What does bias against the government at the ABC look like?
Culture warriors (for example, Gerard Henderson, Andrew Bolt, Piers Ackerman) on the Right continue to rail against the Left-wing bias in the ABC. They regard anything that isn’t 100% critical of the ALP government as being Left.
The Left are also railing against ABC bias, only they do it from Facebook and Twitter accounts, and not national newspaper columns.
The following screenshot is just one example of how bias gets in. Subtle and insidious.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3756875.htm
Christopher Pyne is part of Tony Abbott’s Opposition, whereas, David Bradbury is Assistant Treasurer.
You might see this, and think “so what?”. This is one example. If this was to happen with every news item, every blog post (and both sides have opinions on that), it would work to undermine the authority of the current democratically elected government, by giving seniority to the Opposition. This is from a news network, where people commonly say “they begin every news bulletin with ‘Tony Abbott says'”. Subtle and insidious.
It doesn’t matter that someone can argue the fact “oh, we all know Bradbury is in the Government”, what matters is how you feel. The more subtle it is, the easier it accusations of bias are to dismiss as “unhappy viewers”. Subtle and insidious. This kind of subtle bias may make a viewer feel that Pyne is the most important one in that interview, and view what he says from a position of power, rather than opposing. Come election day, how you feel about a politician, gut instinct, can have as much influence as what you know to be fact.
by Janet Sharp with -99- for Turn Left
Turn Left 2013 