2GB’s Ben Fordham under fire for ‘failing to disclose commercial agreements’
Nine Radio stations 2GB and 3AW have breached broadcasting rules by failing to disclose commercial agreements between their presenters and companies featured in their current affairs programs.
An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority into 2GB’s Ben Fordham Live program found that comments that were favourable to ride-share company Uber breached broadcasting laws as there was “a commercial agreement in place between Uber and the program host at the time of the broadcast [that] was not disclosed on-air.”
Separately, a 3AW Afternoons broadcasts from August 2023 found that comments “favourable to automotive manufacturer BMW were made by the program host without disclosing that there was a commercial agreement in place between BMW and the host.”
Both 2GB and 3AW also failed to publish details on their websites of commercial agreements, as is required by the commercial disclosure rules.
“These kind of commercial disclosure breaches have the potential to erode the public’s trust in current affairs programming,” ACMA’s Creina Chapman said.
“Listeners deserve to know what commercial agreements are in place and how those deals might relate to what they are hearing on-air.”
The ACMA has issued 2GB and 3AW with remedial directions requiring relevant current affairs presenters, producers and sales staff to undertake formal training on the commercial disclosure requirements, and may seek civil penalties if a licensee does not comply with a remedial direction.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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Ben Fordham a self entitled spoilt little brat that wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and bit him on his spoilt little ar*e.
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