The high-profile journalist and ABC board director told a book launch audience that in the pursuit of balance, the media “ended up not doing a good job of covering the referendum debate”.
High-profile ABC journalist and board member Laura Tingle has blown open a debate about the public broadcaster’s approach to the Voice referendum, arguing an obsession with balance has degraded coverage of the debate., was asked by an audience member at a book launch on Thursday night why the ABC devoted so much airtime to the No campaign and its arguments.
Tingle said opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price had declined invitations to appear on“But somehow, the way the numbers have worked tells people that the Yes case has been wildly overrepresented on the ABC, and as a result, it affects the way we structure and report stories because they say if you can’t get somebody who’s a No, you can’t put on somebody who’s a Yes,” Tingle said.“This is nuts ... it’s completely sick.
A statement from Tingle said she had tried to explain the dilemmas and frustrations of providing balanced coverage in a campaign when one side of the debate was not available, and when many wild claims were made.
The Voice Tracker requires journalists to log broadcast material to the nearest 15 seconds; if a Yes spokesperson received 15 seconds of airtime, that is logged as 0.25 points, and if a No representative appeared for 45 seconds, that is 0.75 points.An FAQ document seen by this masthead states the purpose of the tracker is “to provide timely feedback on our coverage which will assist with presenting an appropriate diversity of voices and perspectives.
“We have had lots of examples recently of teams that produce the stories not completing the details,” he wrote.
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