ABC takes aim at The Australian for ‘baseless’ report over Four Corners’ Seven investigation
The ABC has blasted a report published by The Australian regarding the national broadcaster’s recent Four Corners investigation into the Seven network.
In the story published on Sunday evening, The Australian reported that ABC chair Kim Williams and managing director David Anderson – who announced he will depart next year – had a “difference of opinion” regarding its investigation into Seven’s workplace culture, claiming that Williams did not think the expose met editorial standards.
However, Louise Milligan, who fronted the Four Corners investigation, took to X to slam the report as “fiction”.
“It’s happened so many times now in their creepy, weird, obsessive campaign I shouldn’t be surprised,” Milligan tweeted.
Soon after, the ABC issued its own statement.
The Australian’s report today about the Four Corners program “Don’t Speak” (“‘Not up to standards’: tension at the top of ABC over Four Corners’ expose”) is false,” the statement read.
“The ABC informed the journalist before publishing that the unsourced claim was baseless but The Australian went ahead and published it anyway.”
Mumbrella sat down with Milligan following the broadcast, as well as Josh Bornstein, the principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn who appeared on the episode, to discuss the response from industry.
On Friday, Anderson notified the ABC Board of his intention to leave the organisation following a recruitment process for his successor and is expected to depart in early 2025.
“I am still very much committed to the importance of the ABC to the nation,” Anderson said.
“I believe it is the right moment for leadership renewal for the next stage of the ABC’s continued evolution.”
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Neil Griffiths is the Managing Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
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@Charlotte. Is that you Ryan? Or maybe it’s Lachlan? With Scomo’s appointed captains pick Buttrose as the Chair for nearly a decade it will take a while for the ABC to become ‘left’. Now, if what you mean by ‘left’ is reporting facts and not fiction; then let’s hope that the new chair takes the ABC in the direction it needs to go to survive; (to start investigating and calling out the corruption in our society).
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The ABC is an easy target for those who are comfortable with right wing bias , especially the Murdoch rags but show their glass jaws when placed under the spotlight themselves like 4 Corners did.
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I would like to see more of this journalism . We don’t want to end up like America .Fox news is a disease over there.
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The ABC is not worth a cent of taxpayers funds. It is left wing biased reporting. Still waiting for an apology for The story of the century” which was false and a load of rubbish.
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Could you be more clueless?
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1 lying organisation fighting with another lying organisation, it’s beautiful -all media are irrelevant, untrusted and have no credibility at all, nobody believes anything that the media,any media says anymore, proven track record of lies, misinformation and political agenda
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Yes, far better to have a dependable right wing biased, commercial media plotting how its team can influence minds and f over a democratically elected Australian government. Independent media is a threat to right wing authoritarianism ( Yes, yes, our Uncles and Aunts and the Greats fought against right wing ideologies but it’s needed now, especially in media…when can we start vilifying critical thinkers ?
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You’ve sprained your overton window if you think that is the case.
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Considering the bias and lack of relevance of the abc no thinking person would consider its opinions as anything more than just left wing drival
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