Public service broadcasters facing multiple threats to their existence are simultaneously grappling with their transition to an era of digital broadcasting and networked information services. At stake is the continued need for a ‘public sphere’ in an increasingly diversified, commodified mediascape. This article draws on interviews with key ABC personnel between 1997 and 1998, press reports and relevant academic literature to examine the development of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's online publishing activities in the context of a recent proposal to part-privatise ABC Online. It considers the role of ABC Online as an ‘information broker’ in the public domain, and as a catalyst for changing modes of cultural production within the corporation. It then challenges the 1997 Mansfield Review's assessment of ABC Online as a ‘non-core’ activity of the corporation. Finally, it outlines options for future resourcing of the service, dependent on further research outcomes.
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