Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, upon notice, on 8 April 2011:

Given that:

(a) in an article headed 'Strength in diverse views', the former Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) director, Ms Janet Albrechtsen, proposed the following test: 'There are other simple tests that one could ask when judging balance and impartiality. Is it a sign of balanced journalism that factual errors in news reports about, say, the environment or the Middle East tend to skew one way: pro-green, anti-Israeli';

(b) the ABC has previously advised that there have not been any factual errors that are favourable to Israel whereas, as can be confirmed from the ABC's public reports on complaints, there have been multiple admitted ABC factual errors that are damaging;

(c) to date, the ABC has not provided any explanation for these skewed factual errors; and

(d) applying Ms Albrechtsen's test for balance and impartiality leads to the conclusion that there is a lack of balance and impartiality in the ABC's reporting on Israel:

Can an explanation be provided by the ABC, accounting for the skewed factual errors in relation to Israel.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

The ABC does not consider its reporting in relation to Israel is skewed or unbalanced.

The ABC has investigated reported claims of balance and factual errors in relation to reporting of the Middle East and found no evidence to suggest systemic bias.