[LINK] First it was the ABC, now senator has new target

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/10/21/1160851184488.html

> First it was the ABC, now senator has new target
>
> Jason Koutsoukis
> October 22, 2006
>
> KEY Howard loyalists are set to launch a scathing attack on  
> multicultural broadcaster SBS and force it to answer accusations of  
> blatant left-wing bias.
>
> Influential Victorian Liberal Senator Michael Ronaldson will lead  
> the assault on SBS and its executives at a special Senate estimates  
> hearing next week.
>
> He is expected to be joined by Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells  
> and Senator Alan Eggleston.
>
> Senator Ronaldson, a key player in the Howard Government's long  
> campaign against perceived political bias at the ABC, told The  
> Sunday Age that SBS was "out of control" and needed to be reined  
> in. "I am very concerned about SBS's impartiality and balance."
>
> Just days after the ABC announced new program guidelines enforcing  
> impartiality, Senator Ronaldson said SBS, which receives about $160  
> million a year from taxpayers, had a lot to learn from Australia's  
> other national broadcaster.
>
> "The network has slipped under the radar and compared to the  
> directions that the ABC now seems to be taking, SBS are out on  
> their own," he said.
>
> Senator Ronaldson said he had compiled a dossier of numerous  
> examples of political bias in both its domestic and international  
> news coverage.
>
> "There are just so many clear examples of inappropriate political  
> bias, which is OK as long as the robustness falls within clear  
> guidelines. The problem is, it doesn't.
>
> "Now, in relation to the ABC, no one is looking for a sanitised  
> national broadcaster. What we wanted was a broadcaster that, when  
> it said its core values were impartiality and balance, actually met  
> those core values."
>
> He singled out SBS's coverage of the recent Hezbollah-Israel  
> conflict as one of the most appalling examples of biased reporting  
> he had ever seen. "Their commentary on international events,  
> particularly the conflict between Lebanon and Israel, just  
> displayed a clear lack of impartiality and completely lacked any  
> balance whatsoever," Senator Ronaldson said. "I have also heard a  
> lot of complaints that they have strayed from their charter as a  
> multilingual, multicultural national broadcaster."
>
> The SBS charter states that the broadcaster must "contribute to  
> extending the range of Australian television and radio services,  
> and reflect the changing nature of Australian society by presenting  
> many points of view and using innovative forms of expression".
>
> Senator Ronaldson is a staunch ally of Treasurer Peter Costello and  
> has been a passionate friend of Israel.


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Kim Holburn
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                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961