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ABC sorry not sorry over Ballard skit

ABC Director of Entertainment apologises to Aust. Conservatives candidate for any personal offence over that word.

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ABC Director of Entertainment & Specialty David Anderson has apologised to Australian Conservatives candidate Kevin Bailey for any personal offence, following an episode of Tonightly with Tom Ballard.

But ABC maintains it reviewed the material prior to broadcast and says it is following due processes around complaints.

The segment involved Greg Larsen suggesting the Melbourne electorate of Batman be renamed “Batman-was-a-c**t” over John Batman’s treatment of Indigenous Australians. In a series of mock posters, he noted, “[There] was an issue because there is no Batman anywhere on that poster,” Larsen said. “So I’ve had to put Kevin Bailey was a c**t,” he joked.

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said ABC should apologise for the episode.

An ABC spokesperson said, “The material was reviewed by the program teams prior to broadcast and posting, ensuring both complied with the ABC’s editorial standards on harm and offences and also the appropriate classification standards.

“In addition to these responses, director of entertainment, David Anderson, has contacted Mr Kevin Bailey, explained the context and apologised for any personal offence caused by the sketch.

“Any formal complaints about breaches of editorial policy or classification standards will be investigated through the normal processes.”

Tonightly is rated M which allows for coarse language but aggressive or strong coarse language should be infrequent overall. MA allows for very coarse language appropriate to the story line or program context, which is not overly frequent or impactful.

Source: Fairfax

9 Responses

  1. So glad they’re not throwing Tonightly under the bus or making changes. I really like it, I’m delighted we’ve got a topical comedy every night (barring annoying repeat Friday), and I couldn’t care less about language. Not every ABC viewer wants perpetual Midsomer vibe. Also agree that MPs should have to go through the same channels as everyone else.

  3. I have a real problem with MP’s ‘demanding’ apologies from broadcasters over material.
    If someone (including MP’s) thinks some standard(s) have been breached, lodge a complaint like anyone else and let the independent body who assesses these things rule on it.
    The Government demanding things of broadcasters is a slippery slope that I don’t think we should really start to progress down.
    I am pleased in this instance to see the ABC somewhat stand its ground.

  5. I never understood why the C word would typically get branded with an MA15+ rating at the drop of a hat. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not fond of the word, and fair enough if it is used in a violent and/or aggressive context, but I find it odd that the M rating can accommodate as many F words as it does (there is no fixed number, and the perceived impact for it to tip over into MA15+ or even R18+ territory is highly subjective) while a single utterance of the C word is considered to be too risqué for M.

    While the language used in the skit is puerile and I’m certainly not fond of the programme, in context, I don’t feel that it exceeds moderate in viewing impact and can be accommodated at the M level in the context of (albeit bad) political satire.

    2. My understanding is that it is considered more offensive because it is linked to a particular sex, rather than being a generic rude word. That gives it overtones that suggest issues of power or sexism.

      Not necessarily my opinion, just what I understand from reading other’s opinions.

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