Complaints on ABC News target alleged bias of rally reporting

The ABC is alleged to have interviewed supporters of Hezbollah without identifying it as a terrorist group, drawing the ire of the Jewish community.

The ABC argues that its preceding video packages provided sufficient context to its coverage of the Melbourne and Sydney Lebanon and Gaza solidarity rallies, despite official complaints from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. Picture: Valeriu Campan/NewsWire

The ABC is fielding complaints from the Jewish community over its coverage of the Lebanon and Gaza solidarity protests, in which it is alleged to have interviewed supporters of Hezbollah without identifying it as a terrorist group.

Sunday’s ABC News television coverage of the national protests provoked complaints for its reporting of both the Melbourne and Sydney rallies at multiple points throughout the day.

The Australian has seen a formal complaint lodged against the public broadcaster by Executive Council of Australian Jewry legal head Simone Abel over a television package from the Melbourne rally and multiple live crosses from the Sydney protest.

The news package detailing the Melbourne rally was reported by ABC journalist Nabil Al-Nashar and was widely criticised by Jewish groups for allegedly lacking necessary editorial context.

“This segment presented inaccurate, impartial, offensive, intimidating and inflammatory content that lauded (Hezbollah leader) Hassan Nasrallah – assassinated leader of Hezbollah – and utterly failed to contextualise Israel’s military actions against Hezbollah,” the complaint reads.

“In the segment of Nabil Al-Nashar at 19:00, Israel’s operation in Lebanon is portrayed as being an act of aggression with no context as to what preceded it. Mr Al-Nashar talks only about ‘Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon’, and fails to mention the 7 October, 2023, massacre or the repeated rocket fire from Hezbollah into Israel in contravention of international law.

ABC reporter Brianna Parkins in Sydney during the Lebanon and Gaza solidarity rally. Picture: ABC News

“Elimination of the state of Israel has been a primary goal for Hezbollah from its inception, yet the news segments that form the subject of this complaint seek to legitimise Hezbollah in the minds of ABC viewers, and also have the impact of inflaming social tensions in Australia by galvanising anger towards Israel and its supporters, and intimidating Jewish and Israeli viewers by showing scenes of thousands of people marching in support of Hezbollah.

“We seek a public apology from the ABC, a segment explaining that Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation responsible for the deaths and suffering of thousands of innocent civilians as well as for the destabilisation of Lebanon; and we expect that the ABC will provide all footage of those carrying Hezbollah flags to law enforcement authorities.”

While the evening package mentions protesters marked the death of Nasrallah, it does not tell viewers of the organisation’s terrorist status, nor mention the display of Hezbollah flags at the Melbourne rally in its coverage, which went to air on Sunday evening.

The ABC argued that preceding news briefings had provided sufficient context to their reporting. “The story reported by Nabil Al-Nashar was the third of three stories on the events in Lebanon commissioned for 7PM News bulletins. The other stories, filed by Kathryn Diss and Eric Tlozek from Jerusalem, provided full context on the recent conflict, which included the fact that Hezbollah had fired rockets ‘deep into Israeli territory’, depicted Israelis taking shelter under air raid sirens, Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu calling Nasrallah ‘not just another terrorist, the terrorist, the central engine of Iran’s axis of evil’, and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant calling Nasrallah a ‘mass murderer’,” a spokesperson for the ABC said.

“Nabil was commissioned to do a self-contained story on the protest in Sydney. In response to the criticism made at the protest of the Australian government, a segment from Foreign Minister Penny Wong was also included. Nabil fully attributed the protesters’ comments and did not endorse them in any way.”

In the Sydney live crosses, which went to air at 2:10pm and 3:23pm, ABC reporter Brianna Parkins speaks in front of portraits of Nasrallah. The first broadcast also shows Parkins speaking in front of a Hezbollah flag.

Neither piece-to-camera makes mention of the specific iconography she was pictured alongside. In social media video filmed independently of the ABC, protesters can be seen and heard heckling Parkins from off-camera.

“It’s beyond belief that our public broadcaster completely failed to show an accurate representation of the pro-Hezbollah rallies,” Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said.

“Where was the coverage of the proudly displayed terrorist symbols which is a crime in Australia? Where was the coverage of the public support of Hezbollah?

“This is a complete failure of accurate and unbiased reporting by the ABC.”

In the case of the Parkins’s coverage, the ABC said it was “impossible as a reporter at a protest to control the behaviour of protesters surrounding you”.

“Any editorial complaints will be handled by the office of the ABC Ombudsman,” a spokesperson said. “The live cross was a small part of comprehensive coverage across the ABC that day that conveyed the full context of events.

“It is important journalists accurately convey what is unfolding from the scenes they report at. The reporter is on the outskirts of the protest with her back to the crowd with people gathered behind her.”

The Australian makes no suggestion of improper editorial conduct by the ABC, just that it was questioned by ECAJ and the ZFA.

“Nabil Al-Nashar is a highly valued employee and has the ABC’s full support,” ABC director of news Justin Stevens said.

At midday on Monday, ABC News released an article in which it detailed the presence of Hezbollah flags at the Melbourne rally, and the subsequent appeals by politicians and members of the Jewish community for a criminal investigation.

The article was not attributed to a particular journalist.

“The ABC needs to explain how this story went to air. It fails to mention that Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation, which is a glaring omission of fact,” opposition communications spokesperson David Coleman said.