Investigation report no. BI-272

Summary

Broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Station ABC1

Type of service National broadcasting—television

Name of program The Mix

Date of broadcast 13 November 2016

Relevant code ABC Code of Practice 2011 (revised in 2016)

Date finalised 14 February 2017

Decision No breach of Standard 7.1 [harm and offence]

No breach of Standard 7.2 [warnings or advice]

No breach of Standard 7.3 [classification] Error: Reference source not found

Background In January 2017, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) commenced an investigation under section 151 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) into a segment on The Mix.

The program was broadcast on ABC1 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on 13 November 2016 at 1.30 pm.

The ACMA received a complaint alleging that the ‘Top 5’ segment on The Mix contained depictions of nudity that were inappropriate for viewing at a time when children would be watching.

The ACMA has investigated the ABC’s compliance with Standards 7.1, 7.2, or 7.3 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 (revised in 2016) (the Code).

The program The Mix is a news program, described as follows: ABC News 24's new weekly arts, entertainment and culture program. Hosted by popular radio and television host James Valentine, The Mix gives you the latest on art, television, movies, books, games, apps, festivals, gigs, events, celebrities, theatre and all things showbiz. Get the full picture with The Mix.1 The Mix is broadcast first on ABC News 24, and repeated on ABC1.

The relevant program segment, the ‘Top 5’ most controversial nude artworks in history, commenced at approximately 13 minutes and 7 seconds into the program.

A transcript of the segment is at Attachment A.

Assessment and submissions When assessing content, the ACMA considers the meaning conveyed by the material, including the natural, ordinary meaning of the language, context, tenor, tone, images and any inferences that may be drawn. This is assessed according to the understanding of an ‘ordinary reasonable’ listener or viewer.

Australian courts have considered an ‘ordinary reasonable’ listener or viewer to be: A person of fair average intelligence, who is neither perverse, nor morbid or suspicious of mind, nor avid for scandal. That person does not live in an ivory tower, but can and does read between the lines in the light of that person’s general knowledge and experience of worldly affairs.2 Once the ACMA has ascertained the meaning of the material that was broadcast, it then assesses compliance with the Code.

This investigation has taken into account the complaint (at Attachment B) and submissions from the broadcaster (at Attachment C). Other sources are identified as relevant.

1 http://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/the-mix/, accessed on 27 January 2017. 2 Amalgamated Television Services Pty Limited v Marsden (1998) 43 NSWLR 158 at pp 164–167.

2 Issue: Harm and offence

Relevant Code provisions Standards: 7.1 Content that is likely to cause harm or offence must be justified by the editorial context. 7.2 Where content is likely to cause harm or offence, having regard to the context, make reasonable efforts to provide information about the nature of the content through the use of classification labels or other warnings or advice. 7.3 Ensure all domestic television programs – with the exception of news, current affairs and sporting events – are classified and scheduled for broadcast in accordance with the ABC’s Associated Standard on Television Program Classification. The ACMA also takes account of the relevant Principles set out in the Code: The ABC broadcasts comprehensive and innovative content that aims to inform, entertain and educate diverse audiences. This involves a willingness to take risks, invent and experiment with new ideas. It can result in challenging content which may offend some of the audience some of the time. But it also contributes to diversity of content in the media and to fulfilling the ABC’s function to encourage and promote the musical, dramatic and other performing arts. The ABC acknowledges that a public broadcaster should never gratuitously harm or offend and accordingly any content which is likely to harm or offend must have a clear editorial purpose. The ABC potentially reaches the whole community, so it must take into account community standards. However, the community recognises that what is and is not acceptable in ABC content largely depends upon the particular context, including the nature of the content, its target audience, and any signposting that equips audiences to make informed choices about what they see, hear or read. Applying the harm and offence standard, therefore, requires careful judgement. What may be inappropriate and unacceptable in one context may be appropriate and acceptable in another. Coarse language, disturbing images or unconventional situations may form a legitimate part of reportage, debate, documentaries or a humorous, satirical, dramatic or other artistic work.

Finding The ABC did not breach Standards 7.1, 7.2 or 7.3 of the Code.

Reasons The complainant submitted: I am concerned about the blatant airing of painting of a woman’s private parts which was originally covered by “a hat silhouette” or “the Mix” logo in the program until the host found a way around exposing the full female anatomy.

The broadcaster submitted: […] the nudity in the program was justified by the editorial context and reasonable efforts were made to provide information about the nature of the content, including through the use of pre- broadcast advice and narration within the program itself.

The complaint concerned a visual depiction of the 1866 painting The Origin of the World by French artist, Gustave Courbet, which featured as the number one ‘most controversial nude in history’ in the ‘Top 5’ segment.

ACMA Investigation report—The Mix broadcast on ABC1 on 13 November 2016 3 of 12 Error: Reference source not found

The painting depicts the body of a nude female lying on her back with one breast exposed (the other is concealed by a sheet) and her legs splayed to expose her genital area.

The Origin of the World was preceded by the four other nude artworks selected for the ‘Top 5’ segment: a depiction of Donald Trump by Australian-American artist, Ilma Gore; Francisco Goya’s Maja; Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon; and Salvador Dali’s The Enigma of William Tell.

Compliance with Standard 7.1 [harm and offence – justified by editorial context]

To assess compliance with Standard 7.1, the ACMA asks the following questions:

1. Does the material have the intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm or offence?

If it has no capacity to be likely to cause harm or offence, then the matter ends there. If the answer to question 1 is ‘yes’, then the following further questions arise:

2. What factors are there moderating any harm or offence?

3. What is the editorial context?

4. Does the editorial context justify the likely harm or offence?

1. Does the material have the intrinsic capacity to be likely to cause harm or offence?

The ACMA considers that, depending on the context, depictions of nudity have some intrinsic capacity to cause offence to some viewers. As the answer to this question is ‘yes’, the ACMA then asks the following further questions.

2. What factors are there moderating any harm or offence?

In this case, any harm or offence in the segment was moderated by the absence of actual nudity, the lack of visual detail with respect to the nudity depicted in the painting, the brevity of the images broadcast and the tone of the segment overall.

As a painting of a nude female, there were no depictions of actual nudity. A series of six still images of the painting were broadcast for approximately 25 seconds while the host, James Valentine, explained its controversial history.

In five broadcast images of the painting, the genital area of the depicted female was either covered by a digital graphic of The Mix program logo or Facebook logos or obscured by the person standing in front of the painting. A single uncensored depiction of the painting was onscreen for approximately three seconds, though the genital area depicted in the painting is not anatomically detailed nor is the nudity sexualised.

The segment presented information about the controversies surrounding the five different nude artworks included in the ‘Top 5’ list in a light-hearted manner. Mr Valentine set the tone in the segment’s introduction by suggesting that the decision to consider the ‘Top 5’ most controversial nudes in history, was made because the discussion and depictions of nudes earlier in the program was ‘not exactly something that is going to get The Mix complaint line ringing off the hook’.

Harm and offence was further moderated by the provision of consumer advice at the beginning of the program that alerted viewers to nudity in the program (discussed further below).

4 3. What is the editorial context?

The Mix is a news and information program about arts, entertainment and culture. Each week the program’s host, arts journalists and other contributors traverse a wide range of topics concerning the arts and entertainment.

The episode broadcast on 13 November 2016 covered the following topics:  Robert Malherbe and Wendy Whiteley on ‘why we should celebrate our nakedness’  Tatsuo Miyajima and his latest exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art  ‘Top 5’ most controversial nudes in history  ‘Pub Chat’ about the Sydney Opera House and Carriageworks venues  Georgia O’Keefe and ‘the grand dames of modernism’.

The interviews with Mr Malherbe and Ms Whiteley and the ‘Top 5’ segment, explored issues around nudity continuing with the theme established in the previous week’s program that covered the Nude exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW.

The six minute segment with Mr Malherbe and Ms Whiteley involved candid discussions about the process of painting nudes and included depictions of nude artworks as well as a nude female model posing for paintings. Mr Valentine explained that this segment was prompted by the previous week’s discussions about ‘how uptight we get and how confronted we are about our nakedness on canvas’.

The ‘Top 5’ segment, as a list of the most controversial nudes in history, contained depictions of five different nude artworks. Some of the artworks, including The Origin of the World, featured realistic depictions of full frontal male and female nudity.

4. Does the editorial context justify the likely harm or offence?

The Code Principles note that what ABC content is acceptable to the community depends on the nature of the content, its target audience and any signposting that is provided. Any content which is likely to harm or offend should have a clear editorial purpose.

This episode of The Mix provided consumer advice about nudity and during the program there was signposting that referred to the contentious nature of the material coming up. Indeed, Mr Valentine’s introduction to the ‘Top 5’ segment clearly stated that it was about ‘the most controversial’ nudes in history. Further signposting occurred in the segment itself as The Origin of the World was preceded by four other nude artworks which included references to, and depictions of, prostitutes and male genitalia.

The Origin of the World painting topped the list of ‘most controversial nudes in history’, due to the objections it has raised over time, including continuing to be banned by the social media platform Facebook.

The segment included commentary about the artist’s intention in painting the nude as ‘a protest to the prudish academic habits of stereotyping and camouflaging the naked body’. The nudity therefore had a clear editorial purpose within the context of a segment that considered ‘controversial’ nudes. Further, the depiction of nudity had a specific purpose given that that episode of The Mix examined people’s discomfort with the naked form in art—the very motivation for Courbet’s painting.

ACMA Investigation report—The Mix broadcast on ABC1 on 13 November 2016 5 of 12 Error: Reference source not found

The Code Principles also note that what may be inappropriate and unacceptable in one context may be appropriate and acceptable in another. For example, disturbing images or unconventional situations may form a legitimate part of, among other things, humorous, satirical, dramatic or other artistic work.

In the context of an arts news program directed at a mature audience, and a segment that clearly stated its intention to present controversial nudes, the uncensored depiction of a nude female in the painting The Origin of the World, was editorially justified.

The program, therefore, complied with the requirements of Standard 7.1

Compliance with Standard 7.2 [harm and offence – provide classification labels]

Standard 7.2 requires that viewers are provided with information about content they might find offensive ‘through the use of classification labels or other warnings or advice’.

As noted above, the ACMA considers that some viewers may have found the broadcast depiction of nudity offensive.

However, visual and verbal consumer advice was provided to the viewer at the beginning of the program, stating ‘Viewer advice. This program contains nudity’.

In his opening comments on the program, Mr Valentine explicitly anticipated some of the topics to be covered in that episode of The Mix, including ‘some controversial nude art’. Mr Valentine’s comments were accompanied by three very brief images from the ‘Top 5’ segment including an image of The Origin of the World painting (in this depiction the genital area is covered by a digital graphic of The Mix program logo).

The ACMA considers that reasonable efforts were made to provide information about content likely to cause offence using explicit consumer advice about nudity and alerting viewers early in the program to the ‘controversial’ nature of some of the upcoming content.

The program, therefore, complied with the requirements of Standard 7.2.

Compliance with Standard 7.3 [appropriate classification]

Standard 7.3 requires that domestic television programs, with the exception of news, current affairs and sporting programs, are classified and scheduled in accordance with the ABC’s Associated Standard on Television Program Classification.

The ACMA accepts the ABC’s submission that The Mix is a news program, commissioned by ABC News and broadcast first on ABC News 24 before being repeated on ABC1.

As a news program, The Mix is exempt from classification requirements under the Code.

Accordingly, the ABC did not breach Standard 7.3 of the Code.

6 Attachment A

Transcript of ‘Top 5’ segment on The Mix, broadcast on ABC1 on 13 November 2016

Host: I’m James Valentine and this is The Mix, and we’re off to the pub in a moment to talk about the challenges of running those big artistic centres.

But, just one final word, ‘the nudes’, in Robert Malherbe’s story—we saw him painting a beautiful portrait of Kate—but it was of her back and not exactly something that is going to get The Mix complaint line ringing off the hook. So, we thought our ‘Top 5’ this week—the ‘Top 5’ most controversial nudes in history.

[Accompanying image]: The Host is speaking to camera in a gallery. Behind him on the back wall is a large painting of a female carrying a basket in one arm and wearing a black coat that is open to expose her naked body—she appears to be pregnant. The painting is slightly out of focus as the camera is focussed on the host in the foreground.

Host: You may often find yourself pondering the meaning of Salvador Dali’s works and The Enigma of William Tell is no exception. The pant-less figure with a phallic elongated butt cheek was particularly shocking given it had the face of Russian political leader, Vladimir Lenin. Even Dali’s fellow surrealists were outraged and confused, attempting to destroy the work at the Grand Palais in Paris.

[Accompanying image]: A digital moving graphic of the number five is briefly superimposed on an image of the painting, The Enigma of William Tell. A man with his back to the camera is looking at the painting which is large and covers the wall of the gallery. The camera very slowly zooms in on the painting before cutting to a tight close up of the butt cheek of the male depicted in the painting. The camera slowly pans the length of his ‘elongated phallus’ that is held up at its end by a brown forked tool. There appears to be an open wound on the phallus- like extension. This is followed by a close-up of the male’s face, slowly zooming in before switching to a black and white head-shot of Vladimir Lenin. The camera switches back to The Enigma of William Tell as it slowly pans out from the painting.

Host: At number four, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon may not be a racy depiction of a group of prostitutes, but it still managed to cause a stir. Punters at the turn of the 20th century were unaccustomed with the hard lines and abstract shapes of Cubism, labelling Picasso immoral for his savage representation of the female form.

[Accompanying image]: A digital moving graphic of the number four is briefly superimposed on an image of the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. The painting features five female nudes depicted in shades of pink in Picasso’s abstract style. The camera slowly zooms in before switching to a tight, close-up of two of the females’ lower bodies before panning up to their faces. This is followed by a tight, close-up of the lower bodies of two other females before panning to the right of the painting and switching to a shot of one of their faces. The camera switches to the opening image of the painting as it slowly zooms out.

Host: This is the clothed Maja, and this is the nude Maja and they’re both looking at you. Francisco Goya’s full frontal nudity and direct stare was enough to upset the Spanish Inquisition in 1815 who confiscated both works. The nude continued to spark controversy over one hundred years later when letters affixed with postage stamps of the work were banned from entering the United States. They were supposed to be returned to their senders but were kept and quietly souvenired by postal workers instead.

[Accompanying image]: A digital moving graphic of the number three is briefly superimposed on an image of the painting of the clothed Maja, which depicts Maja reclining on a lounge and looking directly at the viewer. This is followed by an image of the painting of the nude Maja,

ACMA Investigation report—The Mix broadcast on ABC1 on 13 November 2016 7 of 12 Error: Reference source not found

which depicts Maja in full frontal nudity as she lays on a lounge with her legs closed and her arms clasped behind her head. The next shot is a close-up of Maja’s face in both paintings displayed side-by-side. The camera then switches to a close-up of the nude Maja as the camera slowly pans up the length of her body from her toes to her face. The next image is the same as the earlier one of Maja’s face in both paintings displayed side-by-side as the camera slowly zooms in. This image fades out before revealing a small, sepia-toned image of the nude Maja on a Spanish postage stamp on which the camera slowly zooms in.

Host: While the classic nude may have been saved for warriors and goddesses, Australian- American artist Illma Gore, decided to strip off the new ruler of the free world. At number two, after going viral, this impression of a nude Donald Trump was quickly banned from Facebook. The divisive depiction has upset many Americans, with the artist claiming to be physically attacked by Trump supporters. While the artwork is hung at London’s Maddox gallery, the same can’t be said for this Trump. Gore wanted to comment on our perceptions of masculinity and penis size.

[Accompanying image]: A digital moving graphic of the number two is briefly superimposed on a very tight, close-up of a person’s hands resting on their knee as the camera slowly zooms in. The camera switches to another very tight, close-up of what appears to be the person’s stomach as the camera slowly zooms in. This is followed by a head-shot of the artist Ilma Gore with her left hand raised. Above the artist’s raised hand is a guilt-framed artwork of Donald Trump on which the camera slowly zooms in (there is little visible detail in the artwork as the image appears over-exposed). The camera switches to a very tight, close-up of the artwork panning upwards to Donald Trump’s face before moving to a wider, full-length, full- frontal shot of his naked body (that clearly depicts his penis) as the camera slowly zooms in. The next shot is an image of the artist’s face with an apparent injury to her right eye on which the camera slowly zooms in. The image of the artist fades out to reveal a close-up of the framed artwork (no genitalia is visible in this image). The camera cuts to a close-up headshot of the artwork. This is followed by the artist speaking to someone to the far left of the screen in front of the framed artwork that is displayed on the gallery wall—Donald Trump’s penis is digitally censored in this image. The final shot sees the camera slowly zooming out from the nude depiction of Donald Trump showing only his upper body.

Host: And at number one, it’s Gustave Courbet’s Origin of the World which was painted in 1866 to protest the prudish academic habits of stereotyping and camouflaging the naked body. It’s hard to find a version of this painting without bits redacted out but we did. The nude was featured on the cover of a French novel in the 1990s, which was immediately confiscated by police and Facebook continues to ban it.

[Accompanying image]: A digital graphic moving graphic of the number one is briefly superimposed on the screen which shows a man and a woman with their backs to the camera, looking at a guilt-framed artwork on a gallery wall. The painting is The Origin of the World though the image in the painting is unclear as it is partially obscured by the woman looking at it. This is followed by an image of another woman looking at the framed painting which depicts a nude female lying on her back with one breast exposed (the other is concealed by a sheet) and her legs splayed to expose her pubic hair and genital area (covered by a digital graphic of The Mix program logo). The camera slowly zooms in before cutting to an image of the framed artwork being held up by two people on either side (only their arms are visible). This is a medium-close up of the painting where the genital area is covered by a digital graphic of The Mix program logo. The camera slowly zooms in and The Mix program logo disappears to reveal the genital area. The camera cuts to an image of a man in a hat looking at the framed painting—the image in the painting is unclear as it is partially obscured by the man looking at it. The camera slowly zooms in before cutting to a full screen shot of the framed painting with digital graphics of the Facebook logos covering the breast and genital areas. The camera slowly zooms in before cutting away.

8 Attachment B

Complaint

Complaint to the broadcaster dated 14 November 2016:

[…]

Subject: Indecent pictures of female genitalia during the day

Comments: I wish to complain about "the Mix" deciding to show a painting of a woman with her legs spread apart for all to see her genitals.

Initially the program showed this woman with either a silhouette or "The Mix" logo over the vagina entrance. Then the host talked about finding a copy of the picture minus the coverings which he said he had found and proceeded to show the totally naked picture of this woman's genitals.

Then he covered it over with a silhouette again. Was it really necessary to spend an extraordinary amount of time on this one picture?

I also noted that at the beginning an artist commented that people do not need to go to art galleries to look at nude paintings anymore because of the internet. It appears that the ABC feel it was appropriate to participate in pornography during a family Sunday.

This program was aired on a Sunday afternoon when children and teens were around. This was not a G rated program.

[…]

Complaint to the ACMA dated 21 December 2016:

[…]

[Name] asserts that “The Mix is broadcast on News 24. This channel is directed at an adult audience. The programming on the channel reflects this. While we understand that parents may permit their children to watch News 24, it is not intended to be suitable for children. “

However [name] was ill informed by those from whom she sought a response because they did not know “The Mix” is also aired on ABC1.

My Issue to the ABC and AMCA: I am concerned about the blatant airing of painting of a woman’s private parts which was originally covered by “a hat silhouette ” or “the Mix” logo in the program until the host found a way around exposing the full female anatomy. Please note the picture was a clear depiction of the female anatomy and not some Picasso type representation.

[…]

Note that my grandchildren are 8-10 and well educated and Sunday afternoons at 1.30pm is normally safe for that age group to watch. They had watched Landline and Gardening Australia which are G rated.

[…]

ACMA Investigation report—The Mix broadcast on ABC1 on 13 November 2016 9 of 12 Error: Reference source not found

Attachment C

Broadcaster’s response and submissions

ABC response to the complainant dated 30 November 2016:

[…]

Thank you for contacting the ABC about the Top 5 segment on The Mix, that you saw at about 4.30pm, on Sunday, 13 November 2016, on News 24.

Your concerns have been considered by Audience and Consumer Affairs, a unit which is separate to and independent of content making areas within the ABC. Our role is to review, and where necessary investigate, complaints alleging that ABC content has breached the ABC's editorial standards. The ABC’s Code of Practice is available here: http://about.abc.net.au/reports-publications/code-of-practice/.

We have reviewed the broadcast. In light of your concerns we have assessed it against editorial standard 7.1, which provides “Content that is likely to cause harm or offence must be justified by the editorial context”. We have also had regard to the principles that accompany this standard.

The program featured two segments regarding nudity and art. The first segment featured: artist, Robert Mulherbe; a number of nude models; and a gallery curator. This segment followed on from the previous week’s segment on the “Nude” exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. The second segment was the “Top 5”, which featured the image that is the subject of your complaint. In the context of the earlier stories on nude art, the program featured its top 5 nudes. Number 1 was Gustave Courbet's "The Origin of The World", painted in 1866. This piece featured a naked woman, whose vagina was exposed.

The Mix is a weekly art, entertainment and culture program. The segments you saw formed part of a series on nude art and Australians’ reaction to it. The context of the feature was art, not pornography found on the internet, a point made earlier in the show by curator, Patricia Anderson. The Top 5 images were not shown gratuitously nor for a long period of time (the un-redacted image of “The Origin of The World", was on air for about 2 seconds). The Mix is broadcast on News 24. This channel is directed at an adult audience. The programming on the channel reflects this. While we understand that parents may permit their children to watch News 24, it is not intended to be suitable for children. On this occasion the episode was also preceded with a visual and verbal warning that stated “This program contains nudity”. That nude images would be included in the segment was also signalled to the audience when announcing the Top 5 segment. Specifically, host James Valentine expressly stated at the outset of the segment that what would follow was “the top 5 most controversial nudes in history”. He also said, by way of distinction, that the earlier segment had featured the nude model’s back view only. Finally, we observe that the segment featured a fully naked and exposed image on a man, in the form of Donald Trump.

It follows that, although we regret that some viewers may have found the image offensive, as you did, we are satisfied that the inclusion of the un-redacted “The Origin of The World", was justified by the editorial context.

[…]

10 ABC further response to the complainant dated 17 January 2017:

[…]

In an oversight, I did not review the broadcast on ABC1 at the time of investigating your complaint. I have now reviewed the episode that was also broadcast on ABC 1, at 1:30 PM AEST on Sunday, 13 November 2016. In addition to the matters previously addressed, I now respond as follows to your concerns. The Mix is a topical weekly arts, entertainment and culture program produced by the ABC’s News division. Its focus is on news in the art world, including current events in arts and entertainment. This episode featured exhibitions on in Sydney, including the Portia Geach Memorial Prize and the Tatsuo Miyajima exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It also featured two segments regarding nudity and art. As noted in my previous response to you, the first segment featured artist, Robert Mulherbe, a number of nude models, and a gallery curator. In the context of this segment, and the previous week’s segment on the current “Nude” exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW featuring works from the Tate Collection, the second segment featured the program’s “Top 5” nudes in history. Number 1 was Gustave Courbet's "The Origin of The World", painted in 1866. This piece featured a naked woman, whose vagina was exposed. The nature of the content was clearly signalled to viewers. In recognition that some viewers might find some of the images offensive or distasteful, the episode was preceded with a visual and verbal warning that stated “This program contains nudity”. At the start of the episode, in introducing the line-up of segments, James Valentine informed the audience that one segment was on “controversial nude art”. And at the start of that segment, Mr Valentine reiterated that the program was going to show “the top 5 most controversial nudes in history”. He also said, by way of distinction, that the earlier segment had featured the nude model’s back view only. The Top 5 images were not shown gratuitously nor for a long period of time (the un- redacted image of “The Origin of The World", was on air for about 2 seconds). The specific editorial context for the Top 5 segment was clearly explained by Mr Valentine during the episode: it came from the earlier story featuring artist Robert Mulherbe and the previous week’s episode of The Mix that featured the Art Gallery of NSW’s “Nude” exhibition. While the Top 5 featured nudity, the images were not sexualised. We do understand that some viewers might not have appreciated the images that were included on the program. However, we consider that the program included sufficient warnings to parents and guardians about the nature of the content included in the episode, for them to make an informed decision about permitting younger audience members to watch it. ABC submission to the ACMA dated 20 January 2017:

[…]

The Mix’s website describes the program as follows:

The Mix is ABC News 24's new weekly arts, entertainment and culture program. Hosted by popular radio and television host James Valentine, The Mix gives you the latest on art, television, movies, books, games, apps, festivals, gigs, events, celebrities, theatre and all things showbiz. Get the full picture with The Mix.

Each week James and some of the ABC's best arts reporters and other contributors will be the eyes and ears for anything new and upcoming in arts and entertainment.

The program is commissioned by ABC News, broadcast first on ABC News 24, and repeated on ABC1. As The Mix is a news program, it is exempt from the classification requirements set out in standard 7.3 but must comply with all other harm and offence standards set out in section 7 of the Code. In light of [name of complainant]’s complaint,

ACMA Investigation report—The Mix broadcast on ABC1 on 13 November 2016 11 of 12 Error: Reference source not found

Audience and Consumer Affairs investigated the program’s compliance with the relevant standards – 7.1 and 7.2 – and concluded that there had been no breach of these standards. As set out in the correspondence with [name of complainant], the nudity in the program was justified by the editorial context and reasonable efforts were made to provide information about the nature of the content, including through the use of pre- broadcast advice and narration within the program itself.

[…]

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