ABC Rejects ACMA Finding on Four Corners Impartiality — ABC News Australia
In Australia, public broadcaster ABC has rejected the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) finding that impartiality requirements were breached in an episode of Four Corners about the redevelopment of the Australian War Memorial. This was reported by ABC News Australia.
ACMA said that the episode Sacrifice, aired in March 2025, “gave undue prominence to one point of view”. The episode aimed to examine concerns over the multimillion-dollar redevelopment and expansion of the memorial.
Regulator’s finding
The regulator concluded that the program did not sufficiently explain the findings of an Australian National Audit Office audit and conflated different stages of the memorial’s redevelopment. According to ACMA, this could have confused viewers.
At the same time, ACMA did not find a breach of accuracy requirements. The regulator’s chair, Nerida O’Loughlin, stressed that ABC is required to cover contentious issues with due impartiality and provide audiences with sufficient context.
She said that the cumulative effect of the presentation, strong and emotional language, as well as the selection of and differing treatment of interview participants, favoured critics of the redevelopment.
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Broadcaster’s response
ABC managing director Hugh Marks said that such an interpretation of the code, if applied more broadly across the media industry, could have a chilling effect on investigative journalism covering matters of public importance.
In its formal response to ACMA dated August 21, ABC said the regulator’s finding misinterprets the broadcaster’s policies, distorts the tone and nature of the program, and introduces an unprecedented and unworkable standard of impartiality. ABC also believes that the decision unfairly calls into question the integrity of journalist Mark Willacy.
The broadcaster said it does not plan to remove the episode from the iview platform. The ABC Ombudsman’s Office had previously reviewed the episode and found no breaches of editorial standards on accuracy, impartiality and fair treatment.
This is the second time this year that ACMA has found that a Four Corners program breached the ABC code of practice. In March, the regulator published a separate finding on the 2023 episode Water Grab, finding breaches of accuracy and impartiality requirements.
