To Brits this story won't mean a lot. However it may draw parallels with the BBC in some ways.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is modeled on the BBC, and is fully funded by the taxpayer. It is funded out of direct budgetary payments though as TV licences were abolished decades ago.
The ABC is so Green Left biased, if the world were flat, it would fall of the left hand side. Australia now has a conservative government, which seethes at the blatant pro-left bias that has pervaded its reporting and news coverage.
It is an example of the cultural marxist infiltration of journalists, such that news at the ABC is now largely driven by ideology, and not factual news gathering.
The new government has taken a tough stance of refugees arriving by boat from Indonesia. A military led operation has been established to thwart the boat arrivals, which put very desperate people on intrepid boats across the Timor Sea to Australia, for a large fee. Unlike the previous Greens / Labor Government, scant information is provided to the media about the operation, so that people smugglers can't advertise their successes (as shown by the media) to keep the industry going.
The rabid Greens mentality in the ABC seethes at being kept in the dark, and loves nothing more than to vilify the Government, due to their ideologically driven disdain for the Government.
They screwed up, big time.
UNCORROBORATED allegations were broadcast by the ABC that the RAN had tortured asylum seekers on board a boat for Australia. These allegations were proved untrue, and the ABC has been shellacked, big time.
It is a real example of how deep the Green Left mentality has pervaded the media that news in a sense has become a form of internet forum driven by Left - Right ideology.
ABC must correct its errors, says Malcolm Turnbull
CHRISTIAN KERR AND SID MAHER THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 04, 2014 12:00AM
COMMUNICATIONS Minister Malcolm Turnbull has issued a thinly veiled warning to the ABC to correct and apologise for errors, as senior cabinet figures voiced outrage and backbenchers seethed over the broadcaster's handling of claims that asylum-seekers were deliberately burnt by defence personnel.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison yesterday demanded the broadcaster apologise for "outrageous slurs" against the navy while Joe Hockey revealed he has been so angry on occasions at ABC coverage he had called managing director Mark Scott to say "this is outrageous".
The comments came as Tony Abbott confirmed the government was examining the future of the ABC's involvement in the Australia Network and its role in "soft diplomacy".
The Prime Minister repeated his criticism last week of the ABC over its handling of unproven claims of torture by the navy and its reporting of The Guardian Australia's revelations of Australian spying on Indonesia.
"You would think any responsible news outlet, let alone the voice of Australia, the ABC would have sought corroboration before broadcast," Mr Abbott said of torture claims now under a serious cloud. "I want the ABC to be fair, balanced and accurate."
Mr Scott defended the ABC's exercise of the network contract. "The example we show in the region is of a fair, balanced independent public broadcaster."
An ABC spokesman cited independence when rejecting the Treasurer's criticisms, saying "ministers on both sides of the political fence" had been known "to personally convey to the
ABC frustrations about the organisation".
Mr Turnbull, who faced criticism from Coalition colleagues over his defence last week of the ABC, yesterday toughened his stance, warning that along with independence, the ABC also had statutory requirements for accuracy and impartiality.
He called on the national broadcaster to correct and apologise for incorrect reporting.
"The parliament has given the ABC editorial independence by law," Mr Turnbull told The Australian. "The same law has also required the ABC be accurate and impartial in its news and current affairs reporting 'according to the recognised standards of objective journalism'.
"The legal responsibility for ensuring this obligation is met is expressly stated in the law to lie with the board of the ABC which appoints the management of the ABC and sets the policies under which they operate."
Mr Turnbull, a former journalist, acknowledged that the media made mistakes. "However when a mistake is made, a news outlet's credibility is enhanced, not diminished, by acknowledging the error, correcting it and apologising for the offence caused," he said.
Last week ABC head of news content Gaven Morris ordered staff not to "embellish" or add "any flourish" to allegations of abuse at the hands of Australian border protection personnel by asylum seekers.
The federal government has strenuously denied the allegations of abuse.
Mr Scott said last night the criticism of the broadcaster over its reporting of the burns allegations was "not fair and is not correct".
"It was an important story to report, the right story to report," he told the PM program.
Mr Scott insisted the ABC had not acted as "judge and jury" on the veracity of the claims.
Despite broadcasting footage of burns with a voice-over saying it "appears to back" the allegations, Mr Scott insisted: "We've never said that we know the answer. I am convinced that that story on its merits needed to be broadcast and I'm standing by that story.
"If there's a problem with our broadcasts, if in fact we haven't held up to our editorial standards, if in fact we've had some breach or failure then we need to admit up to that. But our test is not 'are politicians happy with our content'."
When asked if ABC staff supported Mr Scott, staff-elected board member Matt Peacock declined to comment.
Former staff-elected board member and long-term ABC advocate Quentin Dempster said staff supported Mr Scott.
Mr Scott's remarks are likely to further infuriate government figures already angered by the asylum-seeker stories and fears of an anti-Coalition bias at the ABC.
ABC Media Watch host Paul Barry said ABC News had "overreached" with the original report of the asylum-seekers' claims, by essentially endorsing them. He said the ABC needed to admit it had "got it wrong".
Government sources say they expect both issues will be raised at the first joint party room meeting for the year when parliament returns next week.
On the ABC's 7.30 last night, Mr Abbott said the Coalition had for a long time had very serious issues about the Australian Network tender process which had given the Australia Network to "someone other than the ABC and then because of leadership problems inside the former government, the decision was changed". He said the audit office itself had found the tender had been handled badly.
Asked whether there was value in the service itself, Mr Abbott said "obviously it is important that we put our best foot forward, whether that's the best way to do it, whether there aren't other good ways of doing it, that's something we'll consider in the weeks and months ahead".]
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