Media Watch: ABC Opinion or Fact?

The ABC’s Editorial Guidelines state that the purpose of a news piece is to deliver fact not opinion.

In the stories I quoted in Estimates, the reporters use terms which portray an opinion of the situation. As Mr McMurtrie said in the hearing, if the reporters had spoken to credible sources in the report, then they are able to use these descriptive terms such as these. In the stories I quoted, the reporters had not spoken to sources who justified the use of these terms.

I was not attacking the journalists; I hold Sabra and James in high regard. Nor was I alleging bias I was questioning ABC management on why they allow their own editorial guidelines to be ignored. How commercial broadcasters report and/or editorialise news stories is up to them. The ABC has a duty to taxpayers that commercial operators do not.

The fact that Media Watch are suggesting otherwise goes to the heart of the problem and the fact that their own watchdog program do not understand the difference between what is and is not opinion free news is concerning. Senate estimates is an important accountability measure so for Mr Barry to call my questions “painful, vexatious and uncalled for” it seems he does not want senators to hold the ABC to account.

However, to correct the record, the fact is that the vaccine was not bungled, the Prime Minister said in March that all eligible Australians would have a vaccine available to them by the end of October and I think we have seen that largely achieved. No, it was not linear, but no one said it would be, could be or should be.