The ABC's director of news has warned that media needs to be "at the top of its collective game" to prevent a flood of misinformation, as he railed against media infighting that could erode "public perception of all news". 

Speaking at the Melbourne Press Club, Justin Stevens said there was a "crisis of trust in media" across Australia and the world.

He noted the ABC remained the most trusted media organisation in the country, according to Roy Morgan research, but the public broadcaster could "never take that for granted". 

"We need to vigorously protect that trust and work every single day to ensure we are worthy of it," Stevens said.

Stevens, who prior to becoming news director was the executive producer of the ABC's 7.30 program, also pointed to a proliferation of social media "misinformation and disinformation" and a depriorisation of legitimate news sources as a growing obstacle against journalism.

He used the example of Canadian media that had been kicked off Meta platforms.

"If the same happened here, the third of Australians who use Facebook for news, the 16 per cent turning to Instagram, the 10 per cent who use Facebook Messenger and the 9 per cent who use WhatsApp could be deprived of ABC content," Stevens said. 

"The rise of generative AI technology will see the proliferation of deep fakes and bad faith actors, diminishing trust even further. 

"People will increasingly not know what or who to believe, so we need a robust media sector at the top of its collective game."

A 'toxic media environment' erodes perception of news 

Political polarisation is also leading to trust issues in news, Stevens said.

The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer found almost half of Australians believe the nation is more divided today than in the past. 

Major dividing forces included "the rich and powerful", hostile foreign governments and journalists. 

All the while, media businesses attack each other in an "increasingly toxic media environment" which further enabled the "eroding public perception of all news and journalism", Stevens noted.

"We expect scrutiny on the ABC to be rigorous and thorough and I don't shy from that when it's warranted.

"But sometimes what's called 'scrutiny' is really an agenda-driven attack motivated by ideological, personal or commercial interests, often directed at specific journalists with the goal of denting their reputations.

"This trend across social media and from some media outlets – and let's be honest and call it what it often is: bullying – is about more than just the ABC.

"Spurious attacks on some journalists can potentially erode the reputation of all journalists. And that feeds the public's crisis of trust."

While agreeing "the ABC should be scrutinised and held to account", Stevens said he drew the line at "unfair attacks on ABC journalists" which he said often got labelled as scrutiny.

He said there was a disproportionate bullying of women, First Nations and culturally diverse journalists.

"These kinds of attacks – whether on social or mainstream media – should bother those of us who value the incredible contribution made by Australian journalists and good journalism wherever it happens," Stevens said. 

He said "mistakes are certainly made" at the ABC and the national broadcaster "must admit when we can do better".

"Just last week it was brought to our attention by Channel Seven that a video clip in an online story from two years ago had an error. A preliminary inspection suggests a section of audio was incorrectly edited," Stevens said.

Channel Seven's Spotlight program accused the ABC of adding the sound of five extra bullet shots into a video clip of Australian troops firing from a helicopter in Afghanistan during a report on ex-commando Heston Russell.

In a statement to Spotlight, the ABC said: "We have removed the online video where an error has been identified, based on preliminary inspection of the audio.

"The ABC is seeking more information on how this occurred."

Last year, Mr Russell was awarded $390,000 in damages in his defamation case against the ABC, after a judge rejected the broadcaster's public interest defence.

"We removed the video and are still looking into how this happened. Once we have the full facts we will determine the appropriate response," Stevens told the Melbourne Press Club.

"Until we have clarity on how it occurred, I won't be making further comments about it, so as to not pre-empt that."

Top priority is 'significant' stories 

Stevens also touched on the ABC's digital news reach — which overtook its broadcast reach for the first time in the past year. 

"When we talk about digital, we're really talking about delivering our quality journalism to the audience in the ways they want," he said. 

"Digital also doesn't mean 'young people'. All ages are digital now."

Stevens's comments come after ABC chair Kim Williams criticised story placement on the ABC News website in a conversation with Radio National colleagues, which was leaked to other media.

Williams told the Guardian the story's publication in the Nine papers "caught me by surprise" and it was a "lesson learned, but I do not resile from the things that I say".

Stevens said the ABC's main focus was helping audiences find "news that is meaningful to them" with a priority of "stories that are significant".

"We believe there's a place for all sorts of news, hard and soft, breaking and features, worthy and ephemeral, but news of local, national and international significance is what the ABC chooses to lead with, regardless of platform," he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-17/justin-stevens-addresses-the-melbourne-press-club/104361650

 

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