Lateline reporter calls criticism “treason”
ABC Lateline’s federal parliamentary reporter Dana Robertson last night said, “In these financially touchy times, maligning the Reserve Bank Governor is tantamount to treason.”
The reporter did not attribute the comment to anyone. She expressed it in the context of Liberal MP Don Randall’s criticism of Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens’ management of interest rates.
A search of yesterday’s House of Representatives Hansard did not turn up a reference to treason. So, presumably, the comment reflected Robertson’s own opinion.
The journalist’s comment went further than the excited attack of Minister Anthony Albanese who described Randall’s comments as “irresponsible and reckless.” But he would say that because the Rudd Government has been trying desperately to shut down debate about the way it has handled the financial crisis in general, and the deposit guarantee plan in particular. But even Albanese did not label Randall’s remarks treason.
Now it may well be that inside the workers’ collective that is the ABC, the climate of opinion is such that criticism of a public servant is considered to be subversive. But Australia enjoys a system of parliamentary democracy in which public servants like the Reserve Bank Governor are responsible, ultimately, to the federal parliament and their decisions and performance are open to comment and criticism.
Dana Robertson’s assertion should be considered in the context of the rules contained in the ABC’s News and Current Affairs Style book. It states quite clearly, “We should be careful not to resort, unthinkingly, to stock phrases which characterise events, impute motives, declare winners and losers, or in various other ways gratuitously editorialise.”
The Style rules also maintain that, “Reporters have a legitimate role analysing events to explain what they mean, but it’s essential to give the public the facts.
“”¦ People want the opportunity to make up their own minds without us forcing a view on them.”
It would seem appropriate for Dana Robertson to explain how she arrived at the conclusion that criticism of the Reserve Bank Governor was “tantamount to treason” and why she felt entitled to editorialise about the matter on Lateline.
