wasn’t easy because I kept seeing flashes and reminders of what was happening here, versions of it – more hyper-partisan language, more ad hominem attacks, more assaults on the truth … that idea that we don’t have shared facts,” she says.
That notion was underpinned by the assumption viewers or listeners would zone out if pushed for lengthy periods. Ferguson says it’s the opposite, that audiences have a lot of tolerance for listening to people talk. “People still find it really fascinating if it’s well done, if it’s really engaging. I think we’ve misunderstood the audience’s attention span and panicked at the thought that an audience can’t sit through a long interview.
On the eve of the ABC’s 90th anniversary, Ferguson says while it’s not perfect, the national broadcaster is a place of creativity and brilliance and that it creates “this wonderful intellectual space that belongs to everyone in Australia”. The ABC is about true public service; it should be witty, sharp and smart, she says. “It should always be a little bit rebellious, a little bit cutting edge, reaching for the boundary of human expression in art and journalism.
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