Investigation Report No. 3111 File No. ACMA2013/1326 Broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation Station 774 ABC Melbourne Type of Service National Broadcaster Name of Program Mornings with Jon Faine Date of Broadcast 2 September 2013 Relevant Code Standards 2.1 and 4.1 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 Date finalised 6 January 2014 Decision No breach of standard 2.1 (factual accuracy) No breach of standard 4.1 (impartiality) ACMA Investigation Report 3111—Mornings with Jon Faine—774 ABC Melbourne – 2 September 2013
Relevant Code Standards 2.1 and 4.1 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011
Date finalised 6 January 2014
Decision No breach of standard 2.1 (factual accuracy)
No breach of standard 4.1 (impartiality)
ACMA Investigation Report 3111—Mornings with Jon Faine—774 ABC Melbourne – 2 September 2013
BackgroundOn 6 September 2013, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) received a complaint about a segment on the ABC’s Mornings with Jon Faine radio program, broadcast by 774 ABC Melbourne on 2 September 2013.
Mornings with Jon Faine is broadcast on weekdays from 8:30am until 11:00am. Hosted by Jon Faine, it contains a mixture of news, current affairs and talkback. Mr Faine also regularly conducts interviews, including with politicians. The program is described on its website as follows:
Known for his quick wit and willingness to ask the stickiest of questions, Jon Faine delivers thought-provoking radio.1
On 2 September 2013, a few days before the 2013 Federal election, Mr Faine interviewed Mr Malcolm Turnbull, then the Shadow Minister for Communications & Broadband. The interview primarily discussed the Coalition’s policies surrounding the National Broadband Network (NBN)2 and the digital economy, including the Labor Party’s performance on those issues. The interview also briefly touched upon the issue of asylum seekers.
The interview had a duration of 14 minutes, and a transcript of it can be found at Attachment A. At about five minutes into the interview, Mr Faine posed the following questions to Mr Turnbull:
So what’s your answer, then, to the real estate reality that’s emerging, Malcolm Turnbull, which is that properties that do have the NBN already connected, or available, sell for a premium?
And shortly after:
It... it is a marketing point, you know ... in some parts of... of Melbourne, and I’m sure Sydney and Brisbane as well, being in the NBN zone is mentioned prominently in real estate advertising. It’s clearly something that attracts interest in buyers.
The complainant submitted the following:
Any facts to back up Faine's claim to Turnbull that NBN connection has lifted house prices or is this just more ALP promotion from the MOST BIASED media outlet in the State Network?
The complainant also submitted more generally that ‘the rampant anti Lib bias at the ABC needs to be reigned in and the station needs to stick to factual comments’.
The ABC’s submissions can be found at Attachment B.
The investigation has considered the ABC’s compliance with standards 2.1 and 4.1 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 (the Code).
AssessmentIn assessing content for compliance with the Code, the ACMA considers the meaning con-veyed by the relevant material that was broadcast. This is assessed according to the under-standing of an ‘ordinary reasonable’ listener.
1 http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/programs/melbourne_mornings/2 The NBN is described on its website as ‘Australia's first national wholesale-only, open access
communications network that is being built to bring high speed broadband and telephone services within the reach of all Australian premises’; http://www.nbnco.com.au/nbn-for-home/how-it-works.html?icid=pub:hme:about-nbn:hro:img
ACMA Investigation Report 3111—Mornings with Jon Faine—774 ABC Melbourne – 2 September 2013
Australian courts have considered an ‘ordinary, reasonable’ listener to be:
A person of fair average intelligence, who is neither perverse, nor morbid or suspicious of mind, nor avid for scandal. That person does not live in an ivory tower, but can and does read between the lines in the light of that person’s general knowledge and experience of worldly affairs.3
In considering compliance with the Code, the ACMA considers the natural, ordinary meaning of the language, context, tenor, tone, and any inferences that may be drawn.
Once the ACMA has applied this test to ascertain the meaning of the material that was broad-cast, it then determines whether that material has been breached the Code.
Issue 1: AccuracyFindingThe ABC did not breach standard 2.1 of the Code.
ReasonsThe complainant queried the basis for Mr Faine’s comments to the effect that properties in the NBN zone ‘sell for a premium’.
Standard 2.1 of the Code requires the ABC to:
Make reasonable efforts to ensure that material facts are accurate and presented in context.
In applying standard 2.1 of the Code, the ACMA generally adopts the following approach:
Was the particular content (the subject of the complaint) factual in character? Did it convey a ‘material’ fact or facts in the context of the relevant segment? If so, were those facts accurate? If a ‘material’ fact was not accurate (or its accuracy cannot be determined), did the ABC
make reasonable efforts to ensure that the ‘material’ fact was accurate and presented in context?
The considerations the ACMA uses for determining whether material is factual in character are set out at Attachment C.
Based on these considerations, the ACMA considers that Mr Faine’s comments about the NBN’s effect on property prices were factual in nature for the purposes of standard 2.1. The comments were unequivocal and are capable of independent verification.
The ABC submitted to the ACMA that ‘in the context of a challenging interview these questions did not amount to material facts.’
It also submitted that any facts conveyed were accurate based on consultations Mr Faine had conducted with various real estate agents prior to the interview, who had indicated to him that properties connected to the NBN commanded a higher selling price than those that have not yet been connected. The ABC provided a number of links to examples of online advertisements of properties for sale in which access to the NBN is included as a selling point.
The ACMA is of the view that the statement complained of presented material facts. The statement was made in an interview with a Federal Shadow Minister analysing the merits of the two major parties’ approaches toward the digital economy and the NBN that took place a few days before the 2013 Federal election. Moreover, the interview was primarily about the Coalition’s digital economy policy and the NBN, and Mr Faine’s comments regarding the effect on property prices of connection to the NBN were directed at the latter.
3 Amalgamated Television Services Pty Ltd v Marsden (1998) NSWLR 158 at 164-167.
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The ACMA has considered Mr Faine’s consultations and the links provided by the ABC. It notes that where the properties have been connected to the NBN, or are in the NBN ‘zone’, this fact is mentioned very prominently in their advertising, suggesting it is valued by prospective purchasers.
As such, the ABC did not breach standard 2.1 of the Code.
Issue 2: ImpartialityFinding
The ABC did not breach standard 4.1 of the Code.
Reasons
The complainant submitted that the interview with Mr Turnbull evinced ‘anti Lib bias’.
Standard 4.1 of the Code requires the ABC to:
Gather and present news and information with due impartiality.
As noted in the introduction to standard 4 of the Code:
Assessing the impartiality due in given circumstances requires consideration in context of all relevant factors including:
the type, subject and nature of the content; the circumstances in which the content is made and presented; the likely audience expectations of the content; the degree to which the matter to which the content relates is contentious; the range of principal relevant perspectives on the matter of contention; and the timeframe within which it would be appropriate for the ABC to provide opportunities for the
principal relevant perspectives to be expressed, having regard to the public importance of the matter of contention and the extent to which it is the subject of current debate.
In addition, Attachment D sets out the considerations to which the ACMA generally has regard in assessing compliance with standard 4.1 of the Code.
In assessing whether content is presented with due impartiality, a key consideration is whether the content has been gathered or presented in such a way that it conveys a prejudgment or gives effect to the affections or enmities of the presenter or reporter.
The ACMA acknowledges that presenters can and do play a key role in setting the tone of a program through their style and choice of language. In addition, the nature of current affairs reporting can require presenters to be questioning, and at times sceptical in their analysis of issues. However, the presenter’s open-mindedness and willingness to include alternative perspectives without prejudgment will be relevant to the question of impartiality.
Listeners of Mornings with Jon Faine would be familiar with the presenter’s presentation style and would expect him to conduct probing interviews and adopt a ‘devil’s advocate’ approach, particularly when dealing with experienced politicians.
The ACMA considers that it is reasonable for a presenter such as Mr Faine to put probing questions to senior political figures, particularly in the lead up to a Federal election. Listeners would expect Mr Turnbull to be held up to a degree of scrutiny in an interview of this nature.
Further, the ACMA does not consider that the presenter conveyed a prejudgement about Mr Turnbull or the Coalition during the interview, or that he displayed any enmities in respect of the contents of the interview.
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Mr Faine’s tone and delivery were suitably measured and he was courteous to Mr Turnbull throughout the interview. Mr Faine was never rude or aggressive to Mr Turnbull and gave him the opportunity to speak at length, without interruption, on a range of issues.
Although at one point Mr Faine accused Mr Turnbull of wanting to ‘stick to the script’, the ACMA considers that this comment was not said in an aggressive manner, and it is noted that the interview ended on a cordial note.
As such, the ABC did not breach standard 4.1 of the Code.
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Attachment A Transcript of the segmentJon Faine – Well, here we are on Monday morning. There are five working days to go, and then on Saturday we all go to the polls! We get to vote on who’s going to run the country. Kevin Rudd had his big set err speech theatrical launch in Brisbane, and he’ll be on Q&A on ABC television tonight. You had Tony Abbott agreeing to accept an invitation on Insiders yesterday with Barry Cassidy, that’s available on iView if you want to catch up on the ABC’s catchup TV software on what was said there.
This morning, the Liberal party, through Malcolm Turnbull, the shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband, are launching a digital economy policy here in Melbourne. Malcolm Turnbull is... just around the corner actually, from the ABC studios, but about to, err, conduct that particular policy launch. He joins me now this morning. Mr Turnbull, good morning to you.
Malcolm Turnbull – Good morning, Jon.
Jon Faine – In our broadcasts... I want to know about the digital economy, but wherever we’ve gone, we’ve had people singing the praises of the NBN rather than the alternative that you offer.
Malcolm Turnbull – Well, the... the Labor’s version of the NBN and our version of the NBN are actually incredibly similar. Ahh... the, the only difference is that we’ll get it completed a lot sooner, and a lot cheaper, and much more affordably for consumers. So, the... the concept of having a national broadband network that, err, connects everyone in Australia, umm, at very high speeds is one that we share. The... the problem with Labor’s plan, err, is that it is going to take far too long and cost far too much, and we’re... you know, we’re seeing, we see every day evidence of the mismanagement of the project. But Jon, the... one of the problems with Labor’s obsession with trying to run fibre-optic cables into every house is that that’s pretty much all they’ve talked about for six years. And the... the real – the real issue is not so much what type of pipes you have, but what you’re using those pipes for.
Jon Faine - ...and how much they cost!
Malcolm Turnbull – Well, exactly. And what we’re setting out today is the... is a vision for... well, a policy for the digital economy both for government and for the private sector. And we see the government as having a true leadership role in terms of the digital economy. We see the digital platforms as being enabling us to [sic] improve the efficiency of interaction with... with uhh... citizens...
Jon Faine – Ok, no, I’ll come to the detail of it in just a moment...
Malcolm Turnbull – Yep, yep.
Jon Faine – But just... I don’t know, I mean, has the... has the Liberal party’s transition to government committee started meeting yet? Because you’re gonna have your hands on the levers, the way the polls are going, by next week, what would change?
Malcolm Turnbull – Well, we will... what, you’re saying what will change in terms of next week if we win the election? Well, there’ll be a new government.
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Jon Faine – Understood, but what would change by way of the rollout of the NBN?
Malcolm Turnbull – Oh, well, this... we’ve set all that out in our policy over five months ago. What we will do is we will review the project and we will set out... we aim to do it within 60 days, the precise, umm, cost and timeframe it will take to complete the project on the current specifications...
Jon Faine – So you’ll have a fresh audit of where the NBN is up to if you come into office?
Malcolm Turnbull – Yeah, absolutely. We will do that very quickly, and then we will also set out, equally transparently, what we can save in years and dollars by making certain changes to it, including along the lines that we’ve put in our policy and that we’ve discussed many times; fibre to the node and so forth.
Jon Faine – So you’ll end up with areas that have got the Labor’s fibre to the home plan, you’ll then have some transition to your version. There’ll be a hybrid NBN around then... as a result.
Malcolm Turnbull – Yeah. The NBN is a hybrid already. All networks are hybrids. The NBN as it’s... as it’s planned is going to be fibre to the premises, wireless and satellite. What we’re saying is that you shouldn’t be hung up on one particular technology, and focus on the technologies that are most cost-effective... uhh... in the particular circumstance. So, for example, in... rather than trying to... ahh, do the, you know, extraordinarily difficult and expensive and... umm... time-consuming job of trying to get a fibre-optic cable into every apartment in a block of apartments, uhh... do what everyone else in the world does, terminate fibre-optics in the basement and hook it into the existing copper local area network in the building and, you know, therefore you don’t disturb everyone and the speeds you get are... are extraordinarily high and... in, from a consumer point of view, indiscernible from what you get from fibre to the premises...
Jon Faine – So what’s your answer, then, to the real estate reality that’s emerging, Malcolm Turnbull, which is that properties that do have the NBN already connected, or available, sell for a premium?
Malcolm Turnbull – Ahh, well I don’t think that will be the case, in fact I’m sure it won’t be the case, when people see that the very high speeds that are available under either of the various technologies on offer are comparable. Umm...
Jon Faine – It... it is a marketing point, you know, it may be... up where you know, it’s the private schools area and the zone that is advertised, but in some parts of... of Melbourne, and I’m sure Sydney and Brisbane as well, being in the NBN zone is mentioned prominently in real estate advertising. It’s clearly something that attracts interest in buyers.
Malcolm Turnbull – Well, in Australia... in Australia under a Coalition government, everyone will be within the NBN zone. And you will use... you’ll have different technologies that deliver the same very high speeds that people require. I grant you that fibre-optics will deliver, theoretically, much higher speeds. Whether, in reality, they deliver much higher speeds, because of contention and congestion elsewhere in the network, and whether those speeds are of any utility, or value, to customers, is another question, because you see Jon, what we’re, what we’re demonstrating this morning is that umm... notwithstanding that we’re launching a policy on the digital economy and open government, and government 2.0, and all of the efficiency that brings, umm... all err... that you want to talk about this morning is the pipes, the NBN. So,... you can see how difficult it is for us to get our head out of the pipe and actually look at what the digital platforms can be used for.
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Jon Faine – Do you think we’ll be voting online in an election or two from now?
Malcolm Turnbull – Do I think we will?
Jon Faine – Yep.
Malcolm Turnbull – Well, I think we should. I definitely think we should. Umm... I suspect we won’t, because we are incredibly conservative about electoral systems, but I think there is a lot to be said for electronic voting systems. Umm... I think ahh, I think the first step would be likely to be electronic voting at the ballot place, at, you know, at the polling booth, as opposed to voting remotely. You know, other than for people who, you know, are ill or... umm for whatever reason can’t attend, but I think... I actually think electronic err voting is umm... is less prone to uhh... interference and umm, err, you know, subversion, if you like.
Jon Faine - Would it surprise you if I was to tell you that the ABC’s voter compass... ahh, electoral toy, I called it, much to Antony Green’s annoyance, but that’s what it is, ahh, voter compass has now had more than a million hits?
Malcolm Turnbull – Doesn’t surprise me at all. I mean the... the thing that... if you want to sell something, if you want to... sell, you know, sell something, in this case I’m using the term a bit loosely, but... selling, you know, getting people to use your vote compass, you’ve gotta make it accessible. The... accessibility and choice are the key drivers... uhh... in the economy. So, uhh... the great thing about the internet is that increasingly it’s becoming ubiquitous, that’s why affordability is so important, which is why our approach to the NBN is so much better than Labor’s. Umm... but it’s becoming more accessible on more devices, it’s easier to use, ahh, and, therefore, more people will use it. You know, if you want to... if you want to sell something, you’ve gotta make it easy to buy.
Jon Faine – Malcolm Turnbull, I glossed over this before, but is there a Liberal Party transition to government committee?
Malcolm Turnbull – Ahh, we’re certainly... we certainly have a lot of work going on, I don’t want to comment on... on the particular structures, but, ahh, from my... each shadow Minister is working... ahh... at the same time as they’re campaigning, is obviously getting ready to hit the ground running, ahh... if, if we are favoured with the approval of the Australian people and form a government. So, that’s why we... you know, that’s one of the reasons you prepare policies. It’s not, ahh... just to, umm, you know, show a compelling proposition to voters, it’s also so that you can, err, have a road map as to what you’re going to do, err, if you get in.
Jon Faine - And will that transition to government process involve abandoning some... particular promises, particularly buying boats from Indonesian fisherman, which has to be about the wackiest thing anyone’s thought up during this election campaign...
Malcolm Turnbull – Well Jon...
Jon Faine - ...on any major party’s platform?
Malcolm Turnbull – Well Jon, you’re... Jon, you’re... you’re obviously entitled to your opinion there, ahh... I don’t want to get into the immigration area, cos it’s... that’s really Scott Morrison’s domain, but I’ll just say this: umm... the... responding to the people smuggling problem, and depriving the people smugglers of the product they have to sell, will require a range of measures, and, umm... you know, buying back boats, if that... if that is able, in a particular area, to deprive people smugglers of umm... boats that they would otherwise use for smuggling asylum-seekers, that could be a useful... ahh, arrow in the umm... you know, in the armoury. But there are...
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Jon Faine – And are.... you... you personally, are you comfortable with err, removing free legal advice from what is available to asylum-seekers so that they can establish whether they are bona fide refugees under Australia’s and international law?
Malcolm Turnbull – Jon, I’m comfortable with all our policies, but look, let me say this to you, and I don’t want to be rude, but, umm... I’m... I’m here to talk to you about our digital economy policy and we have not been able to get you to umm... discuss it with me, so if you don’t want to discuss it, then, you know, I would be umm, I would be, you know, better off, ahh, getting ready to go down with Andrew Robb to the butter factory and actually announce it.
Jon Faine – Well, I... I understand, but...
Malcolm Turnbull – I... I don’t want to be rude, but...
Jon Faine – You’re a senior, no, you’re a senior representative of your party and this is one of the more remarkable announcements made over the last few days, but I heed your warning, which is that you want to stick to the script... err, this...
Malcolm Turnbull – No, no, this... it’s not that I... please, please, that’s beneath you. You know, it’s not a question of sticking to the script, you know, we... you... you... the government spends over six billion dollars a year on ICT. We’re talking about giving... among the things we’re talking about doing in this policy is making available to every single Australian, both human beings and businesses, and corporations, if they wish it, a digital mailbox, which will be... for free, which will be the destination for all their correspondence... ahh.... from government. And we will make that available to state and local governments as well. So the aim would be that if you were a... you know, a business, in... here in Melbourne, umm, all of your, the stuff that you get, the communication you get from State government, local government, Federal government, will all arrive in that... ahh... digital mailbox, which will be yours; your unique address, ahh... you won’t be getting any paper correspondence, unless you... you want it (I think that most people will be delighted not to have it), and you can then.... uhh, you know, configure that, so that stuff from the ATO is sent to your accountant and, err, you know, stuff, err... you know, relating to uhhh... employment issues goes to your HR manager, or whatever. You can...
Jon Faine – Sure. A couple of elections ago we voted against a universal ID card; this is a digital equivalent in one way.
Malcolm Turnbull – Ahh, it’s not at all; it’s not an ID card, uhh, and... it is a... it is a tool, and what it enables you to do... it’s simply an address, and it’s no different from having an address on the street. The difference is, of course, that it is so much more efficient. So it’s no more a... err, unique identifier than the address of your business, or your post office.
Jon Faine – Ok, but you end up with a dashboard where you have your tax file number, your Medicare number, and so on and so forth.
Malcolm Turnbull – All of that... all of your... the aim is to... is to put you in a position where all of your interaction with government can be efficiently err... delivered. And the savings to government are obvious, but also the efficiency savings to business are obvious. Remember that we’ve committed to cutting one billion dollars a year out of the cost of regulation and red tape.
Jon Faine – Yep.
Malcolm Turnbull – Ahh... and this is one of the ways we’ll do that. We’re going to set 2017 as the deadline for virtually all government services to be accessible digitally. Ahh, so that we
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want... we want... as, you know, as far as possible move the delivery of the interaction onto digital platforms, so that... again, so that people have more choice and more accessibility.
Jon Faine – All right, I’m going to make you late for your launch if we keep going much longer...
Malcolm Turnbull – Ok Jon, well, thank you so much.
Jon Faine – Well no, it’s been fascinating, and ahh... we’ll see what happens, as I’ve said to every politician over the last few weeks, good luck on Saturday, we’ll see what happens!
Malcolm Turnbull – Thank you so much. Thanks Jon!
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Attachment BABC’s submissions
The ABC’s response to the complainant included the following:
On Monday October 2nd Jon Faine interviewed Shadow Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull. The interview ran for around thirteen minutes.
Among the topics discussed was the National Broadband Network and Mr Faine did ask Mr Turnbull a question prefaced on the suggestion that NBN-connected properties were selling for a premium. The bases for this question were conversations that Jon Faine has had with real estate agents working in NBN-connected areas and the increasing number of real estate listings that cite the NBN-connected status of properties as a key feature to attract buyers.
On review, we're satisfied that Jon Faine's interview has not breached the ABC's Code of Practice
The ABC submitted the following to the ACMA:
Standard 2.1 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 (the Code) in relation to statements made by Mr Faine about how NBN connections enhance the value and appeal of properties
The questions posed in this interview by Jon Faine at times used a ‘devil’s advocate’ style of interviewing; part of the technique of the ‘devil’s advocate’ approach is to take major claims or criticisms from various sources and put them to the interviewee. In this case, Mr Faine put the ALP claim to the Coalition’s Malcolm Turnbull that the NBN would boost house prices; to which Mr Turnbull provided a clear and articulate response. While Mr Faine made reasonable efforts to corroborate the ALP claims by speaking to a number of estate agents personally who confirmed houses with NBN access were selling for a ‘premium’, in the context of a challenging interview these questions did not amount to material facts.
With regard to Mr Faine’s statement that the NBN had become a marketing point for house sales and was mentioned prominently in real estate adverts, ABC Radio have provided the following links as examples to substantiate these comments:
The interview was clearly newsworthy and prompted by the Coalition launch that morning in Melbourne of their digital economy policy. As mentioned above, the questions at times took a ‘devil’s advocate’ approach which included taking criticisms from various sources and putting them to the interviewee; for example the claim that the Coalition solution was a ‘hybrid’ was put to Mr Turnbull. The questions were based on news values and Mr Turnbull was provided with ample opportunity to state the Coalition position, which he did at some length. The tone of the interview was measured and there were few interruptions from Mr Faine.
ACMA Investigation Report 3111—Mornings with Jon Faine—774 ABC Melbourne – 2 September 2013
Posing testing questions to an interviewee and then allowing them to respond to those questions is in keeping with the ABC’s standards for impartiality.
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Attachment C
Considerations to which the ACMA has regard in assessing whether or not broadcast material is factual in character The primary consideration is whether, according to the natural and ordinary meaning of
the language used and the substantive nature of the message conveyed, the relevant material is presented as a statement of fact or as an expression of opinion. In that regard, the relevant statement must be evaluated in its context, i.e. contextual
indications from the rest of the broadcast (including tenor and tone) are relevant in assessing the meaning conveyed to the ordinary reasonable listener/viewer.
The use of language such as ‘it seems to me’, ‘we consider/think/believe’ tends to indicate that a statement is presented as an opinion. However, a common sense judgment is required as to how the substantive nature of the statement would be understood by the ordinary reasonable listener/viewer, and the form of words introducing the relevant statement is not conclusive.
Factual material will usually be specific, unequivocal and capable of independent verification.
Inferences of a factual nature made from observed facts are usually still characterised as factual material (subject to context); to qualify as an opinion/viewpoint, an inference reasoned from observed facts would usually have to be presented as an inference of a judgmental or contestable kind.
The identity of the person making the statement would not in and of itself determine whether the statement is factual material or opinion, i.e. it is not possible to conclude that because a statement was made by an interviewee, it was necessarily a statement of opinion rather than factual material.
Statements in the nature of prediction as to future events would nearly always be characterised as statements of opinion.
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Attachment DConsiderations to which the ACMA has regard in assessing whether or not broadcast material is impartial
In determining whether or not material complained of is compliant with the ABC’s obligations under standard 4.1 of the Code, the ACMA generally has regard to the following considerations:
The meaning conveyed by the relevant material is assessed according to what an ordinary reasonable listener would have understood the program concerned to have conveyed. The Court’s interpretation of the ordinary reasonable listener has been detailed above in the considerations under accuracy.
Achieving impartiality requires a broadcaster to present content in a way which avoids conveying a prejudgement, or giving effect to the affections or enmities of the presenter or reporter in respect of what is broadcast. In this regard:
o The ACMA applies the ordinary English meaning of the word ‘impartial’ in interpreting the Code. The Macquarie Dictionary (Fifth Edition)4 defines ‘impartial’ as: ‘not partial; unbiased; just’. It defines ‘partial’ to include: ‘biased or prejudiced in favour of a person, group, side, etc., as in a controversy’. ‘Bias’ is defined as: ‘a particular tendency or inclination, especially one which prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question’.
o The ACMA considers that a helpful explanation of the ordinary English usage of the term ‘bias’ is set out by Hayne J in Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Jia Legeng5 as follows:
‘Bias’ is used to indicate some preponderating disposition or tendency, a ‘propensity; predisposition towards; predilection; prejudice’.6 It may be occasioned by interest in the outcome, by affection or enmity, or, as was said to be the case here, by prejudgement. Whatever its cause, the result that is asserted or feared is a deviation from the true course of decision-making, for bias is ‘any thing which turns a man to a particular course, or gives the direction to his measures’.
The relevant provision requires the ABC to ‘gather and present news and information with due impartiality’. Inclusion of the word ‘due’ indicates an element of flexibility depending on the particular context: for example, the gathering and presentation of factual information for a news bulletin may be materially different from an interview of a political figure, where challenging questions are ordinarily appropriate.
A program that presents a perspective that is opposed by a particular person or group is not inherently partial. Whether a breach of standard 4.1 has occurred will depend on the themes of the program, any editorial comment, the overall presentation of the story and the circumstances in which the program was prepared and broadcast.
Presenters and reporters can play a key role in setting the tone of a program through their style and choice of language. The manner in which a report is presented or
4 Online edition at http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au5 (2001) 205 CLR 507 at 563 [183] Gleeson CJ and Gummow J at 538 [100] agreeing.6 Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition), meaning 3(a).
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reported can influence the conclusions that an ordinary reasonable listener would draw from a broadcast.
The nature of current affairs reporting requires reporters and presenters to be questioning, and at times sceptical, in their analysis of important issues. However, while probing and challenging questions may be used to explore an issue, programs must demonstrate a willingness to include alternative perspectives without prejudgement.
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