Spell my name, spell my name-some self indulgence

ABC HEADLINE: "Bolts from the blue: reactions to Hamilton" posted ABC news online The Drum 1 March 2010 - First posted Fri Feb 26, 2010 5:18pm AEDT

ABC REPORTED: ABC's The Drum editor Jonathan Green reported on reactions to opinion pieces by Clive Hamilton. The report included the following statement:

"Next week: The Drum-Unleashed will feature a series of pieces commissioned from noted writers on the sceptic side of the climate science debate. Included will be Alan Moran, Tom Switzer, Mark Hendriks, Bob Carter and Jo Nova." As Quantum online point out in their article "Sceptics in from the cold?" :

" that should be Marc Hendrickx whose website is ABC News Watch here…"

THE COMPLAINT:
You inflated our head calling us 'noted'
But atrocious spelling left our ego demoted.
Was this a sign of respect denied?
Or just journalists' skills on the slide?
Please, correct the name you misquoted.

It's not like Marc Hendrickx is unknown to The Drum. I wonder what that Klive Hambleton would think?

ABC Ed Pol 5.2.2 (c) be Accurate.

OUTCOME: Pending

COMMENT: Can't bat, can't bowl, can't spell...time for some remedial journalism. 

More missing news: UAE accused of misleading UK Parliament

MISSING ABC HEADLINE: University ‘tried to mislead MPs on climate change e-mails’ published in the Times online 27 February 2010

ABC DID NOT REPORT: As of 28 February 9:30 am we are unable to find any coverage on the ABC news website of the contents of this article in the Times Online by environmental editor Ben Webster. The report states:

"The university at the centre of the climate change row over stolen e-mails has been accused of making a misleading statement to Parliament

.

The University of East Anglia wrote this week to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee giving the impression that it had been exonerated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). However, the university failed to disclose that the ICO had expressed serious concerns that one of its professors had proposed deleting information to avoid complying with the Freedom of Information Act.

The ICO cannot prosecute the university because the complaint about its rejection of the information request was made too late. The ICO is seeking to change the law to allow prosecutions if a complaint is made more than six months after a breach of the act."

These serious allegations are of great interest to Australian's as they consider competing approaches to tackling climate change.

THE COMPLAINT: Climate change is a matter of great importance to the Australian Public who deserve balanced coverage as they consider competing government policies on tackling the issue. Omission of any reporting about the contents of the piece by Ben Webster now appears to form a pattern of news omitted from ABC's news coverage. This is exemplified in February by non reporting of statements by Dr Phil Jones (http://abcnewswatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/jones-bbc-interview-missing-in-action.html) and non reporting of claims that the world may not be warming as claimed by the IPCC (http://abcnewswatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-missing-news-world-may-not-be.html). We submit that omission of one or two of these articles may be accidental but omission of all three can be considered as evidence of biased and unbalanced reporting on the issue of climate change. We ask that the ABC correct the record by covering these important news events.

Coverage of these news stories is provided by ABC Editorial Policy and also covered in relevant sections of the ABC Act 1983. 

ABC Editorial Policy

5.1.3 The ABC does this by working within the best practice of investigative journalism.

Remaining independent of sectional interests, the ABC pursues issues of public

interest through innovative and reliable journalism.

5.2.2 (d) Be impartial. Editorial judgements are based on news values, not for example on political, commercial or sectional interests or personal views. Do not unduly favour one perspective over others.

(e) Be balanced. Balance will be sought but may not always be achieved within a single program or publication; it will be achieved as soon as reasonably practicable and in an appropriate manner. It is not essential to give all sides equal time. As far as possible, present principal relevant views on matters of importance.

(f) Be questioning. Serve the public interest by investigating issues affecting society and individuals.

Relevant sections of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983

Section 27 

(2) Subject to subsection (5), the Corporation must broadcast daily from each broadcasting service regular sessions of news and information relating to current events within and outside Australia.

(4) Without affecting the obligations of the Managing Director under subsection (3), the Corporation may also procure news and information relating to current events from such news agencies and other sources, whether within or outside Australia, as the Board thinks fit.

OUTCOME: Pending

COMMENT:While its been busy allowing author Clive Hamilton space over 5 days to spruik climate alarmism in opinion sections of the ABC, the ABC news office once again misses an important story, relevant to its audience, on events surrounding disclosures contained in emails allegedly leaked from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.  This provides another example of ABC's biased coverage of climate change issues. 

Hottest summer on record! But records only date back to 1950.

Updated 18/3/2010-see outcome below
ABC HEADLINE: "WA on track for hottest summer on record" news online 28/2/2010

ABC REPORTED: Uncredited report on ABC news reports that "The Bureau of Meteorology says Western Australia will have had its hottest summer on record by the end of today."

THE COMPLAINT: ABC neglected to include the following statement from the BOM press release available HERE that states: "The state-wide records date back to 1950." This important fact allows readers to put a better perspective on the nature of the "record".

OUTCOME:Thank you for your email regarding the ABC News online report WA on track for hottest summer.

Your concerns have been investigated by Audience and Consumer Affairs, a unit which is separate to and independent of program making areas within the ABC.  We have reviewed the broadcast, assessed it against the ABC’s editorial standards and sought and considered material provided by ABC News. 

Audience and Consumer Affairs is satisfied that is accurate for the report to state that Western Australia is on track to record its hottest summer ever.  That means the hottest since records were first kept.

Your belief that the report should have included the fact that state records date from 1950 is duly noted.

The ABC Editorial Policies are available online at the attached link; http://abc.net.au/corp/pubs/edpols.htm

Please be assured that your comments have been duly noted.
COMMENT: As physicist Richard Feynman once said, "“In summary, the idea is to give all of the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution; not just the information that leads to judgement in one particular direction or another”. This was scientists, but it equally applies to journalists, unless of course they intend to become activists.

BBC plans could be applied to ABC

Seems there's a lesson or two here for ABC head honcho Mark Scott; bigger isn't always better. 
But, please no cuts to ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs they are doing a great job!
BBC plans to halve website 

I guess sh@! happens that way-no I in Johnny Cash classic

Updated with ABC response 24/3/2010-see below
ABC HEADLINE: "Johnny cash is 10 billionth iTunes download" News online 26/2/2010
ABC REPORTED: "A Johnny Cash song has become the 10 billionth song sold online by Apple iTunes. The track, I Guess Things Happen That Way, became the lucky song to net a customer a $US10,000 iTunes gift card."
THE COMPLAINT: The song is in fact titled "Guess things happen that way"..no I!
OUTCOME: received 24/3/2010: Thank you for your email regarding the Reuters article Johnny Cash is 10 billionth iTunes download, published on ABC News online. ABC News online has amended the Reuters typographical error.  It is not a breach of the ABC Editorial Policies. Thank you for taking the time to raise this important matter with the ABC.
COMMENT: Little things matter! ABC Editorial Policy 5.2.2. (c) Be accurate

ABC Open project -What about FOI?

ABC Director Mark Scott replies to criticism of its "ABC Open Project" in today's Australian. At ABC NEWS WATCH we wonder whether the ABC's stance on FOI requests will form part of this "open" project...see - ABC: you can't open the chamber of secrets. Under ABC's current FOI regime the public would likely be denied access to any documents requested concerning development and production of this content.

ABC not waging war
THE ABC welcomes public debate about its future in the new media landscape. But recent criticisms of its ABC Open project ("ABC’s `hidden’ plans under fire”, 24/2) do not stand up to scrutiny. Firstly, the ABC is not asking for, nor has it been given, taxpayers’ funds to wage war on commercial media in regional markets. ABC local radio has happily coexisted with commercial news operators in regional markets for more than 70 years.
The aim of ABC Open is to put producers and editors into regions to equip locals with the skills to create and post content. One would have thought this attempt to bridge the digital divide - so evident in regional Australia - would benefit all media organisations. There is no hidden or stealth agenda. The broadband hubs project was announced in last year’s federal budget and the ABC has been answerable to its details in Estimates committees.

Mark Scott, ABC Managing Director

Tim Bowden: ABC's diminishing docos

Former ABC all rounder Tim Bowden provides some cutting commentary on the state of ABC documentary making. From SMH Letters 26/2

ABC shares blame for decline of docos

May I endorse Tom Zubrycki's eloquent and passionate lament for the decline of the television documentary (''Australian documentaries will founder without courage and funds'', February 24). It is scandalous that the ABC has let its internal documentary-making capacity fall to near zero - a short-sighted policy enthusiastically endorsed by the Director of Television, Kim Dalton.

It is an accident of history that my own documentary series on Antarctica, Breaking the Ice, which went to air in 1996, was the last series produced in-house by a professional team of editors, sound mixers and engineers. Often it was only the ABC that would tackle controversial topics off-limits to freelancers or commercial production houses due to pressures of advertising or other constraints.

With SBS and the ABC now dependent on buy-ins, Australian viewers are getting much less than they deserve from our public broadcasters. It is not too late to reverse this short-sightedness.

Tim Bowden