Does This Sound Unbiased to You?

One of the greatest fallacies of the Australian left is that it’s taxpayer-funded propaganda unit, the so-called “National Broadcaster”, exists to “balance” the wicked “right-wing media”. This is completely contrary to the ABC’s statutory obligations, set out in the ABC Act and Charter. By law, the ABC has “a statutory duty to ensure that the gathering and presentation of news and information is impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism”.

Specifically, it is required — again, by law, remember — to “gather and present news and information with due impartiality,” and to “not unduly favour one perspective over another”.

So, how does the ABC reconcile that legal requirement with stuff like this?

The ABC’s chief political correspondent and staff-elected board member, Laura Tingle, has launched an extraordinary attack on Australia, declaring it is a “racist country”.

One of the public broadcaster’s most senior reporters made the controversial remarks at the Sydney Writers Festival on Sunday during a panel discussion moderated by Barrie Cassidy, a former ABC Insiders host and Labor staffer to Bob Hawke.

The Australian

Once again in direct contravention of its statutory requirements to produce “content that addresses a broad range of subjects from a diversity of perspectives”, the ABC is notoriously a “conservative-free zone”. Not a single presenter on the ABC could even generously be described as “conservative”. The last to lay claim to that sobriquet (or epithet, as is more likely at the ABC) was former Howard government minister, Amanda Vanstone. Yet, even Vanstone was notoriously a Liberal “wet”.

Tellingly, her program was called Counterpoint. Counterpoint to what? The overwhelming left-wing bias of the ABC (whose journalists are three times as likely as the rest of Australia to vote Greens) is the only logical conclusion.

Tingle’s unhinged rant, though, is so far out of left field that even the ABC realises it’s not a good look.

ABC board members have had emergency discussions over their board colleague and high-profile political reporter Laura Tingle’s claims that Australia is racist and Peter Dutton is encouraging the abuse of migrants, as the public broadcaster faces a parliamentary barrage on both Tingle and on its coverage of Israel in the Gaza war.

The Coalition on Monday demanded the ABC explain Tingle’s weekend claims at the Sydney Writers’ Festival against the Opposition Leader, and how the 7.30 chief political correspondent can stay impartial in the lead-up to the election due next year.

The Australian understands Tingle, who is also a staff-elected board member at the ABC, has displeased some board colleagues and they have been discussing the controversy in the past 48 hours.

And there’s the problem: a staff-elected board member. The ABC is an incestuous collective of wealthy, inner-Sydney leftists.

The Tingle situation came as the ABC was rocked by the latest controversy over its coverage of the Israel-Gaza war, with a social media post claiming that terror group Hamas had made a “show of resilience” against Israel condemned by Australia’s Jewish leaders on Monday.

The Australian

Next, they’ll be calling Yahya Sinwar “an austere religious scholar”, and telling us that October 7 was a “mostly peaceful protest”.