Channel Ten has been accused of blurring the lines between news and advertising by running commercials for the natural gas industry that appear to be part of the network’s prime-time news bulletins.
Sources at the network told Guardian Australia that starting in March sponsored segments from gas lobbyists started running that were “made to look exactly the same as the headlines and using the 10 News sets”.
This was confirmed at the Senate greenwashing inquiry, when Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked Ten executives about the integration of gas sponsorship in the news, and why an ad for gas was “projected onto the news set, with the news straps and the logo underneath”.
“Australian Energy Producers would have had to pay extra to get that spot, which you say wasn’t integrated into the news even though their logo was being shown at the same time as the news was being read,” Hanson-Young said.
In one bulletin aired on 21 May, a voiceover says “this program is brought to you by Australian Natural Gas” as a giant banner for natural gas is projected on to the 10 News set in the studio alongside the 10 News logo.
While the video extols the benefits of natural gas, a news ticker runs along the bottom of the screen with the words “10 News First Top Stories” and shows headlines such as “Arrest warrant sought for Israeli PM” or “Mercy flights sent to New Caledonia”.
“Australian natural gas power plants are an important backup when conditions aren’t ideal for renewables and demand is high, because natural gas can be turned on or off on demand,” the voiceover says.
Ten’s chief sales officer, Rod Prosser, confirmed sponsors “pay a premium” for a spot directly before or after a program, in this case 10 News First, but insisted it was an ad and not part of the news program.
“Much like all of our sponsors and/or partners or advertisers that get premium place and placement,” Prosser said. “Who gets first and last in break, purely due to the lack of clutter, will always pay a premium.”
Hanson-Young, who is the chair of the greenwashing Senate inquiry, said the ad blurs the lines between news and advertising and is an attempt to increase the social licence of the gas industry.
“The fact that the gas lobby is trying to integrate paid fossil fuel propaganda into the news in a way which makes it very difficult for audiences to tell the difference between gas lobby advertising and the news is very concerning,” Hanson-Young told Guardian Australia.
“To have a paid ‘news ticker’ style ad appear during an actual news bulletin raises questions about where the line is between advertising and actual news.”
Ten’s head of regulatory affairs, James Boyce, told the inquiry the ad was “not part of the news and editorial of 10 News First in any shape, way or form”.
“It is purely another sponsor, another advertiser, as we have in any of our programs, including news,” Boyce said.
Ten’s deal with Australian Gas Producers comes after environmentalists accused the network’s MasterChef Australia program of greenwashing for signing sponsorship deals with gas companies.
The founder of Comms Declare campaign group, Belinda Noble, said vague guidelines around sponsored content are being exploited by gas and oil companies.
“The IPCC has already singled out Australian media as being influenced by fossil fuel narratives, and the increasing blurring of news and advertising by polluting industries is not only a threat to our environment but also the right of the public to have frank and fearless reporting on our energy future,” Noble told Guardian Australia.
A spokesperson for Ten defended the segments as a common style of billboard widely used across the TV industry at the start or end of an ad break.
“This commercial appeared in an ad break, was not part of the news and adhered to the various codes and laws governing advertising which we strongly support as a commercial broadcaster,” the spokesperson said.
“The advertisement played during scheduled commercial airtime, was clearly distinguishable to viewers as advertising and has not received any viewer complaints.”
In a major speech in New York on Wednesday, António Guterres called on news and tech media to stop enabling “planetary destruction” by taking fossil-fuel advertising money.
