The decision to update the editorial policies of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to seek greater balance and impartiality in the content of its programs is long overdue. The speech of ABC managing director Mark Scott announcing the proposals at the Sydney Institute earlier this week has generated interest and controversy.
And yet it is hard to see why the reforms he has suggested really should be that controversial. Scott made the obvious point that each news and current affairs story aired on the ABC must be impartial. Similarly, Scott has suggested that for opinion programs a range of different perspectives and a full range of voices must be heard.
How could anyone disagree?
As a public-funded media organisation, the ABC has no role in taking an editorial stand on contentious issues in the same way as commercial media operations can and often do. If the ABC was a private organisation, none of the incessant debate over perceived bias would be necessary.
Concerns have been raised that the editorial policies will in some way nobble effective journalism and debate. They should do nothing of the sort.
The introduction of more balance and a wider range of opinions should improve the quality of journalism and debate, as well as make the ABC more appealing to a larger audience. As an important Australian cultural institution, surely this would be to its benefit, as well as to its watchers and listeners.
One section of the ABC that has already got it largely right is ABC News Radio, which presents the news of the day in an interesting and yet impartial way, and to some extent disproves the slightly hysterical concerns that have been raised in recent days.
In this newspaper and other forums this week the question has been asked -- where is the evidence that existing editorial policies are in fact deficient? The Newspoll that Mark Scott quoted in his speech showing that 90 per cent of those surveyed believed that the ABC provided a valuable service has been invoked by those that suggest that there is nothing wrong with the existing guidelines.
But it is quite possible to believe that the ABC provides a valuable service and yet still have concerns with issues of balance and impartiality.
Added to that, while most of the populace take little interest in the argument about balance and impartiality within the ABC (reflecting the small number of complaints it receives each year), the facts and opinions presented on its programs still have the potential to mould the views of potentially millions of people. This makes achieving balance and impartiality on its programs critically important.
Ultimately, there are limits, however, to how far editorial policies themselves can go to address these issues. Such policies are only as good as the people who enforce them, and it is to be hoped that the policies will be properly adhered to rather than becoming simply another box to be ticked.
To more fully address the concerns of critics, the ABC is ultimately going to have to make a more determined effort to bring about a greater plurality of voices on its programs. There is a particularly pressing need for a larger number of non-left voices on ABC programs.
To some extent, balance is always going to be in the eye of the beholder, but it is hard to argue against the proposition that the ABC tends to take a leftish slant in much of its programming.
Piers Akerman has pointed out that the Insiders program on Sunday mornings, which purports to present a balance of opinions, is hosted by a former senior Labor staff member and usually includes only a single token conservative voice on the three-person panel.
In spite of this concern, increasing the use of the panel format or, alternatively, having two politically opposite presenters on other appropriate ABC programs (such as Media Watch, or perhaps even the 7.30 Report) would be another reform worth considering. Such an innovation would help the ABC to better reflect the society it is serving. Doing this could both mitigate concerns about balance and make for some entertaining and yet serious programming.
The reforms to editorial policy announced by Scott are to be applauded and are excellent insofar as they go. But if the ABC is to generate greater confidence in its ability to be balanced and impartial, more work will still be required.
No comments:
Post a Comment