ABC still consumed by bias says former chair Ita Buttrose

Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose has given a frank assessment of the national broadcaster’s self-absorption and professional failings. Ms Buttrose said her belief that there was an unconscious bias in news treatment had not changed and she could not understand the reluctance of some of the ABC interviewers not to give both sides of an argument. Baited by presenter Patricia Karvelas on ABC Radio on Monday to unload on News Corporation, Ms Buttrose gave some good advice. She said Karvelas and her colleagues should grow up and concentrate on doing their job. “If the ABC can’t take the criticism then it just should give up,” Ms Buttrose said.

It is an admission by Ms Buttrose, who left the ABC in March, that she had been unable to bring the organisation to fully adhere to its legal obligation to impartiality. She demonstrated that she had rediscovered the difference between the public broadcaster and the private media estate.

The ABC charter demands impartiality, something its staff have yet to properly learn. Those outside the ABC are free to judge it on its performance. In fact, other media companies have a responsibility to hold the ABC to account on behalf of all taxpayers who fund it, whether they consume its products or not.

Ms Buttrose is correct to identify bias by some at the ABC, something this newspaper has been able to highlight. Former editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell wrote on Monday about the different treatment given to unproven hydrogen energy and the proven technology of nuclear power. There is unconscious bias in the failure of the ABC to employ a diverse range of presenters across the political spectrum. Following his appointment, current ABC chair Kim Williams highlighted the importance of impartiality. But he missed a good opportunity to demonstrate leadership when he allowed political correspondent Laura Tingle to escape real censure for comments she made to the Sydney Writers’ Festival about Australia being a racist county.

As we have editorialised previously, Ms Buttrose was an experienced media performer who, despite much promise, failed to make a dent in the entrenched bias and unanswerable staff culture that underpins the decline in the ABC’s audience numbers. As the current head of a publicly owned institution, Mr Williams has a duty to deliver on the promise made following his appointment: “If you don’t want to reflect a view that aspires to impartiality, don’t work at the ABC.” He must act now, not wait until he has left the ABC staff collective behind.