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Seven apologises over Sunrise segment

Nearly 2 years after an infamous discussion on vulnerable indigenous children, an apology is aired at 6:45am.

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(Very) early on Monday morning Seven broadcast an apology for its infamous Sunrise panel in which commentator Prue MacSween advocated for a second stolen generation.

Seven broadcast the apology at 6:45am in summer non-ratings.

“On 13 March 2018 we aired a segment about alleged child abuse and neglect in Aboriginal communities and statements made by the Assistant Minister for Children and Families about white people adopting Aboriginal children,” it read.

“Opinions were expressed during the segment which referred to the stolen generation [sic] and which were offensive to some viewers, including Indigenous Australians.

“Channel Seven, the Sunrise team and our commentators Prue MacSween and Ben Davis apologise for those comments and the harm they have caused.”

But the apology has already drawn a mixed response.

Richard Weston CEO from the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care welcomed the official apology.

But Family Matters Co-Chair Sue-Anne Hunter told NITV News she didn’t view the pre-recorded apology as ‘authentic’.

“I don’t know how you can make those comments and then think that an autocue voice is going to be okay for people who have been hurt so deeply,” the Wurudndjeri and Ngurai illum wurrung woman said.

“It has affected their lives and the lives of their children.”

Others on social media also questioned the sincerity of an early morning voice-over (it screened at the same time as the original segment).

It followed a previous apology screened at the end of an ad break last January to the Yirrkala community for using blurred footage of them during the panel discussion. The footage was originally filmed for a health promotion.

ACMA found Sunrise in breach of the Code of Practice in September 2018. Seven agreed to an independent audit of its production processes for current affairs.

It is yet to confirm if the audit has been completed.

Seven has been contacted for comment.

Photo: Greenleft

9 Responses

  2. Not trying to be smart here but Sunrise is a very White show. Even all their reporters. The show does not represent the mixture of cultures i see walking the city streets. They are not alone but do stand out. They do gender equality well but not color.

  3. Interesting it’s not included in the 7plus stream of that day’s Sunrise. I’m guessing they treated it as an ad – and not as part of Sunrise itself.

  4. This apology and the nature and timing of this apology goes to heart of who Channel 7 and all those people involved in this sorry mess are and I don’t mean this as statement of support to Channel 7. They often say it is the cover-up in political crimes that is worse than the actual crime and so it is here with Channel 7 – it is the reluctance to see the segment for what it was and issue an immediate apology. Instead they and their presenters have steadfastly obfuscated and delayed what should have been an immediate acknowledgement that they did wrong. I don’t expect commentators Prue MacSween and Ben Davis to apologise because they most likely believe what they said, but I think Armitage and Kooch should have known and acted better.

  5. David you’re being unnecessarily critical here. “(Very) early” would have been to broadcast the apology at 5:30am when the program starts. 6:45am is practically the middle of the program and closer to park viewing times. When wouldn’t have been too early in the morning for you to apologise?

    1. When Sunrise makes the top 20 in the television ratings, its usually for the 7-9am timeslot. I would have had the apology somewhere in that timeslot, when more eyeballs are usually tuned into the show.

      1. Most certainly is buried away at that time, you think they would apologise at 8.30 ish, but then again you’d assume they would appologise two years ago when they saw they had been offensive.

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