The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has found the Four Corners episode 'Water Grab' from August 2024 breached the accuracy and impartiality provisions in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Code of Practice.
The ACMA found that the program about water usage in the Northern Territory inaccurately conveyed that a Northern Territory pastoral station had illegally used a fire to clear land for cotton production without approval to do so.
The ACMA investigation found the ABC did not have sufficient evidence to make this assertion and did not make reasonable efforts to verify it.
ACMA Chair Nerida O'Loughlin said current affairs programs must adequately check the veracity of facts they cover before going to air.
"The ABC should have stopped to consider whether it had sufficient supporting evidence to include the statement about the fire," Ms O'Loughlin said.
"This type of assertion can have a significant adverse effect on the reputations of those involved, so reasonable efforts must be made to ensure any claims are accurate and presented in context."
"Australians expect rigorous, fair and factual reporting on complex and contested public issues. Our view is that parts of the program did not meet the ABC's own standards for accuracy and impartiality," Ms O'Loughlin said.
Given the complexity of the scientific and technical subject matter, the ACMA undertook a thorough and comprehensive investigation considering all the material issues.
In its assessment the ACMA found that the episode's omissions of credible, alternative scientific perspectives limited the audience's ability to weigh competing evidence and therefore also breached the ABC's obligations to present principal relevant viewpoints.
