ABC lodges complaint following comments on SKY News

The ABC lodged a formal complaint with SKY News Australia after Bronwyn Bishop said the public broadcaster was “aligning themselves with the policy of Germany’s national socialist party for the elimination of Jews” in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

The former Liberal senator was responding to the SKY News host Sharri Markson’s claim that the ABC was “so biased, so one-sided, so anti-Israel”.

“They [Nazis] were against the establishment of the national homeland [Israel],” Bishop said on Thursday night.

“So [the ABC] are aligning themselves with the policies that were in place with national socialism during world war two. And there’s no two ways about it, it’s in the DNA of socialism. And unfortunately, we have lost any balance in the ABC; any reasonableness for proper debate and for proper balance of justice.”

In the letter, ABC News Director Stevens said Bishop’s comments were “wrong and deeply offensive” and complained they went unchallenged by the show’s presenter, Markson.

He said the comments and failure to challenge them were not consistent with various industry codes of practice to present material fairly and accurately, and called for an apology.

“It should not need to be pointed out that accusing the ABC of aligning itself with the policies and practices of the Nazis during World War II is deeply offensive,” he wrote.

“These baseless, insulting and inflammatory comments have no place in any mature, responsible discussion about the tragic and confronting events being witnessed in the Middle East.”

SKY News Australia said on Friday evening it had removed the video content containing Bishop’s comments from its YouTube channel and website.

Speaking on SKY News Australia on Friday evening, Bishop addressed her previous night’s comments. “If I offended anyone, I’m sorry. I will remain committed to calling out atrocities and my support for the people of Israel is unwavering.”

Source: The Guardian, The Age