The ABC and official Voice to Parliament No campaign appear to be at war amid claims the national broadcaster is preparing a ‘biased hit job’.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal ABC’s flagship news program, 7.30, will air a segment detailing supposed ‘misinformation’ by the Advance Australia campaign.
It is unclear whether the episode will also ‘fact check’ statements made by Yes campaigners after details of the line of questioning leaked hours prior to the broadcast.
A source close to the No campaign said Australia’s national broadcaster has displayed ‘off the charts bias’ by ‘jumping on every little honest mistake to accuse Australians they disagree with of ”misinformation”’.
Just last week, ABC’s Indigenous affairs reporter Dana Morse said activists were ‘protesting about the genocide of Aboriginal people that is ongoing today’.
It is unclear whether the episode will also ‘fact check’ statements made by Yes campaigners after details of the line of questioning leaked hours prior to the broadcast
The No campaign is led by Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians
The ABC later tweeted her comments – aired unchallenged last week on ABC’s Sunday morning political TV show, Insiders – but edited out her genocide claim. A clarification was later shared which alleged Morse was ‘describing the beliefs of some protesters and their motivations, not the ABC’s’.
And in February, the broadcaster issued an apology after describing an Alice Springs crisis meeting about youth crime as a ‘white supremacist fest’.
‘There’s no greater example of misinformation than from the ABC itself, which aired the disgusting and inaccurate comment that Aboriginal Australians are still the victims of genocide,’ an insider said.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal ABC’s flagship news program, 7.30, will tonight air a segment detailing supposed ‘misinformation’ by the Advance Australia campaign
‘The entire ‘Yes’ campaign is built on the lie that a constitutionally enshrined Voice won’t divide Australians.’
The program will examine claims that race is not mentioned in the Australian constitution and that a man named Stewart Lingiari was related to Vincent Lingiari.
No campaigners have previously described both incidents as errors, rather than attempts to spread misinformation.
It is understood Advance Australia was given an opportunity to respond to the ‘fact checks’ which will be aired to clarify the No campaign’s position.
When asked whether claims from the Yes campaign have also been fact checked – namely regarding comments made by Minister Linda Burney that the Voice will not make representations on Australia Day, a spokesperson for the ABC told Daily Mail Australia they could not provide details of the segment ahead of broadcast.
Advance Australia is understood to have argued against the credibility of the segment and called for examples in which the ABC has ‘genuinely fact-checked’ the Yes campaign.
It is unclear whether the segment will also fact check Yes campaigners
A journalist from the ABC is understood to have provided five scenarios which were fact checked by either RMIT Fact Lab, the RMIT ABC Fact Check or AAP Fact Check.
Last month, Warren Mundine accused the ABC of bias during a fiery TV interview over the Voice.
Mr Mundine, a leading advocate for the ‘No’ campaign, blasted the ABC during an appearance on the national broadcaster’s News Breakfast program last month.
‘It’s about time you have got a balanced view and actually started calling out these people who make these racial attacks,’ he said.
ABC staff have been given a stern reminder of the broadcaster’s guidelines for covering the Voice to Parliament.
ABC staff have now been reminded of the broadcaster’s guidelines for covering the Voice in the wake of the furious row that was triggered by the remarks
TV chiefs re-issued the network’s 2022 ‘Voice Referendum Editorial Guidance’, which warns them to avoid expressing personal opinions.
‘The ABC should not broadcast or publish assertions that are demonstrably false without editorial justification and critical assessment,’ the guidance tells staff.
‘It is important to distinguish between assertions that are disagreeable or contentious, and assertions that are factually wrong.’
Staff are told to ensure their reports are fair and balanced but warns them against including extreme or fringe views ‘held by a small minority’.
‘Avoid publicising statements that are clearly intended to be provocative and divisive,’ it adds.
Journalists are told to report ‘Indigenous experience, and voices that are informed by reasoned analysis, not prejudice or misinformation,’ according to the SMH.
They are also ordered to ‘always be respectful and avoid rancorous or personal attacks’.
The guidelines recognise some high profile Indigenous staff may be part of the Voice debate, but adds: ‘The line between analysis and opinion is not always clear.
‘We advise any staff member participating in public debate in a personal capacity to make it clear when they are expressing a personal opinion or conclusion and are not speaking for the ABC.’
Labor has budgeted $75million on the referendum to be held later this year for the Australian Electoral Commission, National Indigenous Australians Agency, the Attorney-General’s Department, and advertising campaigns.
