Sunday, July 13, 2008

I miss Starstuff on ABC Newsradio

I tuned in to ABC Newsradio today and mourned the lack of the regular Starstuff program produced and presented by Stuart Gary.

The site simply says "After eight years on the radio StarStaff takes its last journey across the universe this week. Tune in this Sunday at midday EST for the final episode of StarStuff".

As a devoted listener for many years, I'd like to express my thanks to Stuart and the ABC for running this program. I used to really like listening to it late at night on Sunday nights, the schedule change took some adjustment but the podcast made up for it.

Stuart's enthusiastic and informed presentation and interview style were always welcome and his regular guests were terrific.

Apparently ABC Newsradio is trying to focus more on the rolling news role of the station, which I value too, but lets just hope that all things space are not replaced with all things sport.

I'm not the only one to mourn the loss it seems.
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3 comments:

  1. Jimbo8:30 PM

    Hi there. I guess you're a little out of the loop. There have been some advancements int he campaign to get the show back on the air.

    Firstly, Star Stuff is going to continue in podcast format from abc online. :D

    http://www.abc.net.au/science/starstuff/

    A new episode was released on the 24th of July.

    There has been an onslaught of people writing letters to newspapers, politicians and the abc complaining about the axing of the show (see today's article in the Sydney Morning Herald)...

    Article in today's Sydney Morning Herald...

    SHOT INTO CYBER SPACE

    The ABC has been bombarded with complaints following a decision by NewsRadio to scrap the long-running astronomy show StarStuff. Blogs have sprung up urging disappointed listeners to contact their member of Parliament in a bid to have the "uneducated and ill-informed" decision overturned. ABC radio talks boss Margaret Cassidy says it's a matter of prioritising resources. She says StarStuff presenter Stuart Gary is needed to work on the main news desk five days a week and the specialist program does not fit with the station's rolling news format. the bloggers argue that NewsRadio has no trouble running block programming when it comes to sport yet can't devote half an hour a week to scientific endeavour. A comprimise of sorts has been reached. The show will be offered as a podcast by ABC Science Online at abc.net.au/science/feeds.

    http://afr.com/home/viewer.aspx?ATL://20080728000030070738&title=Radio


    And Finally, there is a petition going around to get the show back on the air. 65 signatures so far. We could really use some more...

    http://gopetition.com/petitions/save-abc-news-radio-starstuff-program.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jimbo8:33 PM

    I guess you're not aware of the advancements made in the campaign to get this show back on the air.

    There has been a huge response from people complaining to the abc and writing letters to politicians. They have decided to continue the show in podcast format at abc online...

    http://www.abc.net.au/science/starstuff/

    A new episode was released on the 24th of July :D

    There is a petition to get the show back on the air...

    http://gopetition.com/petitions/save-abc-news-radio-starstuff-program.html


    And we got a mention in today's Sydney Morning Herald...

    SHOT INTO CYBER SPACE

    The ABC has been bombarded with complaints following a decision by NewsRadio to scrap the long-running astronomy show StarStuff. Blogs have sprung up urging disappointed listeners to contact their member of Parliament in a bid to have the "uneducated and ill-informed" decision overturned. ABC radio talks boss Margaret Cassidy says it's a matter of prioritising resources. She says StarStuff presenter Stuart Gary is needed to work on the main news desk five days a week and the specialist program does not fit with the station's rolling news format. the bloggers argue that NewsRadio has no trouble running block programming when it comes to sport yet can't devote half an hour a week to scientific endeavour. A comprimise of sorts has been reached. The show will be offered as a podcast by ABC Science Online at abc.net.au/science/feeds.

    http://afr.com/home/viewer.aspx?ATL://20080728000030070738&title=Radio

    ReplyDelete
  3. Peter Marks8:41 PM

    Thanks Jim,

    Yep, I heard the good news and mentioned it here.

    But thanks for the comments.

    cheers.

    ReplyDelete