Partisan push on ABC’s Media Watch

ABC’s Media Watch host Paul Barry. Picture: NRM

Omission is always a critical factor when it comes to the truth and the whole truth. A fortnight ago the ABC’s Media Watch had ­another one of its regular swings at this newspaper.

Predictably, it endorsed the ABC’s own Benjamin Law who is campaigning to encourage acceptance of gender transitioning for teenagers and railing against the reporting of other perspectives in this newspaper. Just as predictable was how Media Watch ignored the foul language and abuse Law uses in this public ­debate or the way he and his ABC producers were caught out recently with some editing that misled viewers in an unrelated documentary on the Chinese in Australia.

To bolster its case Media Watch used comments from a former reporter at The Australian, Tony Koch, lashing out (again) at his old journal. For some reason host Paul Barry forgot to mention that Koch spent the election campaign working hard for the ALP to unseat Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in the seat of Dickson. Unions, GetUp and other groups joined Labor in trying to demonise Dutton and drive him from parliament.

Koch worked on the campaign team for ALP candidate Ali France, including dealing with media requests and appearances, in what was one of the most prominent and vicious marginal seat contests of the election.

Tellingly, when Media Watch quoted Koch criticising The Australian in an episode during the campaign they mentioned this connection. Presumably, with the campaign over and Koch left to his own devices, they figured that any political agenda or motivation in his attacks on The Australian might have disappeared. Sure. Yet in their program the Monday before the election, after Media Watch disclosed Koch’s role with the ALP, they pointed out that two other former News Corp reporters supported his criticism — as if to assert that his views on The Australian were more about the defence of journalism than the pushing of political views.

But perhaps Media Watch should also have told us more about those endorsements.

One of them was from Paul Syvret who the ABC told us left The Courier-Mail last year. What they didn’t tell us was that in ­October he announced he was ­working for the Queensland branch of the CFMEU — only one of the most controversial, militant and aggressive left-wing unions in the country.

His politics is no secret. He tweeted an apology to the nation on behalf of Queensland on the night of the election, as well as another “wondering how a nation could vote for fear, lies and greed over hope and inclusion”. What a surprise that he would endorse the views of another former News Corp journalist who was campaigning for the ALP.

Media Watch also quoted a supportive tweet from yet ­another former News Corp scribe, Peter Logue. Yet on the very day of the ABC’s report, Logue had tweeted directly to Coalition Resources Minister Matt Canavan: “Enjoy opposition impotence, Matt.” And the day before that he tweeted: “Liberals — rich, thick and full of clots.”

Like most leftist barrackers, Logue’s twitter feed is amusing in hindsight. He tweeted about The Australian’s Newspoll showing the contest at Coalition 49 per cent and Labor 51 per cent, suggesting this “bollocks” would be fixed in the final Newspoll, which was more likely to have Labor on 53 per cent. He also accused the ­Coalition of saving an “immigration scare” for the final week but that it wouldn’t work because they had “no cred”.

Ten days out from the election Logue had it sorted. “Just remember bookies hate losing money, so watch the odds. It’s been an ALP victory for months. Ignore the mainstream media, it’s all a game to them.”

On election eve Logue tweeted a message to former Labor minister Craig Emerson who was reflecting on the late Bob Hawke’s wish for a Shorten Labor government. “Wish will come true, Craig,” tweeted Logue. “It will be a good night for the country he loved.” On the election weekend he said he was working on campaign booths for Labor.

To be fair to Media Watch it also quoted comments from a former editor of The Australian, David Armstrong, who lives in Thailand and was critical of the mix of columns in the paper when he announced on Facebook that he was no longer subscribing. I don’t know about Armstrong’s politics, but I do know something else he shared on Facebook that Media Watch did not include; he said that if he lived in Australia he would still subscribe. (Media Watch also reported some strange and non-specific comments made by then The Australian reporter Rick Morton to journalism students.)

So what Media Watch described as “eye-popping” and “damning” attacks on The Australian from “award-winning” former News Corp reporters and editors, turned out to be a mild whinge from a former editor who would buy the paper if he still lived in the country, and clearly partisan attacks by three former journalists who were then actively campaigning for either the union movement, the Labor Party or both.

Unsurprisingly robust media draws criticism. The Australian ­always has had critics and always will. But there is no need for the ABC to try to dress up partisan or ideological opponents as objective whistleblowers.