Fewer than one in 10 complaints made to Australia’s media watchdog about Sky News since the beginning of 2020 were assessed to decide whether it was in the public interest to investigate whether they breached broadcasting codes of practice.
A response to a freedom of information (FOI) request sent to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) reveals that the statutory authority received 77 complaints about News Corp’s Australian news channel between January 1, 2020, and August 1, 2021.
Of those, just six were assessed by ACMA including:
- One which led to an investigation into Alan Jones’ comments on COVID-19 that found no breach (despite finding that Jones misrepresented research to argue that masks don’t help stop the spread of the disease)
- One assessed as “unlikely to reach the high bar” to violate guidelines
- Four that are under investigation.
The remainder of the complaints were dismissed for administrative reasons:
- 47 complainants were referred back to Sky News as ACMA will assess a complaint only once a broadcaster has an opportunity to respond
- 16 were “provided information”, which means advising complainants that ACMA does not regulate online content
- Eight did not provide enough details to launch an investigation.
Additionally, ACMA’s customer service centre spoke to 16 people who contacted it about Sky News content, and provided them with further information.
This builds on previous reporting that ACMA received 31 complaints specifically about Sky’s coverage of the pandemic since the beginning of 2020.
ACMA’s content investigations section manager Jennifer Allen, who disclosed these figures as part of correspondence with someone who had sent in a FOI request, also commented on why the regulator hadn’t acted when YouTube did.
“The ACMA does not have jurisdiction to take and assess complaints about content on digital platforms,” she said. “In this case we understand that YouTube has made its decision to suspend Sky News according to its own policies for its platform.”
ACMA has been criticised for failing to sanction Sky News for its promotion of misinformation. In an interview published on Monday in Nine papers, former prime minister Kevin Rudd said ACMA’s failure to rein in Sky News meant it should be abolished.
“[ACMA] has done nothing while Murdoch’s Sky News denied the pandemic, preached anti-vaccine nonsense, and accused medical experts of conspiring to conceal the truth from the public,” he said.
Representatives from ACMA and Sky News are scheduled to appear before a postponed hearing of the Senate’s media diversity inquiry.
Do you agree with Kevin Rudd that ACMA should be abolished? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name if you would like to be considered for publication in Crikey’s Your Say column. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
Thank You for this Cam..
Vital info.
Australia lacks any real ‘watch dogs’ for any thing of importance, from Tax Avoidance by corporates to dodgy political behaviour. We need a real clean out.
ACMA assesses whether a broadcaster has breached the relevant code. A journalist – are there any left? – would do well to understand this rather basic fact rather than feigning surprise that another under resourced oversight body doesn’t investigate most of the complaints they receive. Look at the Ombudsman and it’s the same story, well over 90% of complaints aren’t investigated. But frankly in this instance a reticence and lack of resources to investigate isn’t the real issue.
A journalist interested in doing more than just reporting whatever thought bubble Rudd had at lunch should be examining whether there are issues with the code itself. Which you should also note is agreed to by the broadcasters. Not easy to change. The issue is that most of what Sky does, indeed most of our media, is not really news or current affairs – which must report factual material accurately – but is simply endless ill informed opinion. Cheap. Nasty. Dangerous.
If it’s not news or current affairs and/or is not presenting factual material – ie it’s all opinion – then there would be appear little ACMA could do. This is not good at all but solving the problem is, unfortunately for what passes for journalism these days, not as simple as offering yet more punditry and opinions.
Murdoch allegedly did inform the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking that his news media business actually an entertainment business…..
All very good points. Also worth noting that ACMA operates under the Broadcasting Services Act, which was introduced by the Keating government and has not been substantially amended (as it pertains to broadcasting content regulation) since that time. For all the bleating about Murdoch/News influence, it’s a content regulatory regime that’s had bipartisan support for almost 30 years.
But the real issue is – how much influence on the public does Sky News actually have? That’s actually a far more complex issue than screams headlines about Alan Jones etc would have us believe.
Some good news on that last character who has taken indefinite leave from S.A.D. for “for medical reasons“.
Hopefully nothing trivial.
By comparison, how many complaints about the ABC were investigated by ACMA?
The IPA demand ACMA be abolished; next best thing is to make it a costly dud.
IPA list of demands of the Coalition
Media14 Abolish the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
15 Eliminate laws that require radio and television broadcasters to be ‘balanced’
16 Abolish television spectrum licensing and devolve spectrum management to the common law
17 End local content requirements for Australian television stations
24 End media blackout in final days of election campaigns
27 Eliminate media ownership restrictions
Not only this form of media and sector, but other sectors have been influenced by the imported US radical right libertarian ideology or religion imported via the IPA and NewsCorp.
The modus operandi is to make any industry regulator toothless and/or incompetent to allow ‘freedom and liberty’ of players in any given sector, while appearing to comply with minimal industry standards. Meanwhile most media studiously ignore their own sector and the supposed role of ACMA while elsewhere most govt. departments are strangled of funds, run into the ground and made unfit for purpose (not realised till a black swan event occurs e.g. Covid).
Australia is (mis)managed by ruling ‘skip’ elites supported by corporate and political courtiers who have a need for approval from high (especially from the US and UK) or at least be ‘quiet Australians’ hence avoiding any responsibility being mere ciphers?