COMMENT: When the ABC get things wrong it seems everyone is to blame, except of course the ABC.
ABC Editorial Policies section 5.6.1 "Use of secondary sources" states: "Where secondary sources such as media releases or other media reports are used to either generate ideas or gather information, the information drawn from those sources must be cross-checked and verified before use."
In their reply to ABC NEWS WATCH's complaint regarding an error in naming a dinosaur, ABC put the blame onto secondary source: affiliate AFP.
In regard to our complaint concerning a minor mis-spelling of a Johnny Cash song once again the ABC denies it failed to live up to its editorial policy, putting the blame this time onto Reuters: 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.
"the information drawn from those sources must be cross-checked and verified before use."
Book 'em Danno, passing the buck - two counts: Scoreboard +1 (7)
An eye on ABC NEWS: Keeping the bastards who keep the bastards honest - honest.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Update: Nature says "Asili", ABC says "Mwamba"
COMMENT: Apparently ABC now says "Asili"also-see original complaint HERE.
"I am advised by ABC News management that the error originated in the copy supplied to the ABC by its partner news agency AFP. The ABC News online editor has corrected the report and brought the error to the attention of AFP."
We note that there is nothing in the article to indicate that there has been a change. Minitrue in action once again.
Scorecard +1 (6)
"I am advised by ABC News management that the error originated in the copy supplied to the ABC by its partner news agency AFP. The ABC News online editor has corrected the report and brought the error to the attention of AFP."
We note that there is nothing in the article to indicate that there has been a change. Minitrue in action once again.
Scorecard +1 (6)
Happy Feet-climate link not as certain as headline suggests
COMMENT: ABC Online report that "Climate change good for little penguins" based on comments by Dr Peter Dann from the Phillip Island Nature Park in Victoria made at a public forum in Ulverstone, Tasmania. ABC provide the following quotes from Dr Dunn, however they don't really support the certainty expressed by the headline:
A more informative headline would be "Climate change probably good for little penguins" or "Further research required to determine whether Happy Feet will tap faster beat under new climate conditions".
"Penguins, for example, we think are going to breed earlier and probably more successfully if sea surface temperatures in Bass Strait increase."
Mr Dann says more work needs to be done to investigate the sea birds.
"Even the climate is something that hasn't been completely established yet, what the predictions are for the next 100 years,
"But for birds, at least, we don't have as good information on the birds as we do on the climate, even so there's a lot of speculation necessary, unfortunately."
A more informative headline would be "Climate change probably good for little penguins" or "Further research required to determine whether Happy Feet will tap faster beat under new climate conditions".
UPDATE: Was it the international journal of sour eggs? NO
ABC's report titled "Climate change scientists hit back" failed to include the title, and source of the study that was the subject of the report leaving listeners with no knowledge of where the research was published. As the report poorly represented the research findings we also requested that ABC news post the interview with Prof. David Karoly in its entirety to its website? Here's ABC's reply, this time from "CAFF NEWS" and not ABC Audience and consumer affairs:
A link to the article is: http://wires.wiley.com/
This link has been added to the transcript of the story. (HERE)
The ABC reporter did ask Prof Karoly more questions but there was not time to run the 9 minute interview in its entirety. The questions and answers used were judged by the program makers as those which would be heard and understood while giving the essence of the story .
There are no plans at this stage to post the whole interview if indeed it remains in the system.
ABC "CAFF NEWS" reply 22/3/2010:
The report's title is: "Detection and attribution of climate change: a regional perspective."
It was published on the 5th of March by the peer review journal "Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews". An online scientific journal which collaborates with the Royal Meteorological Society and the Royal Geographical Society.A link to the article is: http://wires.wiley.com/
This link has been added to the transcript of the story. (HERE)
The ABC reporter did ask Prof Karoly more questions but there was not time to run the 9 minute interview in its entirety. The questions and answers used were judged by the program makers as those which would be heard and understood while giving the essence of the story .
There are no plans at this stage to post the whole interview if indeed it remains in the system.
We have requested ABC News to provide a transcript of the interview. We don't hold our breath.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Missing News: Wind contributing to Arctic sea ice loss, study finds
UPDATE 5/4/2010 See outcome below-it remains blowing in the wind
ABC MISSING HEADLINE: "Wind contributing to Arctic sea ice loss, study finds" as reported by the Guardian 22 March 2010.
ABC DID NOT REPORT: As of 7: 00 am March 23 we are unable to locate anything on ABC's website regarding a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters: Ogi, M., K. Yamazaki, and J. M. Wallace. Influence of winter and summer surface wind anomalies on summer Arctic sea ice extent Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1029/2009GL042356, in press..
As reported by the Guardian:
OUTCOME: I refer to your emails of 23 March and 20 and 16 February 2010.
As previously advised, Section 5.2.2(d) of the ABC Editorial Policies states that editorial judgements are based on news values. What is, or is not, considered newsworthy is a decision made at the discretion of ABC News editorial managers, based on their considerable editorial experience. ABC News editorial managers will continue to assess stories on climate science on their merits.
The ABC Editorial Policies are available online at the attached link; http://abc.net.au/corp/pubs/
Please be assured that your comments and news suggestions have been noted and conveyed to our program areas.COMMENT: Given the considerable editorial experience of ABC News editorial managers and considerable community interest in all things climate, I would expect this one to get some coverage, or will ABC's loyal followers miss out on another story that suggests that the effects of anthropogenic global warming aren't as dire as some extremists would have us believe.
ABC MISSING HEADLINE: "Wind contributing to Arctic sea ice loss, study finds" as reported by the Guardian 22 March 2010.
ABC DID NOT REPORT: As of 7: 00 am March 23 we are unable to locate anything on ABC's website regarding a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters: Ogi, M., K. Yamazaki, and J. M. Wallace. Influence of winter and summer surface wind anomalies on summer Arctic sea ice extent Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1029/2009GL042356, in press..
As reported by the Guardian:
Much of the record breaking loss of ice in the Arctic ocean in recent years is down to the region's swirling winds and is not a direct result of global warming, a new study reveals.
Ice blown out of the region by Arctic winds can explain around one-third of the steep downward trend in sea ice extent in the region since 1979, the scientists say.
About half of the variation in maximum ice loss each September is down to changes in wind patterns, the study says.Masayo Ogi, a scientist with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology in Yokohama, and her colleagues, looked at records of how winds have behaved across the Arctic since satellite measurements of ice extent there began in 1979.
They found that changes in wind patterns, such as summertime winds that blow clockwise around the Beaufort Sea, seemed to coincide with years where sea ice loss was highest.
THE SUGGESTION: Can ABC please provide coverage of this important journal article.OUTCOME: I refer to your emails of 23 March and 20 and 16 February 2010.
As previously advised, Section 5.2.2(d) of the ABC Editorial Policies states that editorial judgements are based on news values. What is, or is not, considered newsworthy is a decision made at the discretion of ABC News editorial managers, based on their considerable editorial experience. ABC News editorial managers will continue to assess stories on climate science on their merits.
The ABC Editorial Policies are available online at the attached link; http://abc.net.au/corp/pubs/
Please be assured that your comments and news suggestions have been noted and conveyed to our program areas.COMMENT: Given the considerable editorial experience of ABC News editorial managers and considerable community interest in all things climate, I would expect this one to get some coverage, or will ABC's loyal followers miss out on another story that suggests that the effects of anthropogenic global warming aren't as dire as some extremists would have us believe.
UPDATE: Jones' BBC Interview missing in action-rogue chickens are not
ABC Audience and Consumer affairs have replied to our complaint about the missing Jones interview. This was the BBC interview in which Dr Phil Jones, climate scientist at the centre of the Climategate controversy, made a number of assertions on the state of climate change science including the following stunning claims:
No statistically significant warming since 1995.
Debate over Medieval Warm Period not settled.
The rates of warming from 1860-1880, 1910-1940 and 1975-1998 were statistically identical
Cooling from January 2002 is not statistically significant but has occurred at -0.12C per decade.
Says the debate is not over!
The BBC report of the interview can be found HERE, and the interview questions and Dr Jones' response can be found HERE.
ABC replied with the following: Section 5.2.2(d) of the ABC Editorial Policies states that editorial judgements are based on news values. What is, or is not, considered newsworthy is a decision made at the discretion of ABC News editorial managers, based on their considerable editorial experience.
No statistically significant warming since 1995.
Debate over Medieval Warm Period not settled.
The rates of warming from 1860-1880, 1910-1940 and 1975-1998 were statistically identical
Cooling from January 2002 is not statistically significant but has occurred at -0.12C per decade.
Says the debate is not over!
The BBC report of the interview can be found HERE, and the interview questions and Dr Jones' response can be found HERE.
ABC replied with the following: Section 5.2.2(d) of the ABC Editorial Policies states that editorial judgements are based on news values. What is, or is not, considered newsworthy is a decision made at the discretion of ABC News editorial managers, based on their considerable editorial experience.
ABC News Online is not a specialist website reporting only on the topic of climate science and not every development or aspect of the issue will be reported on the site. ABC News editorial managers will continue to assess stories on this subject on their merits.
ABC NEWS WATCH is left baffled as to why ABC news editors didn't run this highly significant story. On the same day BBC reported on Dr Jones interview with its far ranging implications for climate change policy, ABC News editors judged that spending tax payers money covering rogue chickens "Chickens rounded up after truck smash" had greater news value! I guess we at ABC NEWS WATCH don't have the benefit of ABC News editors considerable editorial experience but we felt that the BBC Jones interview was a worthwhile news event that deserved some coverage.
Those who rely on ABC for all their news and current affairs should be mindful of what they are missing out on. There's more happening in the world than rogue chickens menacing our nations highways.
We are left wondering how ABC's proposed 24 hour news service will find enough comical traffic accidents to fill in all that time. Perhaps they can call on Channel Nine's Funniest Home Video's show for some assistance.
UPDATE: Headline misses point on CO2 feedback
Earlier in February we issued a complaint (HERE) that suggested that an ABC story had missed the main outcome of a study into climate sensitivity. ABC have replied to our complaint (posted in its entirelty HERE) and once again it gets down to a matter of editorial judgement. Given the same editorial staff consider that a story about escaped chickens is more newsworthy than a BBC interview with climategate scientist Dr Phil Jones (see HERE) we shall let readers make up their own minds on the quality of those judgements and news values.
As outlined in our original complaint other news agencies did not agree with ABC's view on the story. When we pointed this out once again to ABC Audience and Consumer, they replied:
I believe your references to "other media outlets" and "links to other media coverage" relate to the link to the Science Daily article 'Amplification of Global Warming by Carbon-Cycle Feedback Significantly Less Than Thought, Study Suggests' provided in your complaint. The ABC is an independent news-gathering organisation. There is no requirement for its coverage of particular stories to duplicate that of other media outlets, such as Science Daily.
Somehow ABC, who admit "The ABC does not possesses the skills to determine the scientific veracity of the claims made in the study." is better placed than Science Daily to judge where the emphasis should be!
As outlined in our original complaint other news agencies did not agree with ABC's view on the story. When we pointed this out once again to ABC Audience and Consumer, they replied:
I believe your references to "other media outlets" and "links to other media coverage" relate to the link to the Science Daily article 'Amplification of Global Warming by Carbon-Cycle Feedback Significantly Less Than Thought, Study Suggests' provided in your complaint. The ABC is an independent news-gathering organisation. There is no requirement for its coverage of particular stories to duplicate that of other media outlets, such as Science Daily.
Somehow ABC, who admit "The ABC does not possesses the skills to determine the scientific veracity of the claims made in the study." is better placed than Science Daily to judge where the emphasis should be!
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