Published: 6 July 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
AIJAC lodged complaint alleging Q+A episode on Gaza did not fairly present all sides of the debate; ABC chair Ita Buttrose ‘livid’ over ECAJ release about its meeting with the ABC
ABC complaints system under fire again following Q&A episode (SMH)
The Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) is pushing for reform of the ABC’s complaints policy after an internal division dismissed claims of bias and lack of impartiality on an episode of Q+A in May.
A complaint lodged by the AIJAC alleged that the Q+A episode, which focused on the latest bout of violence between Israel and Palestine, did not fairly present all sides of the debate. It was rejected by the ABC’s audience and consumer affairs division.
AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said Q+A did not want a mainstream pro-Israel Jewish voice on a five-person panel.
Ita’s injury ire (The Australian)
There are lingering tensions in the relationship between the ABC and the Jewish community - and they directly include ABC chair Ita Buttrose.
The friction started with a May Q+A episode about the recent hostilities in Gaza, which led to objections from sections of the Jewish community about terms used on the show.
A delegation of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, led by the body’s consultant Vic Alhadeff and ECAJ president Jillian Segal, subsequently visited ABC managing director David Anderson on June 21 to complain about what it called “a pervasive culture of bias, if not antipathy, towards Israel” on Q+A.
After the meeting the Jewish body put out a release that alleged Anderson had personally apologised for “many errors” on both Q+A and in the ABC’s overall news and current affairs coverage of the conflict.
