Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has demanded an explanation from the ABC over its handling of the euthanasia debate. Source: The Australian.
Archbishop Fisher has accused the national broadcaster of breaching its editorial policy by failing to provide a diversity of views and misrepresenting the Church’s stance.
Archbishop Fisher last week wrote a detailed letter of complaint to the ABC Ombudsman, Fiona Cameron, in which he outlined the public broadcaster’s “concerning” lack of impartiality in its coverage of a campaign by pro-euthanasia advocate Andrew Denton for the use of telehealth to access voluntary assisted dying.
Archbishop Fisher questioned “whether its (the ABC’s) platforms … operated to amplify one side of a contentious policy debate”.
In his letter, Archbishop Fisher cited four occasions across nine days in July when Mr Denton – a former comedian who is the founder of pro end-of-life choice group Go Gentle Australia – was given opportunities to promote his cause.
The same avenues were not made available to groups or organisations – such as the Catholic Church – which hold different positions about euthanasia-related matters, Archbishop Fisher claimed.
He said alternative viewpoints to Mr Denton’s were barely acknowledged over the same time frame as his four appearances on various ABC platforms – and when they were raised, the key points were “misrepresented”.
Three of Denton’s four appearances on the ABC platforms were during the lead-up to Labor’s three-day national conference on July 23-25, at which it was widely anticipated that the ALP would face a revived push from the party’s Left faction to amend the federal ban on VAD telehealth appointments.
“Given the significance of the issue, the imminence of the political decisions to which the coverage related, and the ABC’s particular obligation to maintain public confidence in its impartiality, I ask that these matters be carefully investigated and addressed,” Archbishop Fisher wrote.
In response to a list of questions from The Australian about its coverage of the matter, an ABC spokesman said: “A complaint has been received by the ombudsman’s office and we have no comment while it is being reviewed.”
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Catholic Church lodges complaint against ABC for amplifying euthanasia advocate (By James Madden, The Australian)
