THE ABC AIRS DAILY ATTACKS ON LABOR, UNCHALLENGED BECAUSE THEY RUN AS RIGHT OF REPLY TO ANYTHING LABOR ANNOUNCES. 

THIS IS THE ABC MANDATE FOR 'BALANCE' THAT SIDELINES TRUTH.

LET'S PETITION THE ABC CHAIR AND MANAGING DIRECTOR.

We are deeply concerned by the ABC’s shift to a declared policy of ‘Balance’ because it over-rides long held truth-seeking in journalism.

Here is how ABC ‘Balance’ works now:-

. Right of Reply to all Australian Labor Party statements and policies enables daily unsubstantiated statements in the name of ‘Balance’.

. Right of Reply seems to be an escape clause, so that false and misleading statements are not seriously challenged by further right of reply.

.  Instead, so-called Balance has been served.

. This way, the national broadcaster piles on with Sky TV and News Corp Talking Points of the day and week. They are validated for swinging voters because ABC journalism has been trusted for many years.

. Since ex News Corp editor David Speers has been appointed as 'Political Lead', the ABC has given the LNP and its media backers highly partisan airtime on the Insiders program hosted by Speers; a program claimed to be a weekly current affairs flagship.

. The narrative of favoured LNP supporters on the Insiders program is commonly enabled for headlines on ABC news that day and follow-up through the week. Talking Points on News Corp and Sky TV therefore gain momentum.

. Guests on ABC's Afternoon Briefing are chosen and enabled to attack the ALP as well, leading to headlines on the evening news. Presenter Greg Jennet echoes David Speers' interpretation of 'Balance' that promotes the Coalition and criticism of the ALP.

.The panel program on ABC TV with the most broad-ranging progressive narrative was The Drum. Like several journalists prepared to seek truth ahead of 'Balance', it has disappeared.

. Presenters showing strongest deference for the 'Balance' mandate, such as Speers, Jennett, Fauzia Ibrahim and Lisa Millar, have received increased airtime.

. Though airing progressive topics, QandA shows deference by pointedly allowing extra airtime for Coalition criticism of Labor and promotion of LNP policy such as nuclear power development.

. In the name of 'Balance', previously loyal long term ABC viewers can now perceive the hand on all presenters' shoulders.

Context of a decade in power side-lined

. Mandated 'Balance' has prohibited any serious, in-depth investigation of a decade in power for the LNP as context. Labor is blamed for the Coalition's legacy of problems.

. A highly partisan example of minimized context is omission of in-depth investigation and comment on the elevation of house prices, rents and resulting homelessness fueled by the LNP's unwavering commitment to investment rebates. 

. We maintain that such falsely weighted ‘Balance’ is validating hard-line Coalition stances and has shifted the Australian political debate. 

 Pivotal Journalism

Validation by ABC journalism has been pivotal over the years for national reforms such as Medicare and women’s rights. ABC audiences are middle-of-the-road voters; not generally extremists. When ABC journalism piles on with hard-right opinion, swinging voters can be pulled in that direction.

There is widespread opinion that two thirds approval for the Uluru Voice was turned upside-down in just months as the ABC joined Sky and Newscorp in airing unsubstantiated views from the No campaign. 

The falsity of these views was rarely if ever called out as loudly or as prominently as the negative claims that were aired. 

Nice cultural perspectives from Dan Bouchier, for instance, never matched the potency of No accusations.

Perhaps more importantly, destructive false claims were not investigated in depth by the ABC. Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine gained powerful validation for claims barely challenged in public broadcasting.

Media support for Medibank and the subsequent Medicare program might not have been sufficient for successful legislation without the ABC. But dishonest claims as aired now on the ABC might have prevented those life-changing reforms. 

We consider that ABC validation of LNP campaigning through unchallenged airtime has played a pivotal role amongst swinging voters in elevating the Coalition's polling to within a couple of points of Labor.

Truth before 'Balance' will be needed to fully report and investigate both major parties and their leaders along with other political players over the months leading up to the next election. Claims must be fact-checked.

A Balance of Truth

Over the decades, the ABC has brought a particular balance of truth without conflict of interest to challenge the narrative of commercial media in Australian debate.

This role has been abrogated.

Instead, the mandates of ABC ‘Political Lead’ David Speers have been implemented.

These reflect the allegiances of appointees to the ABC Board.

They are shared by editorial teams hidden from public view. 

They are carried out enthusiastically by favoured presenters and at least obsequiously by others.

This is how ABC ‘Balance’ has influenced and helped to undermine formerly trusted Australian journalism within and beyond the ABC.

We petition you, ABC Chair Kim Williams and Managing Director David Anderson:

1. As heads of the ABC Board and of management, you must mandate pursuit of truth in journalism, even if it calls into question statements aired as ‘Balance’.
2. You must require journalists and presenters to call out apparently false statements as loudly as acusations made.
3. You must invest in a much larger budget for Fact-Checking in this age of social media and highly concentrated commercial journalism.
4. You must allow open, in-depth investigation and airing of historical context for problems inherited by present government.
5. You must appoint a new leader to the present editorial team who will implement these new mandates for reform