3 March 2016

Kimball fronts new current affairs show

| Charlotte
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Chris Kimball

Are you one of the many Canberrans who has missed ABC 7.30 ACT and its presenter Chris Kimball since the program’s demise in late 2014? Lament no more.

Kimball is back on our screens as anchor of a new independent online TV program called Capital Inc., and the first episode has just been released.

The program features a panel discussion format along the lines of Insiders, The Drum or The Project, but all the conversation revolves around the nation’s capital, with March topics including nature strip laws, the development of the city to the lake precinct and the problem of alcohol-fuelled violence in Civic.

Kimball has enjoyed being back in front of the cameras.

“It’s a really good group of people that are involved, it’s very comfortable to be in that environment again, and especially with people who are all there for the same reason, to provide another vehicle to bring local issues to light,” he says.

As CEO of Snowy Hydro SouthCare Rescue Helicopter Trust these days himself, Kimball notes that all of those involved in Capital Inc. have day jobs but have committed to the program on top of their busy professional lives.

“There’s so much goodwill that’s gone into it … this is something that involves a lot of people who see the value in telling Canberra stories.

“There are fewer opportunities to talk about Canberra issues … to talk about what those stories mean to our community and go a behind those stories a little bit.”

Panel

Capital Inc. is the brainchild of Newcast founder Damien Maher, a born-and-bred Canberran who lived in Melbourne, Sydney and Sweden before settling back in his home town.

Maher is a former head of video for Fairfax who has also worked for the ABC in the press gallery and freelanced in news production in Australia and overseas. He is now managing director of Newcast, providing video production and live streaming services to corporate clients.

The digital video production expert says he noticed as soon as he returned to Canberra that the city’s formerly vibrant local news scene had diminished in his absence, and decided to use his skills and resources to fill the gap by producing a news panel program with a local focus.

“There were no alternative news sources around,” Maher said. “I saw an opening for a show like this.”

Maher approached Her Canberra founder Amanda Whitley and Canberra Times journalist Emma Macdonald to ask whether they’d join as panellists.

“They both really got what I wanted to do,” Maher says. “We approached Chris [Kimball] and he was up for presenting too.”

Kimball and the panellists (freelance social justice journalist Ginger Gorman and Mix106.3 presenter Kristen Henry also feature in the first month) are all volunteering their services to the project, too.

“The only way this show works is to do it voluntarily,” Maher says.

While it costs his business between $5000 and $7000 to produce and distribute an episode, Maher anticipates there will be benefits for Newcast (and the panellists) in terms of profile.

He plans to film a discussion on four to six topics on the third Friday of each month and release an episode featuring one of the topics each Wednesday at noon. The first topic, available today, is the possibility of lockout laws in the capital.

Maher plans to move to a live format once Newcast has an idea of peak audience viewing times. This will allow live interaction, Q&A-style, though episodes will still be repackaged for weekly publication on YouTube.

Capital Inc. may also feature special guests – such as Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Hanson or Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury – in the lead-up to the ACT election campaign later in the year.

Capital Inc. is on Facebook here The website for the show is here
http://capitalinc.com.au

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shellcase said :

You’re welcome Charlotte. Forgot to mention Chris Kimball, good to see him in circulation again. I note I put an unnecessary “the” in my post, sorry ’bout that.

A comment too on the rules and social mores of posting onto a thread. No one on RiotAct gets narky as do some contributors to CT Letters. CT has it’s do’s and don’ts but they are somewhat, umm, “flexible”. Tony Abbot has been subject to vitriol, some of it too personal and defamatory (in my humble opinion) but Mr Editor publishes it. The same sort of stuff has previously been published in letters critical of say Ms Gillard or Mr Rudd.

I wonder why Mr Editor allows those correspondents to get away with it when he will refuse to entertain a letter I write in which I may call a political party “ratbags”. I don’t descend to singular attack, keep it plural and I don’t see anything wrong with ratbag, it’s a beaut, old fashioned Aussie descriptor. I reckon there should be more of it.

You obviously never perused the RiotACT’s pages before the current regime too it over.
It was open slather then with heaps of lefty trolls.
It’s a good balance now.

You’re welcome Charlotte. Forgot to mention Chris Kimball, good to see him in circulation again. I note I put an unnecessary “the” in my post, sorry ’bout that.

A comment too on the rules and social mores of posting onto a thread. No one on RiotAct gets narky as do some contributors to CT Letters. CT has it’s do’s and don’ts but they are somewhat, umm, “flexible”. Tony Abbot has been subject to vitriol, some of it too personal and defamatory (in my humble opinion) but Mr Editor publishes it. The same sort of stuff has previously been published in letters critical of say Ms Gillard or Mr Rudd.

I wonder why Mr Editor allows those correspondents to get away with it when he will refuse to entertain a letter I write in which I may call a political party “ratbags”. I don’t descend to singular attack, keep it plural and I don’t see anything wrong with ratbag, it’s a beaut, old fashioned Aussie descriptor. I reckon there should be more of it.

shellcase said :

I find m’self wondering if our local issues aren’t being done to death by way of over-exposure. We are a small community-jurisdiction and because of our unique place in the Australian scene we tend to be too introspective and into too much self analysis. It’s information overload and too much of it is veneer.

This year we have to deal with the hype of an Olympics and the tedium of local and federal elections. Local pre-election propaganda has been under way for a few months with Mr Barr et al announcing and attending all manner of mostly meaningless feel-good events. I won’t go near anything by Kim Fischer.

… and of course we are over-supplied with media, the same stuff pops up on ABC, Cba Times, RiotAct and eventually when an issue has just about run it’s course it pops up in the The Chronicle. Same Old
topics are churned by Same Old suspects.

RiotAct is the closest thing to a full-participation, democratic forum in this town. Everyone can have a say, not as Leftie as Cba Times or the ABC.

RiotAct needs more people of your calibre, shellcase.

I find m’self wondering if our local issues aren’t being done to death by way of over-exposure. We are a small community-jurisdiction and because of our unique place in the Australian scene we tend to be too introspective and into too much self analysis. It’s information overload and too much of it is veneer.

This year we have to deal with the hype of an Olympics and the tedium of local and federal elections. Local pre-election propaganda has been under way for a few months with Mr Barr et al announcing and attending all manner of mostly meaningless feel-good events. I won’t go near anything by Kim Fischer.

… and of course we are over-supplied with media, the same stuff pops up on ABC, Cba Times, RiotAct and eventually when an issue has just about run it’s course it pops up in the The Chronicle. Same Old
topics are churned by Same Old suspects.

RiotAct is the closest thing to a full-participation, democratic forum in this town. Everyone can have a say, not as Leftie as Cba Times or the ABC.

Charlotte Harper10:14 am 04 Mar 16

@shellcase so glad to read that take on RiotACT, thanks to you and everyone who contributes via the comments to make it so.

creative_canberran11:38 pm 03 Mar 16

Good to see him, and some local AC content back on screens. How on earth though does it cost $5-7000 to produce each episode??? I assume because that includes “distribute” means the cost to host and bandwidth foe downloads. Still that seems steep and unsustainable.

Also they need to get a new set. So many nice indoor locations with nice backdrops. Top of Realm comes to mind.

Great hearing Kimball’s voice again. And great seeing an all-female panel. Ginger Gorman is freelance? I thought she was with the ABC!

Charlotte Harper10:05 pm 03 Mar 16

Not anymore. She’s been doing some amazing stuff freelance.

Actually not a bad 4 minute watch – well shot and cut together, and some decent comments from the panellists. It left you wanting more, which is not a bad thing for something seeking a return audience.

The opening was a bit clunky – I realise they shoot half a dozen discussion topics at a time, but they really should introduce everyone at the start, rather than the viewer finding out as each panellists’ sash comes up. One of them, who I think is from Her Canberra, didn’t get a word in, only a few cutaway nods, so we never found out who she was.

Also the baselines of the text in the credits didn’t line up.

Charlotte Harper said :

Yes but this one is about Canberra issues, @dungfungus, and I know you care about these.

Fair comment Charlotte but looking at the proposed panel it looks just like we will get the same left political bias that we already get on Onesiders and The Drum where the majority agree with each other and anyone with an opposing view gets howled down as it was with Greg Sheridan on The Drum tonight.
If they stick to local issues only it will be tolerable, perhaps.

Oh great, just what viewers need.
Another “Insiders, The Drum or The Project” format.

Charlotte Harper3:53 pm 03 Mar 16

Yes but this one is about Canberra issues, @dungfungus, and I know you care about these.

Good to see Chris back on screen, although the first episode is a bit underwhelming. Wasn’t much of a discussion at all.

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