ABC coverage of coronation ‘totally misread the mood’, critics claim

The ABC’s coverage of the coronation has been accused of bagging the “living daylights out of the monarchy” - but others have welcomed it.

Radio presenter Neil Mitchell is the latest in a chorus of media commentators to criticise the ABC over its coverage of the King’s Coronation on the weekend.

On Monday morning, Mitchell told his 3AW listeners that the ABC’s coverage “totally misread the mood” and spent too much time criticising the monarchy in the lead-up to the crowning at Westminster Abbey.

“They had a four-person panel in the lead-up, three of them republicans,” Mitchell said.

“They are talking over this footage of this grand ceremony being prepared, souring the mood, so a lot of people turned off.”

The panel, which included presenters Jeremy Fernandez and Julia Baird, as well as Q+A host Stan Grant and Craig Foster, discussed colonisation and the damage the monarchy had caused Indigenous Australians leading into coronation.

The ABC's panel during King Charles III's coronation including co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement Craig Foster, Liberal MP Julian Lesser, presenters Jeremy Fernandez and Julia Baird and Q+A host Stan Grant on May 6, 2023.

“I really wonder sometimes why we feed these ABC people, I don’t blame the people on air, it’s whomever in management decides, “ah, here’s a good idea, let’s use footage from London while we bag the living daylights out of the monarchy”,” Mitchell continued.

“Somebody in the ABC needs to be accountable for this, as the national broadcaster it should have been the place you go to see the coverage of the coronation, instead you see all this bitterness about our Indigenous history.”

Mitchell was not the only one to take issue with the panel’s unbalanced nature and argued that the ABC should have been a place to see the coverage of the coronation, not a platform for criticism of the monarchy.

“They had a token person who represented the monarchy form of live, then we had the line-up of people wanting to give it. It’s just not the platform for it. There’s no dignity attached to it,” Ray Hadley from 2GB Sydney added.

Neil Mitchell and others criticised the ABC’s coverage of King Charles III’s coronation, claiming it was inappropriate and biased against the monarchy.. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

In a scathing op-ed, Herald Sun columnist Susie O’Brien wrote: “Program bosses at the taxpayer-funded network should not have scheduled the program titled ‘The Coronation: A discussion about the Monarchy in 2023’ that dominated by outspoken republicans and Indigenous anti-monarchists.

“As Australia heads inevitably towards a republic, I welcome such scrutiny of the British Royal Family. However, Saturday was a night to enjoy the celebration, not focus on extermination,” she said.

ABC viewers threatened to change the channel during the network’s Coronation coverage due to a panel discussion about King Charles and the monarchy.

Some viewers praised the discussion and points made by Stan Grant as mature and impressive, while others threatened to change the channel. Picture: ABC

During the program, Stan Grant noted that the British invasion in 1788 was the start of suffering for Indigenous people.

“The Crown is not above politics to us, because the symbol of that Crown was, it represented the invasion, the theft of land, and in our case, the exterminating war which next year will mark 200 years,” Grant said.

“In the name of that Crown, martial law was declared on my people, Wurundjeri people, next year marking 200 years is the declaration of martial law. A war reported at the time as an exterminating war … We need to understand what this represents.”

Grant said that because of Australia’s history with British invasion, Indigenous Australians would also view the coronation as a continuation of the damage created by colonialism. “It (the ceremony) holds weight for First Nations people because that Crown put a weight on us, and we are still dealing with that,” he said.

Channel Seven’s coronation coverage won the Saturday night ratings, with the ABC coming in third. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Despite the anger from the some in the media, Twitter showed not all were turned off by the commentary.

“Holy s**t this was not what I was expecting from the ABC coronation coverage – Stan Grant and Craig Foster absolutely going OFF on the monarchy and the Empire and its legacy of genocide and pain,” wrote one Twitter user.

“It was impressive and grown-up discussion, something we don’t get enough of from the media. I’m very impressed even though as a commentator Stan generally annoys me,” wrote another.

“Stan Grant is ripping into the Crown, and it is amazing,” another user tweeted.

According to OzTAM figures, Channel Seven’s coronation coverage won the Saturday night ratings, ahead of Nine, with ABC coming in third.

- With NCA NewsWire