ABC chair Kim Williams’ stern warning to staff about need for impartiality

The new chair of the public broadcaster has put staff on notice that they are not to take part in activism, and to reconsider their roles if they cannot be objective.

ABC chair Kim Williams has warned journalists that activism is not welcome at the taxpayer-funded broadcaster and if reporters fail to observe impartiality guidelines they should leave the organisation.

Mr Williams, who commenced as ABC chair two weeks ago after the conclusion of Ita Buttrose’s term, said he had little tolerance for reporters who failed to be objective and stressed the importance of staff always aspiring to be “fair-minded”.

“If you don’t want to reflect a view that aspires to impartiality don’t work at the ABC,” he said in a recent episode of the Fourth Estate podcast with host Monica ­Attard.

“I really think this is a very serious issue.

“This is a publicly funded organisation, it is a publicly accountable organisation, it is a respondent to legislation to the national parliament and it must always aspire to be as fair-minded in its work as it possibly can be.”

In the 2022-23 financial year the ABC received $1.07bn in annual funding. 

Under its editorial policies it has a statutory duty to ensure the gathering and presentation of news and information is impartial and it reflects the standards required for objective journalism.

Kim Williams started his five-year tenure as ABC chair on March 7. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

In the podcast, Mr Williams also highlighted the importance of public interest journalism.

“It needs to ensure that there is a very conscious movement to better reflect the panoply of Australian society and its journalistic workforce,” Mr Williams said.

“But that doesn’t give people a leave pass to abandon the aspiration to impartiality. That’s just not available for discussion nor should it be.”

In the candid 30-minute discussion with Attard, Mr Williams raised his concerns about the use of social media by ABC staff, which has at times been problematic for the organisation.

The ABC suffered damaging fallout in 2021 from a defamation action by former Liberal MP Andrew Laming against Four Corners journalist Louise Milligan, who falsely accused him on X, formerly Twitter, of upskirting a woman. That matter cost taxpayers more than $200,000, including $79,000 in damages.

“I have to say to you that I have a deep and abiding and growing scepticism about the value of social media,” Mr Williams said.

“I have never tweeted. I have never had a public Facebook account. I have a private Facebook account, mainly for reasons of family. I read X regularly up until the ridiculous rebranding and the absolute lack of any kind of editorial responsibility in the service, but I never responded.”

Four Corners reporter Louise Milligan on social media falsely accused former Liberal MP Andrew Laming of upskirting a woman. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

He stopped short of saying journalists should not use social media but added: “I have grave difficulty with journalists being a respondent to what the public wants to hear.”

Attard also said another “issue causing extreme discontent within the organisation” concerned reports members of the ABC board had been lobbied by the Jewish community to remove controversial fill-in Sydney mornings radio host Antoinette Lattouf because of her conduct online.

Mr Williams said: “Board members individually should not be open to receiving such representations. I think the ABC has well-established lines of communication for such representations, certainly included in those lines of representation (are) the managing director and the chair, but the ombudsman inside the ABC has been created for this very reason.

“I think that it is always important that in receipt of any representation from one or opposing points of view that one has an extremely sober, serious impartiality in receiving the information and that one should not respond ever in haste to such representation.”

ABC fill-in presenter Antoinette Lattouf was sacked after completing three of five shifts at ABC Sydney in December. Picture: Instagram

Lattouf has taken her sacking to the Fair Work Commission claiming that she was unlawfully terminated from her position after sharing a post by Human Rights Watch about the war that read: “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza.”

Mr Williams also criticised the ABC for being too focused on itself instead of serving the Australian community.

“What I’m looking forward to is renewing a focus at the ABC on external issues from the ABC rather than the kind of addictive focus that so happens in the ABC of the ABC talking about itself to itself within itself,” he said in the podcast.

He was also critical of the ABC’s ability to adapt to the digital world – particularly its radio arm, which has been the subject of a long-running review to overhaul its falling ratings.

“The ABC has not pivoted to digital as effectively as many other organisations,” he said.

“I certainly think it’s pivoted in a much more direct and better fashion than most of its commercial counterparts in Australian domestic television, not necessarily as well in audio services.”

Mr Williams’ five-year tenure runs until 2029.