Investigation Report No. 3116

File No. / ACMA2013/1348
Broadcaster / Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Station / 2RN ACT
Type of Service / National Broadcaster
Name of Program / First Dog on the Moon
Date of Broadcast / 22 September 2013
Relevant Code / Standards 7.1and 7.7of the ABC Code of Practice 2011
Date finalised / 22 November 2013
Decision / No breach of Standards 7.1 and 7.7 (harm and offence)

Background

  • On 30 September 2013, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) received a complaint about the First Dog on the Moonsegment on the ABC radio programSunday Extra broadcast by 2RN ACT (the ABC) on 22 September 2013.
  • First Dog on the Moonis a satirical segment broadcast on Sunday mornings during the Sunday Extra program. The segment is written and voiced by a cartoonist and described on his blog as a ‘spoken cartoon’.[1] The ABC website describes the segment as including:

Advice to help you navigate the modern world from the First Dog on the Moon Institute.[2]

  • On 22 September 2013, the segment (played at around 11am) focused on the recent swearing in of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister, and satirisedMr Abbott’s decision to appoint only one woman to the new Cabinet. During the segment, the presenter commented:‘Things were so much less complicated when we all knew who had the vagina and who was one’. There was also a reference to there being ’loads of vaginas’ in the previousCabinet.
  • The segment had a duration of just over 4 minutes. A transcript of it can be found at Attachment A.
  • The complainant submitted the following to the ABC:

I caught on kH 846 just several minutes before 10am this morning Sunday 22/09/13 a piece of journalism that was offensive in its language and tone. It was a male commentator speaking on current political issues. I did not hear his name, nor the full report, as it was so offensive that I turned off the radio. As a female, I felt quite abused by his comment. The male commentator made some reference to women in parliament "by counting their vaginas". The tone of the piece was arrogant and rude.

  • The ABC replied as follows:

On 22 September, First Dog on the Moon parodied the new federal government ministry and in particular the near absence of women in the cabinet.

The segment is meant to amuse and is not flagged as serious journalism, but Radio National appreciates that humour is very particular and community opinions vary widely.

  • The ACMA notes that the segment included two references to ‘vagina’, but there was no reference to ‘counting’ them.
  • The investigation has considered the ABC’s compliance with standards 7.1 and 7.7of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 (the Code):

Harm and offence

7.1Content that is likely to cause harm or offence must be justified by the editorial context.

[...]

7.7Avoid the unjustified use of stereotypes or discriminatory content that could reasonably be interpreted as condoning or encouraging prejudice.

Assessment

  • This investigation is based on submissions from the complainant, correspondence between the complainant and the ABC, and a copy of the broadcast provided to the ACMA by the ABC. 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’listener.
  • Australian courts have considered an ‘ordinary, reasonable’listenerto 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.[3]

  • The ACMA examines what the ‘ordinary, reasonable’listenerwould 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 (if any).
  • Once the ACMA has applied this test to ascertain the meaning of the material that was broadcast, it then determines whether that material has breached the Code.

Issue: Harm and offence

Finding

The ABC did not breach standards7.1 or 7.7 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011.

Reasons

  • Standards 7.1 and 7.7 of the Code must be interpreted and applied in accordance with the overarching principles of standard 7 (the principles).[4]
  • The principles relevantly include 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. Coarse language, disturbing images or unconventional situations may form a legitimate part of reportage, debate, documentaries or a humorous, satirical, dramatic or other artistic work.

Standard 7.1

  • At the outset, the ACMA acknowledges that some listeners may have found offensive the two references to ‘vaginas’ during the discussion of female representation in Cabinet.[5]Some listeners may also have been offended by the use of the word alone – the ACMA notes that in 2012 the Advertising Standards Bureau received the highest number of complaints for a commercial about a sanitary product that included the word ’vagina’.[6]
  • However, the Code provides that‘content that is likely to cause harm or offence mustbe justified by the editorial context’, and the principles make it clear that humour and satire are relevant considerations.
  • While the reference to women as ‘vaginas’ could be considered offensive in other contexts, the ACMA considers that the audience would have understood from the outset that this particular segmentwas heavily laced with satire and sarcasm, and that the speaker was in actual fact taking a pro-female stance on the issue of the under-representation of women in politics and in Cabinet in particular.
  • The speaker introduced himself as ’Walkley award winning cartoonist and proud misogynist First Dog on the Moon’ (an introduction so improbable as to put the listener on notice that what follows is likely to be in the nature of satire) and used a sarcastic tone throughout.
  • The ACMA considers that the reference to women as ‘vaginas’ and ‘loads of vaginas’was used mockingly as a thinly-veiled criticism ofthedisproportionate representation of women in Parliament, particularly given that the segment also included:
  • Statements that:
  • ‘Australia’s in the business of stopping things... we’re stopping women, we’re stopping fibre at the node...’
  • ‘the whole whining about only one woman in Cabinet’ is ‘a bit rich really’ before sarcastically suggesting that the selection process was ‘clearly on merit. I mean, Peter Dutton is in there’.
  • The description of Mr Abbott as a ‘sexist weirdy’.
  • The hypothetical suggestion that if Mr Abbott were to make a quip about the presence of only one female in the Cabinet, the rest of its members would have‘laughed and straightened their blue ties and thought he was an adorable daggy dad, rather than Australia’s creepiest Prime Minister since Harold Holt...’
  • In addition, the ACMA considers that regular listeners would be familiar with the satirical style of the program, and that some may also be familiar with the ‘First Dog on the Moon’ cartoons that appear regularly in Crikey, an independent online news service.
  • The ACMA considers that to the extent that the references to ‘vaginas’ may have causedharm or offence, they were justified by the editorial context of the segment and accordingly, the ABC did not breach standard 7.1 of the Code.

Standard 7.7

  • The ACMA acknowledges that referring to women in Parliament as ‘vaginas’ may have been interpreted by some asa manifestation of sexist stereotypes and that in certain contexts, this may well be the case. However, for the reasons outlined above, the ACMA considers that listeners would have appreciated that the segment wasa satirical and heavily sarcastic piece with the primary goal of criticising the treatment ofwomen in politics.
  • The ACMA is satisfied that in this clearly delineated and satirical context, the use of the term ‘vagina’ was not an unjustified use of a stereotype for the purposes of standard 7.7.
  • While the ACMA acknowledges that thecomments offended the complainant, the ACMA does not consider that the comments could reasonably be interpreted ashaving condoned or encouraged prejudice against women.
  • Accordingly, the ABC did not breach standard 7.7 of the Code.

Attachment A

Transcript of the program

[Music to start segment]Hello patriots, welcome to First Dog on the Moon’s Guide to Modern Living. I’m Walkley award winning cartoonist and proud misogynist First Dog on the Moon.

Congratulations Australia, Tony Abbott’s been sworn in as our 28th Prime Minister and he’s been Prime Minister for almost four days now. How is he doing? Has he kept any of his promises, or were they all lies like Kevin said they would be? Remember Kevin? Good times. But we’re here to talk about Tony because as he said on election night – Australia is open for business! And what is Australia in the business of? Well I’m glad you asked. Australia’s in the business of stopping things, 24/7. Right now the Government’s flung open the doors to crazy Tony’s termination warehouse sale. You can get anything you want discontinued, suspended, finished and ended in a wide variety of colours and sizes. If you want closure, conclusion, cessation, tools down and bugger off delivered right to your door, just call us now and we’ll throw in a six pack of interruption and a very handy thesaurus.

But what does this really mean? Well specifically, we’re in the business of stopping the boats, sort of, we’re certainly stopping people knowing about the boats. We’re stopping women, we’re stopping fibre at the node. Australia will be turning back climate change but only when it’s safe to do so. We’ll be stopping the gays getting married, stopping fat cat bureaucrats from all their fat cattering about. We are flat out like a lizard drinking, just stopping, stopping, stopping, stopping, stopping. Don’t tell me the citizens of this nation can’t be world class stopperers. Yes we can. Try and stop us Australia. No, wait, don’t, that would be confusing.

Look, there is of course just one thing that we know Prime Minister Abbott can’t stop, and that is himself from being a sexist weirdy. Of course, between now and Tony being dumped as Liberal leader, we’re going to hear a lot about the Prime Minister being an old school 50s style man’s man. Here at the Guide to Modern Living we say it’s about time. How refreshing is it to get rid of all this confusing – is this woman the Governor General or the cleaning lady carry on? Things were so much less complicated when we all knew who had the vagina and who was one. And the whole whining about only one woman in cabinet thing, it’s a bit rich really. As the Prime Minister has said himself, the decision is clearly on merit. I mean, Peter Dutton is in there, and that speaks volumes. We all know there’d be two awesome chicks in cabinet, except for Indi. [laughs]

Don’t forget that the last cabinet had loads of vaginas and they buggered up all sorts of stuff. Are women overrated? Well it’s a good question, but we’re not going to find out in this electoral cycle. I’m confident that when Tony walked into the first cabinet meeting he turned to his Deputy Julie Bishop and said, like he has no doubt said to so many other women alone with a group of men “You’d be the most popular girl in the place I suppose wouldn’t you”. And to her credit, Julie didn’t burn him to a crisp with her death ray laser eyes or kung fu him in the neck with a robot claw. I’m sure she just chuckled and simpered a little and the whole cabinet laughed and straightened their blue ties and thought he was an adorable daggy dad, rather than Australia’s creepiest Prime Minister since Harold Holt was found in the parliamentary koi pond wearing only a pair of gumboots filled with custard. Whatever did happen to that guy? Whatever. Batten down the hatches and don’t forget to bring a plate ladies – it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

This has been First Dog on the Moon’s Guide to Modern Living, proudly brought to you by the First Dog on the Moon Institute. [Music to finish]

ACMA Investigation Report 3116—First Dog on the Moon—2RN ACT – 22 September 2013

1

[1]

[2]

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

[4] IV. Principles and Standards, ABC Code of Practice 2011.

[5]The presenter appears to have employed the device of a synecdoche to refer to women by a part of their anatomy.

[6] The ASB ultimately dismissed the complaints about the ad as it was factual and ‘vagina’ was ‘not a word which would have been considered inappropriate in the context of the advertisement’