Investigation Report No. 3265
File no. / ACMA2014/778Broadcaster / Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Station / ABW - ABC News 24
Type of service / National Broadcaster
Name of program / ABC News Mornings
Four Corners promotion
Date of broadcast / 1 September 2014
Relevant code / Standards 7.1 and 7.6 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 (revised in 2014)
Date finalised / 17 December 2014
Decision / No breach of standard 7.1 [harm and offence]
No breach of standard 7.6 [mitigate risks]
The complaint
In September 2014, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) commenced an investigation into a complaint about content broadcast during the ABC News Morningsprogram, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (the ABC) on 1 September 2014.
The program
ABC News Mornings is a news and current affairs program broadcast on one of the ABC’s multichannels, ABC News 24, starting at 9.00 am and concluding at 12 noon.
The complainant cited three items of concern in the program:
- a program promotion for a Four Corners story about the ‘White Widow’
- the repetition of ‘propaganda’ footage from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
- a photograph of American journalist James Wright Foley.
A transcript of the relevant parts of the broadcast can be found at Attachment A.
The complainant also raised concerns about the ABC’s handling of his complaint. However, the ABC Code stipulates that ‘ABC complaints procedures do not form part of the ABC Code of Practice’. Accordingly, the ACMA does not have jurisdiction to examine the complainant’s concerns about complaint handling: see section 150 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. Consequently, this aspect of the complaint has not been pursued in the investigation.
Assessment
The investigation is based on submissions from the complainant and the ABC and a copy of the broadcast provided to the ACMA by the ABC.
In assessing content for compliance with the ABC Code, the ACMA considers the meaning conveyed by the relevant material broadcast according to the understanding of an ‘ordinary, reasonable’ listener or viewer. Australian courts have considered an ‘ordinary, reasonable’ viewer to 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 considers the natural, ordinary meaning of the language, context, tenor, tone, visual images and any inferences that may be drawn. In the case of factual material which is presented, the ACMA will also consider relevant omissions (if any).
Once the ACMA has applied this test to ascertain the meaning of the material that was broadcast, it then assesses compliance with the ABC Code.
Issue 1: Harm and offence
Relevant code provision
Standard 7.1: Content that is likely to cause harm or offence must be justified by the editorial context.
Complainant’s submissions
The complainant’s submissions are set out at Attachment B.
Broadcaster’s submissions
The broadcaster’s submissions are set out at Attachment C.
Finding
The ABC did not breach Standard 7.1 of the ABC Code.
Reasons
Standard 7.1 of the ABC Code must be interpreted and applied in accordance with the principles underlying it.
The harm and offence principles of the ABC Code relevantly state that theABC broadcasts comprehensive content that aims to inform, entertain and educate diverse audiences. This can result in challenging content which may offend some of the audience, some of the time. The ABC should not broadcast content that is likely to harm or offend without a clear editorial purpose.
The principles also state that:
Applying the harm and offence standard requires careful judgement. Context is an important consideration. What may be inappropriate and unacceptable in one context may be appropriate and acceptable in another […] consideration of the nature of the target audience for particular content is part of assessing harm and offence in context, as is any signposting that equips audiences to make informed choices about what they see, hear or read.
To reach a decision in this matter, the ACMA has addressed the application of Standard 7.1 by working though thefollowing questions:
- Does the material have the intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm or offence?
If it has no capacity to be likely to harm or offend, then the matter ends there. But if the answer to question 1 is 'yes', then the following further questions arise:
- What factors are there moderating any harm or offence?
- What is the editorial context?
- Does the editorial context justify the likely harm or offence?
1. Does the material have the intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm or offence?
The complainant raised concerns about the followingitems within the program:
- a program promotion for a Four Corners story about the ‘White Widow’
- the repetition of ‘propaganda’ footage from ISIS
- aphotograph of the American journalist James Wright Foley.
These items are addressed below.
Four Corners program promotion
The program promotion concerned a story on Four Corners about the activities and whereabouts of an English woman named Samantha Lewthwaite, dubbed the ‘White Widow’. According to the program promotion,Lewthwaite was accused of being ‘the most wanted female terror suspect in the world’.
The promotion, which wasone minute and 50 seconds in duration, briefly explained Ms Lewthwaite’s upbringing, marriage to a suicide bomber and evasion from law enforcement agencies. Several intervieweesspoke about Ms Lewthwaite, and an actress read an excerpt from Ms Lewthwaite’s diary. Images of Ms Lewthwaite and various aspects of her life were shown, accompanied by the voiceover of a narrator providing biographical information.
The promotion did not contain any footage of violence,encourage viewers to join ISIS or other terrorist organisations, or glamorise Ms Lewthwaite and her actions or lifestyle. The material presented was biographical in nature, and the selected footage was directly relevant to the material being presented.
For these reasons, the ACMA does not consider that the material broadcast had the intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm or offence.
As this footage has not met the threshold of being likely to cause harm or offence, it was not necessary for the ACMA to consider whether it was justified by the editorial context.
ISIS‘propaganda’ footage and photograph of American journalist
The footage featuring ISIS fighters appears in segment six of the broadcast material and is one minute and 20 seconds in duration. The footage predominantly featuresadult maleswhose faces are covered by scarves in a number of settings, including:
- driving in vehicleswhile holding up the ISIS flag and, at times, weapons
- sitting on the ground in a circle listening to one of the men speaking
- engaged in military training exercises holding automatic rifles.
It appears likely that the relevant footage of ISIS personnel has been taken from ISISpropaganda or recruitment videos, although it is not expressly identified as such.
The audio from the propaganda videos is not played – instead, the footage is accompanied by audio and occasional visual excerpts taken from an interview withDr Anthony Billingsley, a specialist in international law and Middle East politics at the University of New South Wales, where he gives his opinion that the international community should not be getting involved in fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
It is noted that otheritems in the program contain footageof men in military uniforms, however these are images of Iraqi, Peshmerga orAlliance forces rather than ISIS, and therefore do not fall within the scope of the complainant’s concerns.
The footage featuring the photograph of American journalist, James Wright Foley, who was killed by ISIS, appears in segment two of the broadcast. The images consist of two almost identical photos, taken from slightly different angles. Both photos depict Mr Foley in orange clothing kneeling while a masked man wearing black clothes stands beside him. The masked man has one hand on Mr Foley’s shoulder and is holding what appears to be a knife in his other hand.
The photosare taken from a propaganda video produced and released by ISIS titled ‘A message to the US’. The two images are broadcast for eight seconds in total.
The ACMA considers that propaganda videos for ISIS, by virtue of their very nature and purpose of encouraging young Muslims to join an ASIO-defined terrorist organisation[2], have an intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm in some circumstances.
2. What factors are there moderating any harm or offence?
The interpretation provision of the ABC Code requires the ACMA to have due regard for the nature of the content under consideration. In this case, the content is respectively, excerpts from ISIS propaganda videos that formpart of a news report aboutthe Iraq conflict, and a news report about the appointment of the 2014 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations (UN), Ms Laura John.
While the contenthasan intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm in some circumstances, the video footageof the ISIS fighters and the photo of anAmerican journalist wereboth directly relevant to the news reports in which they appeared.
The ISIS propaganda video was not shown in its entirety, and the excerpts werebroadcast without the original audio – instead, they were accompanied by audio ofDr Anthony Billingsley speaking about the broader issues of the Iraq conflict and what it meant for Australia. The excerpts were also followed by footage showing allied forces dropping supplies from a transport plane.
The images of the American journalist were brief and also without the audio from the ISIS video from which they were taken. The images appear to have been carefully selected – they do not contain depictions of violence or the after-effects of violence. The footage was accompanied by audio ofAustralian UN Youth Representative Laura Johnspeaking about the likely despair people felt at the news of the journalist’s death, as part of her explanation of the top concerns ofyoung Australians.Prior to her reference to the journalist, John had briefly explained how a school student had expressed concern about kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren, and a photograph of the Nigerian school children had been broadcast for illustrative purposes.
These factors, at least to some degree, moderated against any likely harm.
3. What is the editorial context?
In assessing the editorial context for the content, the ACMA has considered: the nature of the program, the target audience, any signposting and the editorial purpose. These factors are set out below:
The nature of the program
The purpose of ABC News is to report the top stories of the day and provide live coverage of events as they unfold, as well as to provide comprehensive analysis and original reporting from ABC reporters in Australia and around the world.
The target audience
News and current affairs programs are targeted at a mature audience. Audience expectations of a news and current affairs programwould include coverage of world news and, in particular, world news which potentially impacts local affairs.
In respect of the footage from the ISIS propaganda videos, the ACMA accepts the ABC’s submission that ‘our reports are aimed at alerting the wider public to their activities and the growing danger those activities pose’.
Signposting
There were no specific verbal warnings given about the nature of the content prior to the broadcast. However, the propaganda footage of the ISIS fighters was broadcast after the newsreader introduced the topic of Australia joining an international team to transport weapons into northern Iraq to arm troops fighting against ISIS.
Editorial purpose
The ACMAalso accepts the ABC’s submission that ‘every report we run provides context surrounding the recent events that have occurred and have been described for what they are. They are by no means glamorising the actions of ISIS. In line with our editorial policies, the vision we show during our reports is a graphic representation of the news we are reporting on’.
The video excerpts from the ISIS propaganda videoswere used within the editorial context of a news report on the breaking of the ISIS siege of Amerli by Iraqi and Kurdish forces with aid from American air support. While in a certain context it could have been used to encourage viewers to join ISIS, the ACMA considers that, in the particular context of the news report, the footage was not shown to gratuitously cause harm or to encourage viewers to join ISIS. Rather, it was central to the story being presented and was shown for relevant illustrative purposes.
The images of the American journalist were used within the editorial context of an interview with the Australian UN Youth Representative who was speaking about the concerns of young Australians about world issues. In this regard, it was editorially justified for the segment to provide a relevant image to accompany the interviewee’scomments. As with the ISIS propaganda footage, the photos were not shown to gratuitously cause harm, but rather as a visual accompaniment to the views expressed.
4. Does the editorial context justify the level of likely harm or offence?
The material for both segments was broadcast within a context of serious reportage of matters of public interest. Although the material had an intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm in some circumstances, the use of the material in each of the cases assessed was justified by the editorial context.
Accordingly, the ABC did not breach standard 7.1 of the ABC Code.
Issue 2: Mitigate risks
Relevant code provision
Standard 7.6: Where there is editorial justification for content which may lead to dangerous imitation or exacerbate serious threats to individual or public health, safety or welfare, take appropriate steps to mitigate those risks, particularly by taking care with how content is expressed or presented.
Complainant’s submissions
The complainant’s submissions are set out at Attachment B.
Broadcaster’s submissions
The broadcaster’s submissions are set out at Attachment C.
Finding
The ABC did not breach Standard 7.6 of the ABC Code.
Reasons
The ACMA considers that propaganda videos for ISIS, by virtue of their very nature and purpose of encouraging young Muslims to join an ASIO-defined terrorist organisation, may potentially lead to dangerous imitation or exacerbate serious threats to individual or public health in some circumstances.
As discussed above, the excerpts were presented for relevant illustrative purposes within the editorial context of a legitimate news report on a matter of public interest.
The video footage was not shown in its entirety, rather it appeared to be disjointed excerpts taken from one or more videos. Each of the excerpts was of a brief duration and did not include the audio from the relevant footage. The excerpts were also interwoven with other footage, including footage of a studio interview commenting on the issues of western participation in Middle East conflict and footage of allied forces dropping supplies. The lack of complementary audio combined with the random use of various video images disrupted the intended narrative structure of the propaganda videos to the point that the potential for harm was mitigated.
The photos of the American journalist in the segment were used in the context of illustrating the concerns of young Australians about global issues, as explained by theAustralian UN Youth Representative. The images were brief and were carefully selected to lack detail, and the associated commentary was clearly condemning the incident depicted.
For these reasons, the ACMA is satisfied that there was editorial justification for content which may lead to dangerous imitation or exacerbate serious threats to individual or public health in some circumstances and that the ABC took appropriate steps to mitigate those risks.
Accordingly, the ABC did not breach Standard 7.6 of the ABC Code.
Attachment A
Transcript – ABC News 24, 1 September 2014
Segment One
Male newsreader: And in Iraq government and Kurdish forces have managed to reach the jihadist besieged town of Amerli where thousands of people have been trapped for more than two months. An Iraqi military spokesman said that government troops had entered the town with the assistance of Shiite militiamen and Kurdish forces. Iraqi aircraft also carried out airstrikes on the Islamic State fighters who’ve been surrounding the town. The US military also confirmed that it had carried out airstrikes on targets near Amerli. Thousands of residents in the town were facing food and water shortages as fears mounted that the Islamic State fighters would target them because of their faith (vision depicts multiple shots of Iraqi forces firing weapons).