Today Tonight breaches Code for story on “Spreading Sharia Law.”

A Today Tonight story about a local council “spreading Sharia Law” has been found by the media watchdog to have breached the Code of Practice.

The story which aired in October looked at Darebin Council in northern Melbourne using Federal Government funds to advertise for an Outreach Project Officer to work with the local Muslim community. The words ‘Muslim Council’, ‘Spreading Sharia Law’ and ‘Community Crusade’ were displayed onscreen during the following introduction:

Now the Council spending ratepayers’ money to make Muslims feel more at home and to spread their faith. [Reporter] reports a public crusade has started opposing the plan and a Council, which is no stranger to controversy, when it comes to supporting its Islamic community.

The “Spreading the Word” segment by Jonathan Creek featured interviews with a group concerned with the ‘Islamification of Australia’, a local Ratepayers Association and a spokesman for the Islamic Council of Victoria.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority found that Seven breached the Code on several counts.

The first was in misrepresenting that Council was advertising for a Project Officer to work only with the peak Muslim community, when in fact the role entailed interfaith dialogue.

The second was the phrasing of the report that said, the “Council has form when it comes to implementing Sharia customs.” ACMA ruled that the word “implement” suggested the Council had a formal process for executing Sharia customs when it did not.

The third was in relation to a reference by the reporter that “no-one, including the Mayor, were prepared to speak to us.”

The producer of the show asserts they had tried many times to contact the mayor until 4pm the day of broadcast and that by the time an email had been received indicating a willingness to speak “the window of opportunity had closed.”

However ACMA says emails from the Council advised Seven at 3:13pm the mayor was willing to speak, and there are references to several follow-ups at 3.14pm, 4.21pm, 4.29pm, 5.23pm, and a phone call to the program’s chief-of-staff at 4.45pm.

ACMA ruled that Seven’s claim nobody wanted to speak to them was a breach of the Code.

This raises wider questions about what is a reasonable period for current affairs shows to wait for responses?

Seven later published a response from Mayor Diana Asmar on its website.

The ACMA report, which also removes all identities named in the report, did not advise of any punishment for the breaches.