PUBLIC REPORT ON AUDIENCE COMMENTS AND COMPLAINTS JULY – SEPTEMBER 2004 1. ABC Complaint Handling Procedures The ABC is responsible for the quality and standards of all programs on its services. With so many program services being provided each day, from time to time errors may occur. The ABC aims to ensure that they happen as rarely as possible. However, should they occur, the ABC accepts responsibility and will respond promptly and appropriately. The ABC aims to respond to complaints as quickly as possible and no later than 28 days after receipt of a complaint. The roles of ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs and the ABC’s Complaints Review Executive are described below. ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs deals with written complaints about ABC programs. Depending on the nature of the complaint, it will either be investigated by Audience & Consumer Affairs or referred to the relevant division for direct response. All written complaints alleging a breach of the ABC’s Editorial Policies will be investigated by Audience & Consumer Affairs. Audience & Consumer Affairs is independent of program making divisions within the ABC. Complaints can be sent to Audience & Consumer Affairs at GPO Box 9994 in your capital city, or submitted via ABC Online at www.abc.net.au/contact. If a complainant expresses dissatisfaction with a response received from Audience & Consumer Affairs, the complaint and response will be forwarded to the ABC’s Complaints Review Executive (CRE) for independent review. Complaints Review Executive The ABC established the role of Complaints Review Executive (CRE) to provide an additional level of internal review for complainants who express dissatisfaction with ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs’ response to their complaint. The CRE has broad scope to independently review the broadcast and the manner in which the complaint was originally dealt with, and determine whether the ABC acted appropriately. The CRE is independent of both ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs and all program makers. This additional tier of internal review does not preclude complainants from seeking external review via the Australian Broadcasting Authority, or the ABC’s Independent Complaints Review Panel, depending on the nature of the complaint. Both these forms of review are external and entirely independent of the ABC. 2 2. Overview This report provides information about audience complaints finalised by ABC Audience & Consumer Affairs and the ABC’s Complaints Review Executive between 1 July and 30 September 2004. Specifically, the report outlines • the overall composition of audience contacts finalised • the timeliness of ABC responses • the subject matter of complaints received • the number of complaints upheld The report also provides summary details of all complaints upheld by Audience & Consumer Affairs and all investigations finalised by the Complaints Review Executive during this period. Overall, there were 5897 written contacts finalised during this period. Of these, complaints made up 40% of contacts with 2,340 complaints. Of these complaints, 83 were upheld either fully or partially. This represents 3.5% of all complaints, or 1.4% of all contacts to the ABC, which were finalised during this period. Overall composition of audience contacts Table 1: Written contacts finalised. % of Type of Contact Email Letter Total Total Complaint 1728 612 2340 40 Appreciation / Request / Suggestion 2913 465 3378 57 Other 102 77 179 3 Grand Total 4743 1154 5897 100 Timeliness of responses Table 2: Timeliness of responses provided. Type of contact Average response time % of responses provided within 28 days Complaint 16 days 80% All written contacts 21 days 70% 3 Subject matter of complaints finalised Table 3: Topics of complaint issues finalised. Note that this table counts the number of issues raised by the contacts received. As one contact can raise multiple issues the figures in this table will not match exactly those quoted above for contacts. Category Topic Sub-topic Upheld Total % Fairness, accuracy Bias Other 2 139 5.9 & independence Anti-government 1 82 3.5 Other political 1 69 2.9 Pro ALP 1 67 2.8 Pro Coalition 59 2.5 Pro Government 29 1.2 Sub-total 5 445 18.8 Factual inaccuracy N/A 40 165 7.0 Balance N/A 1 78 3.3 Unfair treatment Discrimination 2 18 0.8 Denigration 1 11 0.5 Racism 1 11 0.5 Sexism 11 0.5 Other 1 16 0.7 Sub-total 5 67 2.8 Incidental advertising - Non ABC products / logos N/A 1 4 0.2 Sub-total 52 759 32.0 Audience preferences Quality - general N/A 87 3.7 Scheduling / program changes Discontinuation of program 444 18.7 Change of timeslot 61 2.6 Change of format 35 1.5 Too many repeats 10 0.4 Other 102 4.3 Sub-total 652 27.5 Sub-total 739 31.2 Broadcast standards Inappropriate content Poor taste 2 62 2.6 Sex and sexuality 56 2.4 Bad language / profanity / swearing 1 42 1.8 Violence 7 37 1.6 Bad example 4 34 1.4 Offence to religious feeling 3 24 1.0 Drugs / smoking / alcohol 1 0.0 Other 2 53 2.2 Sub-total 19 309 13.0 News values / news content Not enough coverage 31 1.3 Placement in bulletin 3 0.1 Too much coverage 8 0.3 Other 57 2.4 Sub-total 99 4.2 Promotions - ABC programs and products Too many promotions 7 0.3 Too intrusive 3 0.1 Too few promotions 1 0.0 Too revealing 1 0.0 Other 13 0.5 Sub-total 25 1.1 Sensitivity and portrayal N/A 3 0.1 Standards of interviewing Too tough / aggressive / rude to guest 44 1.9 Too easy on guest 19 0.8 Other 33 1.4 Sub-total 96 4.1 Standards of presentation Language - pronunciation / grammar / spelling 2 40 1.7 Personal presentation 29 1.2 Sound quality / voiceovers / background music 1 16 0.7 Program presentation / set design / camera work 10 0.4 Language - poor terminology / misuse of word 1 7 0.3 Other 3 31 1.3 Sub-total 7 133 5.6 Sub-total 26 665 28.1 Corporate / Infrastructure Management issues N/A 123 5.2 Customer service / complaints handling N/A 7 51 2.2 Internet - technical difficulties N/A 10 0.4 Captions N/A 2 0.1 Transmission N/A 2 0.1 Sub-total 7 188 7.9 Other Other N/A 19 0.8 Grand Total 85 2370 100.0 4 3. Summary of complaints upheld by Audience & Consumer Affairs In each case where a complaint is upheld, the ABC provides a written response to the complainant acknowledging its error. Where appropriate, additional action is taken to rectify the mistake, and/or ensure that the problem does not recur. Action taken in response to upheld complaints can include the following: written apologies to complainants; on-air corrections and apologies; counselling or reprimanding of staff; amending programs for future broadcasts; and reviews of and improvements to procedures. (i) Matters of fairness, accuracy and independence Factual inaccuracy There were 40 upheld complaints regarding factual inaccuracies. Upheld complaints of factual inaccuracy regarding television programs. ABC 7.00 PM Television News News South Wales, 25 August 2004 The complaint A viewer complained that in a report about the NSW Teachers’ Federation mounting a High Court challenge to funding for private schools, it was incorrectly stated by a reporter that the NSW Teachers’ Federation was affiliated with the ALP. Finding The ABC agreed that the NSW Teachers’ Federation had never been affiliated with any political party and an on-air correction was made at the end of the same news bulletin. ABC 7.00 PM Television News New South Wales, 1 July 2004 The complaint A viewer complained that in a report about a car that had been stolen containing a baby, the car was mistakenly described as gold when in fact it was green. As the story was, in part, an appeal to the public to look for the car, the viewer was very concerned by the mistake. Finding The ABC agreed that the car had been mistakenly described as gold instead of green. The ABC realised the mistake on the night of the broadcast. However, efforts to correct the mistake were superseded by news from the police that the baby had been found. ABC 7.00 PM Television News 4 August 2004 The complaint Two viewers were concerned about the use of the terms "execute" or "execution" to describe the killing of people in Iraq (eg by beheading) by terrorists. The viewers considered that this implied a legitimacy that was inappropriate. Finding The ABC agreed that the usage of this terminology was inappropriate. The News & Current Affairs style guide states that staff should avoid using the word 'execute' in this way. It says: 5 “Judges order executions. Gangsters, gunmen, hoodlums and terrorists 'kill' or 'murder' people”. ABC 7.00 PM Television News 23 August 2004 The complaint The complainant was concerned that in a story that cited an Israeli government report on its plan to expand Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank, the following sentence appeared: "The report says this will have the effect of extending Jerusalem southwards and eastwards in the direction of the Occupied Palestinian Territories." The complainant argued that East Jerusalem is part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank, and that the Israeli settlement of Gilo mentioned in the report is built on occupied Palestinian land. Hence, the phrase "in the direction of the Occupied Palestinian Territories" was factually inaccurate and in need of correction. Finding The ABC agreed that it was incorrect to say " ..