ABC must ‘aspire’ to be free from bias, says new chair Kim Williams

Amid a rolling crisis at the national broadcaster over the issue of ­objective coverage, Kim Williams says it is vital the ABC is ‘balanced and sober’.

New ABC chair Kim Williams, right, will replace Ita Buttrose.

Incoming ABC chair Kim Williams says the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s news and current ­affairs reporting must have “an ­aspiration to freedom from bias”, amid a rolling crisis at the media organisation over the issue of ­objective coverage.

Describing the role of ABC chair as a “solemn responsibility” and “probably the hardest job in media in Australia”, Williams, who is the son-in-law of late Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam, will succeed Ita Buttrose when her term ends on March 6.

“I think at the core of all journalism at the ABC is the imperative of being absolutely verifiably independent, offering at all times true journalistic integrity and to the extent possible in human ­affairs, having an aspiration to freedom from bias,” Mr Williams said following the announcement of his appointment.

The 71-year-old told The Australian on Wednesday that his comments were not a veiled swipe at the current leadership team of the ABC; rather, he was simply observing the expected “standards” of the public broadcaster as set out in the organisation’s charter.

“I have a commitment to a set of common objectives and protocols for the ABC operationally, in terms of editorial behaviour and a mutuality of civility among staff,” he told said, adding that he was passionate about upholding the “fundamental standards of journalism”.

Mr Williams has considerable experience in the broadcast industry, having been chief executive officer of Foxtel from 2001 to 2011. He later became chief executive officer of News Limited (before it became News Corporation in 2013) for two years.

He was also the chief executive at the Australian Film Commission, Southern Star Entertainment and Fox Studios Australia, served as the chair of the Sydney Opera House Trust from 2005 until 2013, and spent five years as an AFL commissioner.

In an earlier interview with the ABC on Wednesday, he addressed the issue of biased news coverage – a criticism that has been levelled at the public broadcaster in recent months over its handling of the ­Israel-Hamas conflict.

”Bias is often in the eyes of the beholder; one needs to obviously have a framework that gives some intelligent sense to that sense of a bias-free approach,” he said.

When the ABC receives criticism, Mr Williams said “it is important that the ABC at all times maintains a balanced and sober response … and defends its position that is not only grandiloquent but calm, measured and authoritative.”

He declined to specifically comment on the drama surrounding the sacking in December of fill-in presenter Antoinette Lattouf, who was ousted by ABC management for breaching the organisation’s social media policy after posting about the war in the Middle East.

But on the vexed issue of ABC journalists’ use of social media, he said: “It’s a “very delegate transgression when one moves from one’s institutional responsibility, one’s legislative responsibility, as all members of the ABC workforce are respondents under the ABC Act.

“It’s a delicate matter when you choose to set that aside and express your own opinions being of maximum, at times of triumphant, purpose. I’m not sure that’s a wise thing to do.”

Mr Williams rejected suggestions that he was a Labor Party appointee, given his familial links to the ALP, pointing out that the independent nominations panel had put his name forward and that he was not a so-called “captain’s pick”.

He said he enjoyed a “cordial professional relationship” with Anthony Albanese but the pair were not close friends.

“I respect the man, as I do many politicians,” he said.

Similarly, he said he and ABC managing director David Anderson “are not well-known to each other”.

Asked about his reputation for being a straight-shooter in the workplace, Mr Williams said: “I don’t mean ever to be hectoring or a bully.

“I’m not a bully. I think anyone who knows me would say, ‘No, Kim’s not a bully’.”

In announcing Mr Williams’s appointment on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said: “The ABC plays an essential role in Australia – it’s a pillar of our democracy, a lifeline in disaster, a voice for the regions, and part of our cultural identity.

“Kim is such a perfect fit for the role, it’s almost as if it were made for him.

“He has led news organisations including News Corp, he has been involved in sporting organisations, (and) many, many arts organisations including those engaged in music and the theatre.

“Kim is someone who gets the ABC. And he’s someone who ­understands instinctively what a national broadcaster can and should be.”

Former Victorian Labor premier Steve Bracks, a long-time friend of Mr Williams, was interviewed on ABC’s Radio National breakfast program by host Patricia Karvelas on Wednesday shortly after the appointment was announced and said: “Kim Williams probably has the greatest depth of understanding of the media more broadly in Australia than anyone else I would know.

“He was in subscription TV for quite a while, he was with the ABC at one stage setting up a cable system, he’s worked for the print media … he’s really someone who brings a great body of work into this role and I think he’ll do a fantastic job.”