ABC ombudsman: ‘We can do better’

The ABC’s inaugural ombudsman has told staff at the public broadcaster that they must “do better”, as she outlined her vision.

16-06-21- ABC managing director David Anderson and Chair Ita Buttrose in Parramatta CBD after announcing ABC HQ will move from Ultimo. Picture by Ryan Osland

The ABC’s inaugural ombudsman has told staff at the public broadcaster that they can “do better”, as she outlined her vision for overhauling the media organisation’s much-maligned audience complaints system.

Fiona Cameron, who assumed the role of ABC ombudsman on September 19, sent an all-staff email last Thursday, in which she said she was committing to “building on the credibility and trust audiences have in the ABC”.

“Complaint-handling procedures have changed over the years at the ABC and this is to be expected,” Ms Cameron’s email said.

“It is always good to embrace change and review how things can be improved because, as with any individual or organisation, the ABC can always do better.”

Ms Cameron’s appointment followed the release in May of an independent review of the ABC’s editorial complaints unit, conducted by former commonwealth and NSW ombudsman John McMillan and ex-SBS, Seven and Ten news director Jim Carroll.

The ABC complaints department has been under significant public pressure in recent years, following a series of editorial failings and factual errors across some of its flagship programs, including Four Corners, and two heavily promoted series – Ghost Train: Exposed (which wrongly suggested former NSW premier Neville Wran had engaged in corrupt activity), and Juanita: A Family Mystery, a documentary that featured testimony by a widely discredited source.

The review, which found there was “considerable scope for improvement” in the way the public broadcaster dealt with external complaints from its audience, recommended the ABC appoint an ombudsman amid perceptions that the taxpayer-funded giant was effectively marking its own homework.

However, the decision to allow Ms Cameron to report directly to the ABC board — and not to managing director David Anderson — prompted concern among many ABC staff, as did her long-ago association with the Liberal party.

In the late 1990s, Ms Cameron briefly worked for the Coalition government’s then communications minister Richard Alston, a noted critic of the ABC.

In the two decades since, Ms Cameron has worked in senior management positions at the Australian Radio Network, the Aurora Community Channel, Screen Australia, and a top-tier role at the nation’s media watchdog, the Australian Communications and Media Authority. In August, when Ms Cameron was announced as the ABC ombudsman, a number of left-leaning media outlets, including Guardian Australia and online newsletter Crikey, highlighted her past links to the Liberal party.

Former Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes penned a column, published by The Sydney Morning Herald, in which he slammed the move to allow Ms Cameron’s unit to bypass Mr Anderson.

In her email to staff last week, Ms Cameron wrote: “Some of the reactions to my appointment makes me think it’s important to declare that I have never been a member of a political party and have always believed in providing frank and fearless advice to either side of politics, accepting that politicians chart their own paths.

“I see this role as stepping into the shoes of a reasonable viewer, listener or reader and helping to promote the ABC’s key values of independence and integrity.

“These values are scrutinised at the ABC more than at any other media organisation – which is fair enough, given the organisation is owned by and serves all Australians.”

Earlier this year, ABC chair Ita Buttrose said the decision to allow the organisation’s inaugural ombudsman to report directly to the board was consistent with the approach taken by other public broadcasters, including the SBS and the BBC.