From the vault - getting it upside down on death rate

Australia’s population

Friday, July 24 2009, PM

On July 22, 2009, in a story about Australia’s growing population, the ABC incorrectly reported that Professor Peter McDonald, Director of the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute at the Australian National University, said the biggest change affecting future growth in Australia as its population ages will be a declining birth rate. In fact, Professor McDonald told the ABC the biggest change affecting growth will be a rise in deaths.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/corrections/archive/months/2009%20Archive%20Month_July2009.htm
"From the Vault" - digging up past corrections and clarifications from the ABC archives

From the vault - slip of the tongue

Media Room - Media Releases

Incorrect Transcript on "AM" Story 06/10/2005
On ABC radio's "AM" current affairs program yesterday (October 5th, 2005) a story quoted Alamdar Bakhtiari, who (along with the rest of his family) was deported to Pakistan by the Australian Government in December last year.
In that story, Alamdar Bakhtiari said "I don't blame the Australian Government for all this. I myself, now I can understand what's happening, it was not the Australian Government who caused us to be deported. It was all caused by our lawyers."
The transcript of the story was later posted on the ABC's website, and it contained an error.
Due to a mistake in transcription, the word "lawyers" was misheard and written as "lies".
The website has now been amended to correct the error, for which the ABC apologises.

http://www.abc.net.au/corp/pubs/media/s1476457.htm

"From the Vault" - digging up past corrections and clarifications from the ABC archives.

From the Vault - You say Scientists, we say Engineers

Independent Complaints Review Panel Decision: Catalyst

24/04/2002

The Independent Complaints Review Panel (ICRP) has upheld a complaint made by Dr Brian Lloyd and Mr Michael Rice against the ABC Television program Catalyst.
The ICRP Report stated, in part:
'Two engineers, Dr Brian Lloyd and Mr Michael Rice, complained to the ICRP about the Catalyst program of 31 October 2002 which dealt with research into brain trauma following car crashes'.
The complainants said the program attributed the work to 'scientists' without mentioning the fact that the great bulk of it had been done by engineers, with some input from scientists. Dr Lloyd and Mr Rice said engineering was not a subset of science. Engineers were not scientists nor scientists engineers. 'Supers' at the bottom of the screen had identified some of the participants as engineers, but these had been fleeting and most viewers would not have noticed them.
Both complainants say that the persistent downgrading of engineering, as particularly exemplified in the ABC program, is against the national interest, as it makes engineering less attractive as a profession, and limits the number of young people entering it.
In its reply the ABC has defended the use of the umbrella term 'scientists' as it includes a number of professions without the need to itemise them. 'Scientist', the reply says, is a term easily understood by a diverse audience and is short and succinct.
The Panel finds, however, that as the bulk of the work done on setting up the conditions under which causes of brain damage could be examined, was done by engineers, the complainants are justified in their objections to engineers and scientists being lumped together. 'Engineer' is also an everyday term understood by a diverse audience, and is short and succinct. Catalyst is a program which seeks to inform its viewers about developments in various disciplines and it is therefore important it gets its definitions right.
The Panel notes that the complainants seek only from the ABC an acknowledgment that their objection to engineers being loosely described as 'scientists' will be taken into account in future programs. Limiting its finding to `unfair treatment', the complaint is upheld.
In his capacity as Editor-in-Chief, Managing Director Russell Balding, has written to the complainants to apologise on behalf of the ABC and inform them that due regard will be shown in future to the use of the terms 'engineers' and 'scientists'.
The ICRP is an independent body established by the ABC Board to investigate allegations of 'serious cases of bias, lack of balance and unfair treatment arising from an ABC broadcast or broadcasts.'
http://www.abc.net.au/corp/pubs/media/s839551.htm

"From the Vault" - digging up past corrections and clarifications from the ABC archives.