ABC Ombudsman Six-month Report
The ABC Ombudsman, Fiona Cameron, today released her first public report outlining complaint statistics and a new complaint process.
“At the core of the establishment of the Ombudsman’s Office is greater transparency, accountability and visibility and this report endeavours to deliver on all three,” Ms Cameron said.
“The ABC strives to be adventurous, brave and creative and such principles will solicit strong reactions. Complaints are very much part of this process and are welcomed and encouraged.” she said.
Over the three-year period up until the end of 2022, total complaints averaged 23,767. The majority (85%) relate to general complaints about matters of personal taste and preference and the balance (15%) relate to specific ABC content which concerns the ABC’s editorial standard’s.
70% of content complaints fell into the categories of balance (5%), bias (37%) and factual inaccuracy (28%).
The most complained about platform was News Online given its reach and the extent to which it is shared across social networks. The 7pm News, 7.30, News Breakfast and Q+A rounded out the top five complained about programs.
The report sets out changes to the ABC’s complaint processes headlined by the appointment of an Ombudsman reporting to the Board and the establishment of an internal review mechanisms where complainants who remain unsatisfied with a response from the ABC may seek an Ombudsman review.
The report can be found here.
Includes
Programs most complained about
Over the last three-years the following programs or platforms have attracted the most content complaints. The vast majority of these complaints come from news online, which, of course, is prolific in publishing and reformatting articles from across the network. News online is readily accessible and regularly shared across social networks. Nearly half of all these complaints are about factual accuracy and are usually easy to resolve or dispel. Of the 2474 News Online issues complained about, 39% (956) were investigated and of these 401 issues were either resolved (368) or found to be in breach (33).
Complaints relating to themes can be difficult to isolate as they relate to a variety of different ABC programs, but invariably complaint themes include bias and factual accuracy relating to different political parties, conflicts in the middle east and in the last three years, COVID-19. In regard to the latter, approximately 2,000 content complaints were recorded from 2020 to the end of 2022. These were about a very wide range of ABC content across various programs and platforms. They included accuracy concerns, allegations that ABC content was biased towards or against government health advice, that anti-vaccination perspectives were presented without being adequately challenged, to name a few.
In the 6 months from January to June 2023, the largest number of content complaints (including campaigns) relate to the following.
ABC News Online - 394 complaints, 72% were either claims of inaccuracies of allegations of bias on a wide variety of topics.
7.30 - 137 complaints, including 51 that an interview with Russia’s Ambassador to Australia displayed anti-Russian bias and 20 that an interview with the Victorian Opposition leader defamed a Melbourne woman for her role in the Let Women Speak
event (the woman had not actually been named in the segment). No breach of editorial standards was identified in either item.
Landline - 86 complaints alleging industry bias in coverage of the live export trade. Landline broadcast a series of three stories on this topic where arguments for and against the live sheep export trade were covered. A comprehensive response was provided to complainants directly from the content team.
7pm TV News - 76 content complaints, the vast majority about accuracy, impartiality or inappropriate content.
The Coronation of King Charles Ill - 66 content complaints were handled by the Ombudsman’s Office and a link to the investigation report is provided below. In total the ABC received 1,996 written complaints about this matter with the majority questioning the ABC’s judgement for scheduling a panel discussion (rather than commentating directly on the proceedings) against the backdrop of guests entering the Abbey.
Insiders- 48 complaints, the majority regarding comments made by an ABC journalist describing the beliefs and motivations of some people who protest on Australia day. This matter was handled directly by ABC News who published a statement on the Corrections and Clarifications page stating that the journalist was describing the beliefs of some protesters and their motivations, not the ABC’s.
ABC News Twitter - 40 content complaints that a since-deleted tweet about the shooting of a Palestinian girl on a rooftop was racist and /or displayed anti-Palestinian bias. The Ombudsman’s Office referred the complaints to the relevant content team for direct handling given that the tweet had already been deleted and the story reposted with a new headline.
so funny.