News bosses from Australia’s public broadcasters will be forced to defend their coverage of the war in the Middle East after being called to front a wide-reaching anti-Semitism inquiry.
Editorial decision-makers from the ABC and SBS will appear at a hearing by the Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion in Sydney on Thursday.
”There are complaints that the ABC and the SBS have produced coverage that is inaccurate or unbalanced, both in their selection of stories and focus and in the reportage that they produce,” Counsel Assisting Richard Lancaster SC earlier told the inquiry.
The ABC has consistently pushed back on what it says are ”unfounded” accusations of biased coverage, while SBS said it had provided written submissions to the commission and would continue to engage.
”As a public service media organisation, SBS provides accurate, balanced and impartial coverage across a range of matters, including anti-Semitism and social cohesion,” an SBS spokeswoman said in a statement.
Among those appearing will be ABC editorial director, Gavin Fang, and from SBS, director of news and current affairs, Amanda Wicks, and director of audio and language content, David Thanh Man Tue Hua.
Both broadcasters’ ombudsmans will also give evidence – Fiona Cameron from ABC and Amy Stockwell from SBS.
Opening Thursday’s hearing block will be a return appearance as a commission witness by Australia’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal.
Ms Segal may have to contend with protesters planning to rally outside Thursday’s hearing in opposition to what they say is a lack of anti-Zionist and anti-Israel voices.
A media statement from protest organisers called the commission part of a “shameful” attempt by state and federal leaders, along with pro-Israel activists, to silence legitimate criticism of Israel.
“If this Royal Commission turns out to be a Zionist pro-Israel tool, it will be another deep stain on our country’s history of racism,” one of the organisers, Jepke Goudsmit from Jews Against the Occupation ’48, said.
Hearings in previous days have focused on the role of social media in spreading online hate, with Meta, TikTok and YouTube all defending their content moderation procedures.
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