The Australian Newspaper report: ABC boss Mark Scott signals new corrections policy. ABC managing director Mark Scott has signalled a dramatic shift in the way the national broadcaster publishes corrections and apologies after becoming embroiled in a series of controversies over the standard of its reporting and its refusal to admit mistakes.
ABC do a great job hiding their errors and corrections. Here's how to find the ones they acknowledge:
Details of ABC's complaints were also previously posted in Annual reports when they were referred to the now defunct "Independent Complaints Review Panel".
We did not find the word "decimated" used by scientists in the article, this appears to be another case of ABC exaggeration.
A recent relevant CSIRO report provides the following information about the bleaching event:
Unfortunately, on the trip the research team found evidence of coral bleaching in the region due to some recent marine heatwaves, including the bleaching of a pocket of ancient coral heads – many up to 400 years old – that have provided an important record of reef health.
“We suspect this bleaching event was due to marine heatwaves that occurred in the region over the past few summers, and to see it up so close was sobering,” said our lead scientist on the project, Dr Russ Babcock.
“But to offset this loss, some reefs only a short distance north showed much less damage and will continue to contribute to a healthy ecosystem. By studying these sorts of variations and why they occur, we can improve our overall understanding of the marine environment in the region, and how we can best preserve it”.
The team managed to take some great images of the incredibly diverse flora and fauna that sits under the waters of the Pilbara. We asked Russ to run us through a few photos from the trip to give you an insight into the work of a marine biologist – and maybe even help you learn something in the process! Click on one of the images below to view the gallery.
Decimation seems an exaggeration to me. One of the images accompanying ABC's report which presumably shows the purported "decimation" is re-produced below:
This is ABC's caption: Christmas Tree Worms on a Porites coral head, that has been bleached by a marine heatwave off WA's Montobello Island.
This is a CSIRO photo. Here's the CSIRO's caption for the same photo (oddly no mention of bleached coral): "A coral reef Christmas Display. Those coloured blobs you can see are called Christmas Tree worms, and they are sitting on a porites coral colony. The worm's name is misleading on two counts-they spend their whole life sitting in a tube in a decidedly un-worm like state, and they prevalent all year round,but just don't tell the kids."
We have asked Alan Sunderland and CSIRO's Dr Russ Babcock for comment.
From ABC 11/3/2014:
Thank you for your email of 13 February concerning coral bleaching off the Pilbara coast.
As your correspondence raised concerns of a lack of accuracy, your email was referred to Audience and Consumer Affairs for consideration and response. The unit is separate and independent from ABC program areas and is responsible for investigating complaints alleging a broadcast or publication was in contravention of the ABC's editorial standards. In light of your concerns, we have reviewed the story and assessed it against the ABC’s editorial requirements for accuracy, as outlined in section 2 of the ABC’s Editorial Policies. In the interests of procedural fairness, we have also sought and considered material from ABC News.
The word 'decimated' used in the headline was taken directly from the CSIRO's Media Release which states:
"Some unwelcome discoveries were made, including the bleaching and decimation of a pocket of ancient coral heads - many up to 400 years old - that have provided an important record of reef health".
As the CSIRO is Australia's top scientific organisation, the use of the headline 'Coral reef off Pilbara coast in Western Australia decimated by marine heatwave, scientists say' is a legitimate description of the content covered in the story.
The original caption, however, did not refer to the photo that was published and has been changed.
ABC News apologises for any confusion that may have resulted.
Complain all you like about the broadcaster's transgressions against fact and impartiality, but it is unlikely to do a scrap of good. While Managing Director Mark Scott embraces semantics, the review process wraps complaints in lawyerly language, obfuscation and interminable delays
ABC environment and the ABC "Splash" website have published an op ed by former weather presenter Rob Gell.
The piece(s) contain this glaring piece of sensationalism:
"Last year, 2013, was Australia's hottest year ever and we've started 2014 with another 50°C heatwave over inland Australia that then migrated to the southeastern states."
"another 50°C heatwave"!
Temperatures as measured at Bureau of Meteorology station did not pass 50°C this summer anywhere in Australia. The correct descriptor would be "another high 40s°C heatwave", but of course we get those every year! But where is the news in that? We have requested ABC investigate.
ABC promote "Splash" as
a new world-class education website for Australia
Sadly it seems the site has the same respect for the facts as the rest of the ABC.
UPDATE:
The following from ABC: received today...
You are correct that no temperatures above 50 degrees were recorded in the period described. The story has been corrected.
ABC Digital Education apologises for this mistake.
Audience and Consumer Affairs are satisfied correcting the story adequately resolves the matter.
Once again ABC's reporters fail their readers by not mentioning the glaring contradiction given they covered the 2006 paper. One wonders where ABC's "journalists" are getting their training. Seems the ABC's Groupthink hot house is failing to imbibe a sense of scepticism necessary for sound reporting.
The research, published in Nature Climate Change, shows more than 20 years of strengthening trade winds has increased the circulation of water in the western Pacific Ocean.
The vast looping system of air currents that fuels Pacific trade winds and climate from South America to Southeast Asia may be another victim of climate change, scientists say
You can only sit back and weep! We made ABC's Alan Sunderland aware of the inconsistency.
ABC need to have a sit down and chat about its performance on so many issues. Endemic groupthink has pushed public confidence in the organisation to new lows. Some recent op eds set the tone:
Andrew Bolt: The ABC is out of control and its boss simply attacks its critics. Henry Ergas: But to ensure good use of the community's resources, it is not enough to ask whether the public service broadcasters are doing what they do properly; one must also ask whether they are doing the right things. Paul Sheehan: This brings into question the judgment of the news and current affairs division, and its self-perpetuating, cultural proclivities at the most basic, granular and reflexive level.
Update Good line in an Oz editorial: An examination of facts shows the ABC's reporting of torture claims against the navy was wrong, unjustified, incorrect and irresponsible, whatever its motives.
UPDATE: Right on cue ABC cover the story and no surprise they give prominence to activist opinions of a career environmental campaigner over the experts. In comments FOE's Louise Sales further misrepresents the results of the recent work and further exaggerates the risks of nano-particles.
We asked report author Simon James for more information. Here is his reply:
Here is some clarification about the current work; Zn is an essential nutrient, our bodies must have Zn in order to function (similar to iron or calcium). In 2013 the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released a review of the literature (attached) which concluded ZnO nanoparticles present in sunscreens pose no risk to consumers when used as intended. Our manuscript dose acknowledges previous work which demonstrated that a very, very small amount of Zn from ZnO nanoparticles present in sunscreen can penetrate the skin when used in the field (attached). I want to be very clear that this work showed that the Zn from ZnO nanoparticles made up less than 0.001% of the total Zn detected. This is not a level of Zn which is associated with any safety concerns (to be honest I am impressed the authors could even make such a precision measurement). However, given the limitations of doing a field studies the authors could not conclude whether the Zn made it into the body as part of intact nanoparticles or in some other form. Our study built on this finding by asking the question, “If the nanoparticles do penetrate the skin can a macrophage break these objects down?” We are not the first to try and answer this question, indeed our work is merely a single study adding to a much larger body of work but we were able to go further than other groups and show direct evidence for cell mediated breakdown of ZnO nanoparticles.
