The ABC’s internal complaints’ division has ruled the national broadcaster did not breach its code of practice in a two-part series that focused on the way the Rupert Murdoch-owned US cable TV network, Fox News, covered the 2020 general election.
The ABC’s internal complaints’ division has informed the Murdoch-controlled cable network it had not upheld any of the concerns outlined in a 27-page complaint letter sent in early November. Sources close to Fox News said the company has not made a final decision on whether to escalate its concerns and is still assessing its options.
Fox News did not respond to a request for comment before deadline. An ABC spokesperson declined to comment.
ABC’s program Fox and the Big Lie has frustrated executives at the American cable network.
The ABC’s decision was made 59 days after Fox News demanded an external inquiry into the two episodes, which focused on the American cable TV network’s coverage of former US president Donald Trump and its role in the 2020 general election. The two-part series was shortlisted for the annual Walkley Awards in the long-form television and video current affairs category.
Industry sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the ABC sent an extensive response to Fox News on November 1, detailing the specific reasons why Fox News’ complaint was not upheld.
The decision not to uphold the complaint is likely to escalate the long-running tensions between Australia’s public broadcaster and media outlets controlled by the Murdoch family, which also include local newspapers The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun.
Fox News sent a formal complaint to ABC’s chair Ita Buttrose and ABC managing director David Anderson in September arguing the program, presented by reporter Sarah Ferguson, was an attack on Fox News. The letter asked for a response and a correction to concerns about the two episodes within 14 days. It alleged the ABC has breached its code of practice and the federal government’s standards for the national broadcasters through its anti-Fox News bias and claimed the ABC was provided with all relevant background information by Fox News, but it did not change the outcome of the story.
“The episodes flout the letter and spirit of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Code of Practice… and run afoul of the federal parliament’s primary standards for the ABC,” the letter said.
“First, and most basically, the episodes abandoned all semblance of impartiality and instead presented a one-sided political polemic against Fox News, the most-watched cable news organisation in the United States for nearly two decades.
