The ABC has been rapped after regulators found an episode of Four Corners breached accuracy and impartiality rules.
A probe by the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) has found a 2024 episode of the flagship investigative show fell foul of the network’s code of practice.
First broadcast in August 2024, the episode titled Water Grab made suggestions that a Northern Territory pastoral station had illegally used fire to clear land for cotton production.
However, the ACMA has ruled that the ABC did not have sufficient evidence to back up this allegation and had failed to take reasonable steps to stand up the claims before broadcasting them.
“The ABC should have stopped to consider whether it had sufficient supporting evidence to include the statement about the fire,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.
“This type of assertion can have a significant adverse effect on the reputations of those involved, so reasonable efforts must be made to ensure any claims are accurate and presented in context.”
Australians expect rigorous, fair and factual reporting on complex and contested public issues.
“Our view is that parts of the program did not meet the ABC’s own standards for accuracy and impartiality.”
The investigation also found that the episode “failed to present sufficient range of relevant viewpoints” on its subject matter.
The same episode had previously been subject of three complaint to the Ombudsman’s Office.
ABC’s response
Following the publishing of ACMA’s findings, ABC added a revised editor’s note on the program website as well as a clarification on its corrections and clarifications page.
An ABC spokesman said: “The Four Corners report Water Grab investigated the use of water in the Northern Territory, in particular for irrigation, including for cotton growing. The story went to air in August 2024.
“The program examined important questions around whether unsustainable volumes of water were being extracted from aquifers by the agricultural industry, affecting groundwater levels.
“The ACMA found two breaches, one for impartiality and one for accuracy.
“The ACMA’s impartiality finding relates to the NT government regulator’s response on water quality in Elsey Creek.
“The ABC acknowledged this at the time and the ABC Ombudsman also found a breach. An editor’s note was added in October 2024.
“The Four Corners team received the regulator’s response just prior to broadcast and, with scientific advice, assessed it did not materially affect the story, but it should nevertheless have been included.
“The ACMA’s accuracy finding concerns the line ‘the burning off has already begun’, which they concluded implied illegal land clearing at Claravale Station.
“Although ACMA found the Four Corners team had sought comment from the landholders, who did not respond, it said ‘the ABC should have done more to establish that the fire constituted illegal land clearing if it was going to include the relevant statement in the program’.
“The ABC accepts the line in the program relating to the Claravale fire should have been qualified.”
