WIN TV, Prime in breach over Save Our Voices campaign.

WIN Television and Prime Television have been found in breach of impartiality rules for news reports about whether regional media is jeopardised by ‘outdated’ media laws.

Australian Communications and Media Authority investigations have found both broadcasters in breach of the rules due to a ‘call to action’ to support the ‘Save Our Voices’ campaign advocating for law reform around regional media.

ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said that while the role of regional media is a newsworthy topic, on this occasion WIN and Prime failed to meet the standards of impartiality required of news programs.

“Australian audiences should be able to rely on news programs for fair and impartial information so they can understand complex issues,” Ms O’Loughlin said.

“The issue is not the topic reported on but the fact that a news broadcast encouraged viewers to take action and visit an online petition in which the licensee had a direct interest.

“As a result, the report went beyond providing sufficient information for viewers to make up their own minds about the issues presented to advocating for a particular policy response. The commercial interests of a broadcaster should not shape the way in which news stories are presented.”

Prime TV defended that, “Whilst the Report appears to indicate a position supporting the dismantling of outdated media laws, this was balanced by the inclusion of statements from the Communications Minister indicating the Federal Government’s current position on regional media reform….. Prime submits that although the Report presented a perspective that is supportive of regional media companies and its viewers this does not mean the Report was inherently partial. In our view the Report should be judged from the perspective of the viewer.”

WIN TV also stood by its report saying, “It would be obvious to anyone viewing [WIN’s] news program that they are watching WIN Television and that it was one of only two regional broadcasters covering local news at that time. The issue of diminishing local media voices was a matter of notoriety in the region, as indeed it is in so many regional areas……. To suggest that [WIN] should not have covered this important issue because it had some kind of ‘interest’ in the campaign is illogical and lacks rational basis. If that were so, television news bulletins could not cover company tax changes, jobkeeper, regional journalism grants, media law reform and many other matters of vital public interest.”

WIN and Prime have agreed to provide updated training to all news production, presenters and editorial staff about the impartiality Code rules and report to the ACMA following the training.