The ABC got it wrong when airing a recent report on an Alice Springs town meeting, managing director David Anderson said on Tuesday.
A radio bulletin that carried only the opinions of locals who said that racist viewpoints had been aired at the forum has become a political issue, as an Alice Springs crime wave is increasingly invoked in national debates by opponents of the Voice to Parliament.
The journalist had previously attracted criticism from Peter Dutton and talkback host Ray Hadley who had said the earrings she wore that featured the Indigenous flag were proof she could not be impartial.
Mr Anderson revealed there was a shortage of staff and Indigenous perspectives at the ABC’s Alice Springs bureau, but his appearance was made lively by Coalition senators prosecuting the case that the story was evidence of something deeper at the broadcaster.
‘Playing the race card’
Senator Jacinta Price accused the broadcaster of “playing the race card” in a hearing that had sharper criticism than usual during an Upper House tradition of accusing the ABC boss of ignoring alleged political bias.
The report had conveyed a “flavoured” account of the meeting, a review found, and breached standards by only running critical voices and “unduly favouring one perspective over all others”.
“It should not have gone to air,” Mr Anderson said. “The systems and processes we have in place did not pick up the issue.”
Mr Anderson said the piece had been filed by a reporter assigned to file for radio and a national news bulletin.
The TV piece was not criticised, but he said editors had asked too much of the reporter.
He also revealed she had been sent to cover Alice Springs because the local bureau did not employ Indigenous staff.
But the refrain about declining newsroom resources did not cut it with the broadcaster’s critics.
Focus on Alice Springs
As dividing lines have been drawn on this year’s Voice to Parliament referendum, Alice Springs has become a focus for opponents who say it will not achieve substantive change.
Senator Price, who makes appearances on Sky News, said the ABC framed its stories around stereotypes including a portrayal of “white Australians as racists and, of course, Indigenous Australians as victims”.
Mr Anderson was also criticised by an “incredulous” Senator Sarah Henderson, because he could not say in detail how the report had gone to air.
He had earlier faced queries about a social media post by ABC presenter Patricia Karvelas who had tagged the Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney – for which she was given a caution.
“She does actually post a number of selfies with herself and other parliamentarians,” Mr Anderson told the Senate hearing on Tuesday.
Karvelas had posted an election night selfie with Ms Burney, who is the first Indigenous woman elected to the New South Wales and then federal parliaments.
