Turtle pulling its head in

Dear loyal readers,

I'm pulling the Turtle's head in -- closing this site down -- for the following reasons:

Firstly, the ABC is coming under too much governmental and right-wing attack. See this article and all these. I would hate to do anything to give ammunition to these iconoclasts, ideologues and philistines who are out to privatise and destroy one of the world's greatest media institutions.

Secondly, my workload is too great and I'm consolidating. As Thoreau wrote, "Simplify! Simplify!" Any ABC-related material as it occurs will now be at my main blog, Wilson's Blogmanac. I invite you to subscribe to that for free.

Thirdly, since Turtles started, there has been a marked improvement as to the repetition of programs. Early on in this blog, I bemoaned the fact that Radio National programs were endlessly repeated, and I suggested that listeners would prefer something from the vaults rather than repeats of what we heard the day before. RN is trying, it seems. For example, at 5.30 AM we are getting some pretty good old British comedy such as 'My Word', 'The Goons' and my favourites, 'Just a Minute' and Sunday morning's 'I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue', which is a lot better than what we were getting before.

As a closing remark, I would hope that my criticisms over the past 20 months will not go unheeded. The ABC does need some attention in the matters I've raised. The standards of journalism and the use of our beautiful language have declined markedly over recent years, and if the ABC is to defend itself against te aforementioned enemies, it would do well to get its act together. Not a day passes without primary school errors being foisted upon Radio National listeners, and that simply is not good enough.

So, the time has come to leave this blog here as an archive, and I bid you happy travelling. Thank you for your supportive comments since I began 'Turtles All the Way Down'. I hope you enjoyed your time here, as I did.

Abundance and gratitude,

Pip Wilson

Tagged: scose, abc, australia, australian, english, language, radio, grammar, spelling, pronunciation, journalism, radio+national

Towards the English language

Does ABC News employ a proofreader? If not, it should consider doing so.

'Toward' does not have the same meaning as 'towards' (at least, outside the USA) and 'to summons' does not mean the same as 'to summon'. Use a dictionary, please. Too easy.

While we're at it, 'Bathurst' is not pronounced 'BathURST', but 'Bath'st', and 'employer' is pronounced with the second syllable stressed, not 'employ-ERR'. All of the above primary school errors are frequently heard on ABC Radio National.

Tagged: scose, abc, australia, australian, english, language, radio, grammar, spelling, pronunciation, journalism, radio+national

How to set up your radio system for The Night Air

I'm often asked what the best stereo system is for listening to Brent Clough's The Night Air on Radio National. The solution is not only very simple, but inexpensive, as it requires ordinary equipment usually found in the average Australian home.

I begin with an AM/FM radio, nothing special. If money is a problem, anything from a bargain centre will do, but if you have a state of the art hi-fi receiver, so much the better. Now, tune your radio to the appropriate frequency:

Adelaide 729AM. Brisbane 792AM. Canberra 846AM. Darwin 657AM.
Gold Coast 90.1FM. Hobart 585AM. Melbourne 621AM. Newcastle 1512AM.
Perth 810AM. Sydney 576AM.

Or, for a quality listening experience, if you live in a regional centre, as I do, look up the frequency:

NSW :: NT :: QLD :: SA :: TAS :: VIC :: WA

Now, position your radio near an open window. This will not necessarily improve reception, but will assist with the next step.

Tune your radio to the correct frequency. Adjust the volume to your preferred mode of listening. Experience has shown that the next step is the most important one for listening pleasure with The Night Air.

Taking care to maintain the best reception available, pick up your radio and hurl it out the window as quickly and as far as possible.

Tagged: abc, australia, australian, radio, radio+national