Statement on Alice Springs community meeting coverage
ABC News has reviewed its reporting on the Alice Springs community meeting held on Monday 30 January.
The views of those interviewed who had attended the meeting were accurately reported and were clearly newsworthy. However, we acknowledge that one report on AM was incomplete, and did not adequately cover the full context of the meeting or the range of perspectives expressed at it. ABC News apologises to audiences for providing an incomplete picture of the event in this instance.
Over the course of the day, the coverage included information and perspectives that provided a balanced understanding of the event, including additional comments from the meeting and further context regarding allegations of racism. ABC News stands by its journalists covering this story.
The ABC has comprehensively covered the issues of substance abuse and public violence in Alice Springs and will continue to do so.
Editor’s Note
This report includes the views of some people who attended the community meeting and their immediate reaction. Those views were reported accurately. However, this report should have included a broader range of perspectives expressed at the meeting and further information about what was discussed, to provide additional context.
ABC News apologises to audiences for providing an incomplete picture of the event in this instance. ABC News management takes responsibility. Following this report, ABC News published additional coverage of the issue which included a broader range of perspectives and context. Some of this additional reporting is available here and here.
Worth noting that despite Queensland didn’t have a weather presenter tonight, newsreader Jessica Van Vonderen did the weather at the usual weather wall presentation area. Usually it would just be full screen graphics from the newsreader at the news desk.
No it’s worse… they scream and yell at the viewers and they eat their own party alive with recriminations. Rowan Dean was unhinged this morning as was that Rita person.
I doubt they’re meaning the ALP participants on the ABC 2019 panel. The impartial ABC panelists weren’t defeated, they presented the results. From memory the “right” attacked Sales based on her final comments I’d have to watch again to recall exactly what she said, but how ironic given how the left criticised her for the next three years. Just another example where if they’re upsetting the fringes on both sides, good chance they’re being balanced.
Admittedly, Sky can be more “in your face” but my point was is that the ABC and Sky are biased. Even Blind Freddy knows that. No news organisation in this country can claim that they are unbiased. All of them have an agenda and pander to their audiences prejudices. We all pay for the ABC and I have a reasonable expectation that their programming and reporting is fair and balanced. News Corp, Nine Newspapers, The Guardian etc are private organisations and can say whatever they want and if people don’t want to pay to read, view or listen to that content, that’s their call.
The fact that people who jump up and down defending the ABC to the hilt whenever they are faced with accusations of bias are all from the left side of the divide is all the evidence I need. If the ABC were being biased to the right, do you honestly think those same people would be defending it? I highly doubt it.
the ABC cops accusations from both ends of the political spectrum over bias in favour of the other side. The reality in that case is that it probably sits somewhere in the middle, which is what it should be.
Each side might produce an example of a story or a commentator to confirm their perception but for each one of those there’s probably just as many in the opposite direction. Again, on the balance of it, the ABC overall probably sits in the middle.