Investigation Report No. 3087

File no. / ACMA2013/1239
Broadcaster / Regional Television Pty Ltd
Station / TNQ
Type of service / Commercial Television
Name of program / Ten News at Five
Date of broadcast / 19 July 2013
Relevant code / Clause 4.4.1 of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010
Date finalised / 3 October 2013
Decision / No breach of clause 4.4.1 [present news fairly and impartially]

Background

  • On 29 July 2013, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) received a complaint about a segment of the program Ten News at Fivebroadcast byRegional Television Pty Ltd(the licensee) on 19July 2013.
  • The program is broadcast from 5pm to 6pm every eveningand provides coverage of local, national and overseas news, including sport and weather reports.
  • On 19 July 2013, the program broadcast a segment outlining a recent policy announcement made by the then Prime Minister the Hon Kevin RuddMP (Mr Rudd) concerning the arrival of asylum-seekers to Australia by boat. The segment ran for approximately 2 minutes, and included details of the policyand reactionsfrom politicians and community leaders.
  • The segment includeda news headline at the start of the program introducing the story,in which the program’spresenter referred to Mr Rudd’sannouncement asthe Prime Minister’s ‘solution to the asylum-seeker invasion’.
  • A transcript of the segment can be found atAttachment A.
  • The complainant’sconcern is that:

[The presenter] referred to asylum-seekers as an invasion; this is outrageous [as] they are fleeing persecution, not invaders [sic]. This terminology can only inflame the public’s response and demonise these poor people. Invaders are armed and want to control or subdue a country...

and that:

...I thought that news reporting was supposed to be balanced and impartial; obviously Ten network and Ten news isn’t [as] this terminology is highly emotive.

  • The licensee has submitted that ‘the overall presentation, tone and range of views conveyed in the heading and substantive story in their entirety ensured the news was presented fairly and impartially’. The licensee’s full submissions can be found at Attachment B.
  • The investigation has considered the licensee’s compliance with clause4.4.1 of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010 (the Code):

News and Current Affairs Programs

4.4 In broadcasting news programs (including news flashes) licensees:

4.4.1must present news fairly and impartially.

Assessment

  • This investigation is based on submissions from the complainant and the licensee, correspondence between the complainant and the licensee and a copy of the broadcast provided to the ACMA by the licensee. Other sources have been identified where relevant.
  • In assessing content for compliance with the Code, the ACMA considers the meaning conveyed by the relevant material. This is assessed according to the understanding of an ‘ordinary reasonable’ viewer.
  • Australian courts have considered an ‘ordinary, reasonable’ viewerto be:

A person of fair average intelligence, who is neither perverse, nor morbid or suspicious of mind, nor avid for scandal. That person does not live in an ivory tower, but can and does read between the lines in the light of that person’s general knowledge and experience of worldly affairs.[1]

  • The ACMA examines what the ‘ordinary, reasonable’ viewerwould have understood the relevant material to have conveyed, in the context of the relevant program segment. It considers the natural, ordinary meaning of the language, context, tenor, tone and inferences that may be drawn, and in the case of factual material, relevant omissions (ifany).
  • Once the ACMA has ascertained the meaning conveyed, it then determines whether the Code has been breached.
  • In addition, the ACMA has considerations it generally applies in determining whether or not a statement complained of was compliant with the licensee’s obligations in clause 4.4.1 of the Code. These are set out at Attachment C.

Issue: Whether the licensee presented news fairly and impartially

Finding

The licensee did not breach clause4.4.1 of the Code.

Reasons

  • The Code requirescommercial television licensees to present news programs fairly and impartially.
  • The news segment in this case dealt with a topical subject being the ongoing asylum-seeker debate, which is a subject of public and political importance.
  • Based on the complainant’s concerns, the ACMA has assessed whether the introductory statement ‘solution to the asylum-seeker invasion’ amounted to unfair and partial reporting of the segment.
  • The Macquarie Dictionary (Fifth Edition) defines the term ‘invasion’ as:

Invasion noun

1. the act of invading or entering as an enemy.

2. the entrance or advent of anything troublesome or harmful, as disease.

3. entrance as if to take possession or overrun.

[...]

  • The ACMA considers that the ordinary reasonable viewer would have understood the introductory statement as suggesting that Australia is being overrun by asylum- seekers.
  • The ACMA acknowledges the complainant’s submission that the term ‘invasion’can carry with it negative associations and connotations, including the underlying implication that asylum-seekers are undesirable.
  • It also acknowledgesthat the asylum-seeker issue is a controversial one, and requires careful treatment.
  • In this case the word was emotive and its use was ill-considered.
  • However, the ACMA considersthat this was not, of itself, conclusive evidence of unfairness or a lack of impartiality on the part of the licensee.
  • The use of particular terms should be considered in the context of asegment in its entirety.In this regard, theACMA considers that, overall, the segment was balanced, fair and impartial, noting in particular the following:
  • A number of alternative viewpoints on both the policy announcement and,more broadly, the asylum-seeker debate were offered during the segment. These included an excerpt of an interview with a refugee activist highlighting the importance of asylum-seeker wellbeing;
  • The language used by the reporter during theremainder of the segment was of a neutral and objective nature. The segment did notuse highly-chargedlanguage and didnot disparage or incite fear ofasylum-seekers;
  • Any suggestion of prejudgement conveyed through the initial headline was absent in the rest of the segment,which was a balanced, fair and impartial report ona topical and controversial policy - providing a broader context for the use of the term.
  • The ACMA finds that, on balance, the licensee did not breach of Clause 4.4.1 of the Code.

Attachment A

Transcript of the segment

Presenter– Tonight,stopping the boats - Kevin Rudd’s solution to the asylum-seeker invasion.

[Unrelated news headlines].

Presenter – Good evening. It could be his most important policy of the election - Kevin Rudd’s plans to stop the illegal smuggling of refugees into Australia. In the past few minutes, he’s outlined his package to stop asylum-seekers before they can even board a boat and told us what he’ll do with them if they do. [Reporter’s name] has more.

[Images of female asylum-seekerviolently wailing].

Reporter – The prospect of death at sea hasn’t stopped thousands making the journey to Australia. Now Kevin Rudd’s adding more reasons for asylum-seekers to think again.

Kevin Rudd (former Prime Minister) – From now on, any asylum-seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as refugees.

Reporter – Under Mr Rudd’s plan, people trying to get to Australia will be permanently resettled in Papua New Guinea.

Mr Rudd – I understand that different groups in Australia and around the world will see this decision in different ways.

Tony Abbott (former Opposition Leader) – The guy that started the problem is not the man to fix it.

Reporter – PNG’s Manus Island Detention Facility will undergo a huge expansion.

Scott Morrison (former Shadow Immigration Minister) – It’s always somebody else’s problem, and on this occasion it will be left to those in Papua New Guinea or Indonesia.

Reporter – Indonesia has also agreed to stop Iranians getting visas on arrival. This year alone, around 6,000 were issued one; an estimated 5,000 then boarded a boat to Australia.

Mr Morrison – Well, I welcome that initiative.

Reporter – Kevin Rudd terminated the carbon tax and revealed reforms to Labor’s leadership rules. This overhaul of asylum-seeker policy was the other major change he wanted to make before calling the election.

Refugee Advocate – The whole refugee debate is about politicking for the election. There aren’t policies in place which are actually about, you know, concern for the refugees themselves.

Reporter – Tony Abbott’s ride to the Lodge has been made a lot less certain by a Rudd revival.

Presenter – [Reporter’s name] there with that report.

Attachment B

Licensee’s submissions

The licensee sent the following to the complainant:

News at times is confronting and often tackles controversial issues including the Asylum Seeker crisis.

The issue is one that has shaped out political landscape for many years and continues to do so as we head towards another election.

We take on board your comments and concerns which have been raised with our senior production team.

The licensee then submitted the following to the ACMA on 10 September 2013:

The Program

The segment in question concerned the brief introductory headlines of the top stories in theprogram. The news program commenced with the presenter stating, “Tonight: Stopping theboats. Kevin Rudd’s solution to the asylum seeker invasion.” The text “RUDD’SSOLUTION” appeared onscreen accompanying footage of boats carrying asylum seekersbeing intercepted by the Australian Navy. Following the brief headlines, the news storyregarding asylum seeker policy changes was broadcast.

Compliance with Clause 4.4.1 of the Code

The relevant clause prescribes:

4.4 In broadcasting news programs (including news flashes) licensees:

4.4.1 must present news fairly and impartially;

The Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) has previously expressed that inassessing compliance with the obligation to present news fairly and impartially, the ACMAconsiders a range of factors, including the theme of the news story, the range ofperspectives that were presented or sought to be presented in relation to that theme, and theoverall presentation of the story.

Network Ten submits that news of the Government’s changes to asylum seeker policies wasbroadcast fairly and impartially. The 5 second headline was broadcast at 17:00:10.Immediately following the news headlines, the actual news story regarding the PrimeMinister’s announcement was broadcast at 17:00:42. The news story itself was approximately 2 minutes 18 seconds in length. The story began with the presenter stating,“Good evening. It could be his most important policy of the election. Kevin Rudd’s plans tostop the illegal smuggling of refugees into Australia. In the past few minutes he’s outlinedhis package to stop asylum seekers before they can even board a boat and told us what he’lldo with them if they do. [Name of reporter] has more.”

The following report outlined details of Prime Minister Rudd’s announcement of the RegionalResettlement Arrangement with Papua New Guinea and other initiatives to address peoplesmuggling and asylum seeker policy. These measures were expressed in the joint pressconference held by Prime Minister Rudd and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister O’Neill on19 July 2013. The report featured comments from the Prime Minister, Leader of theOpposition, the Shadow Minister for Immigration & Citizenship and Ian Rintoul, a refugeeadvocate, concerning the issue of asylum seekers. The report noted the politicalimplications to the changes to asylum seeker policy.

The news story included views from both major political parties as well as a spokespersonfor the Refugee Action Coalition. The language used by the reporter was objective, directand expressed without obvious emotion and the tone was relatively neutral throughout thereport. The language used by the presenter to introduce the story conveyed the significanceof the Prime Minister’s announcement which was widely reported that evening and in thefollowing days. The term in question was not used in the news report by the presenter orreporter.

We consider the overall presentation, tone and range of views conveyed in the headline andsubstantive story in their entirety ensured the news was presented fairly and impartially. Wenote the complaint in question was the only Code complaint received by either SouthernCross TEN or Network Ten.

Hence we submit the news program complied with Clause 4.4.1 of the Code.

Attachment C

Considerations which the ACMA has regard to in assessing the licensee’s compliance with clause 4.4.1 of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2010

The Code imposes on commercial television licensees the requirement that news programs be presented fairly andimpartially. The ACMA applies the ordinary English language meaning of the words, ‘fairly’ and ‘impartially’ in interpreting the Code. The Macquarie Dictionary (Fifth Edition) relevantly defines the words, ‘fairly’ and ‘impartially’ and related terms as:

Fairly verb 1.in a fair manner; justly; impartially.

Fairadjective 1. free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice: a fair decision; a fair judge.

Impartialadjective not partial; unbiased; just.

Partialadjective 5. biased or prejudiced in favour of a person, group, side, etc

Biasnoun 2.a particular tendency or inclination, especially one which prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question.

In relation to fairness and impartiality, ABA Investigation 1262[2]provided the following guidance:

Matters that could lead to a consideration that material has been presented unfairly or partially may include an unfair selection of material from the range of material available, an undue emphasis on certain material, or the unfair juxtaposition of material taken out of context.

In relation to the concept of impartiality, the ACMA Investigation 1913[3]provided additional guidance to this effect:

Achieving impartiality requires a broadcaster to present content in a way which avoids conveying a prejudgement, or giving effect to the affectations or enmities of the presenter or reporter in respect of what is broadcast.

In assessing compliance with the obligation to present news fairly and impartially, the ACMA considers a range of factors, including the theme of the news story, the range of perspectives that were presented or sought to be presented in relation to that theme, and the overall presentation of the story.

It should be noted that nothing in the Code prevents a licensee from making a thorough examination of the public words and actions of those in public life, or from making comment on them. It is legitimate for licensees to investigate and report on matters of public interest and concern, including situations which present individuals or events in a negative light. However, the ACMA considers that care in framing is important.[4] The licensee must be fair, unbiased and avoid conveying pre-judgement.

ACMA Investigation Report 3087 – Ten News at Five broadcast by TNQ on 19 July 20131

[1]Amalgamated Television Services Pty Ltd v Marsden (1998) NSWLR 158 at 164-167

[2] September 2003

[3] July 2008

[4]This is consistent with the approach taken in the ACMA Investigation 1943, decision dated 1/10/09.