The ABC’s coverage of Palestine and handling of senior journalist Laura Tingle’s controversial claim Australia is “racist” are set dominate a Senate Estimates hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Although Ms Tingle was publicly rebuked by ABC news director Justin Stevens on Wednesday, as well as reportedly being “counselled over her remarks”, the claim has drawn outcry and led to questions about the impartiality of one of the broadcaster’s most well known presenters.
ABC chair Kim Williams and managing director David Anderson have both declined to address the issue publicly, but the latter is expected to face heavy scrutiny during Thursday’s hearing.
In addition to the controversy surrounding Ms Tingle, it is expected the broadcaster’s leadership will be subjected to questions over a social media post which described the launch of Hamas rockets toward civilians in Israel as an act of “resilience.”
While the ABC has been cleared by the ombudsman over the post, it has drawn strong criticism from Jewish groups who claimed it was another example of the national broadcaster permitting anti-Semitic messaging.