ABC chair Kim Williams has attracted considerable attention with his criticism of the broadcaster’s online news choices. Williams has taken issue with what he sees as the ABC prioritising lifestyle stories over hard news.

In the process, he has raised an important issue of principle.

Is it right for the chair to insert himself into editorial decision-making, even at the level of broad direction, as here?

• READ MORE: Other public broadcasting reports

Generally speaking, the answer would be no.

To see why, it is necessary only to look back to the chaotic period in 2018 when a former chair, Justin Milne, inserted himself into editorial decision-making because of concerns that the reporting of some ABC journalists was upsetting the government and thereby imperilling the ABC’s funding.

That debacle ended with the resignation not just of Milne but of the then managing director, Michelle Guthrie, leaving a sudden vacuum of leadership and a nervous newsroom.

It is therefore risky for Williams to take a step down this path.

However, the weakness of ABC news leadership requires that something be done.

This weakness has a moral as well as a professional-practice dimension.

A risky path to follow. Video: ABC News

The moral dimension is demonstrated by the treatment of high-profile staff such as Stan Grant and Laura Tingle, and of less well-known but still valued journalists such as ABC Radio Victoria’s Nicole Chvastek, and Sydney radio’s Antoinette Lattouf. All of these journalists, in various ways, have fallen victim to the ABC’s propensity to buckle under external pressure.

The professional-practice dimension is demonstrated not just by the online performance criticised by Williams but by the prioritising of police-rounds stories over far bigger issues on the evening television bulletin, and by occasional spectacular failures such as the attempt to link the late NSW Premier Neville Wran with Sydney’s Luna Park ghost train fire.

The standing of the ABC’s best journalism — programmes such as Four Corners and Radio National’s Background Briefing — is undermined by these systemic failures.

However, indicating his preference for hard news over lifestyle stories will get Williams only so far. It lies within his power and that of the board to do what ought to have been done long ago if the ABC is serious about strengthening its news service: separate the roles of managing director and editor-in-chief.

Having them in the one person creates an inherent conflict that has nothing to do with the integrity of the individual occupying the position, but everything to do with the core responsibilities of the two jobs.

The managing director, as a board member, is responsible for the overall fortunes of the ABC. This includes its financial fortunes and its relationship with its most important stakeholder, the federal government.

An editor-in-chief’s first responsibility is not to these considerations at all, but to the public interest. That requires above all the creation of a safe space in which ABC journalists can do good journalism without looking over their shoulders to see if they are going to be the next target of an attack from a politician (Chvastek), a lobby group (Antoinette Lattouf), or News Corporation (Grant and Tingle).

The Stan Grant controversy.      Video: The Guardian

It also requires the imposition of rigorous editing processes to see that stories are properly verified, accurate and fair, regardless of the standing or wilfulness of the staff involved, and that the stories deal with issues of substance.

And in the case of Lattouf, the focus shifts to the public interest in the impact on money and morale of the prolonged legal proceedings over her sacking.

She was removed from a temporary role on ABC Sydney radio for posting on Instagram a report by Human Rights Watch, in which it was alleged that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

The ABC argued unsuccessfully in the Fair Work Commission that she had not been sacked. Subsequently Lattouf made an offer to settle for $85,000 in damages and her old role back. However, the ABC has not accepted this and instead is now involved in a further legal dispute, this time in the Federal Court, over whether due process was followed in sacking her.

Fair Work Commission finds Antoinette Lattouf was sacked by ABC.  Video: ABC News

This is causing consternation in Canberra, where the Senate standing committee on environment and communications has asked the ABC how much this action is costing.

The ABC has supplied the committee with the amount but it has not been made public.

It is a textbook case of how a strong editor-in-chief who was not the managing director would act in this situation. A reporter would be assigned to find out the amount, since it is clearly a matter of public interest, and a well-connected press gallery journalist would get it without too much trouble.

ABC management would then be asked to comment, and a story containing the amount and any ABC comment would be broadcast on the ABC.

A managing director has a conflicting responsibility: to do all he or she can to protect the corporate interests of the ABC, so the amount remains secret.

Meanwhile, the ABC gives rival news organisations the chance to scoop the ABC on its own story, leaving its news service looking even weaker.

Dr Denis Muller, senior research fellow of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

The Solomon Islands government has threatened to ban or deport foreign journalists “disrespectful” of the country’s relationship with China, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office this week.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned this “grave infringement on press freedom” and has called on Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to ensure all journalists remain free to report on the Solomon Islands.

The ABC has soundly condemned the Solomon Islands Office of the Prime Minister for a series of “factual errors” in a statement released which criticised the Four Corners investigative report Pacific Capture: How Chinese money is buying the Solomons.

In a rare statement defending its independent journalism, it said today the ABC “stood by the accuracy and integrity” of the reporting in this programme.

• READ MORE: The ABC defence
• The Solomon Islands government criticism
• ABC 4 Corners: The documentary
• Other China in the Solomon Islands reports

It said about the programme broadcast on August 4:

The ABC wishes to correct the following factual errors in the press release issued by the Solomon Islands Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet regarding the Four Corners report Pacific Capture, which examined the impact of China’s growing presence across Solomon Islands.

At no point did the program rely on “misinformation and distribution of pre-conceived prejudicial information”.

It was not our intention to “cause division between the governments of Australia and Solomon Islands”, rather to highlight issues of concern to all Solomon Islanders.

We completely reject the offensive notion of “racial profiling that is bordering racism and race stereotyping”. In fact, we were determined to tell the story from the perspective of Solomon Islanders and the program reflected their concerns. Its main interviews were with two eminent Solomon Islanders, rather than relying on “foreign experts” as is often the case. The ABC rejects the idea that we were “putting words into the mouths of the interviewees” and sees this as insulting to the Solomon Islanders who appeared in the program.

On the issue of Kolombangara, the ABC did not say that the “shareholders have made a decision to sell off the company to a Chinese firm”. Rather, the program accurately reported that the issue had been discussed at board level and that the Australian directors were so concerned about a potential sale to a Chinese state-owned company that they twice wrote to the Federal Government expressing concerns that the purchase could be used by Beijing to establish a base under the cover of a commercial enterprise. Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office confirmed it was aware of the issue. Her office has also not ruled out intervening. The ABC also notes that the plantation on Kolombangara is owned 85 per cent by the Nien Family of Taiwan and 15 percent by the government of the Solomon Islands, not the 60/40 split claimed in the press release.

It is incorrect to claim that the program did not acknowledge that Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare “repeatedly reaffirmed to Solomon Islanders and the Pacific region that there will be no military or naval base in Solomon Islands”.

The program said: “At a meeting in Fiji, Sogavare assured the new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that Beijing won’t be allowed to establish a military base in the Solomons.” It went on to say that one of the main concerns was that a commercial enterprise controlled by Beijing could one day be used to house military assets.

The ABC stands by the accuracy and integrity of the reporting in this program.

It’s the shadowy world of secret international finance and tax avoidance.

“What we’re looking at here is really a parallel universe.”

This ABC Four Corners investigation will reveal how the rich and powerful exploit the system.

“What this really says is a lot about the system itself and how broke the system is and how crazy the whole thing is.”

Four Corners’ reporter Marian Wilkinson follows the money trail and it’s worth trillions of dollars.

“I was on their immigration stop list. But we’ve gotten in.”

— Marian Wilkinson, reporter

Confidential documents from the notorious Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca was made public on Sunday, exposing a vast web of offshore shell companies used by members of the global elite to evade taxes, hoard money, and skirt economic sanctions.

The Panama Papers: Secrets of the super rich, reported by Marian Wilkinson and presented by Sarah Ferguson, goes to air on tonight, April 4, at 8.30pm EST.

It is replayed tomorrow, April 5, at 10.00am and Wednesday 6th at 11pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners.

Al Jazeera reports:

A huge leak of 11.5 million documents from a Panama law firm reveals how the world’s rich hide their money, according to Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

The newspaper on Sunday reported Mossack Fonseca, one of the world’s most secretive offshore law firms, said it had operated with impunity for decades in its efforts to help clients launder money and avoid tax.

The clients include current and former world leaders, politicians and celebrities.

“Over a year ago, an anonymous source contacted the Süddeutsche Zeitung and submitted encrypted internal documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sells anonymous offshore companies around the world,” the newspaper report said. “These shell firms enable their owners to cover up their business dealings, no matter how shady.”

The documents, dubbed the Panama Papers, were obtained by the Munich-based daily newspaper. It shared them with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and other international news outlets. In total, some 107 media outlets in 78 countries investigated the data.

Largest data leak
“2.6 terabytes of data, 11.5 millions documents, and 214,000 shell companies: The Panama Papers are the largest data leak journalists have ever worked with,” Sueddeutsche tweeted on Sunday.

The documents link at least 12 current and former heads of state and 143 other politicians to illicit financial transactions.

Some 140 offshore companies are named in the documents are connected to politicians or public officials and their families.

The most widely circulated revelations from the Panama Papers shed light on the financial transactions that have contributed to the wealth of members of several world leaders’ inner circles.

Though the files appear to show how Mossack Fonseca – the world’s fourth largest offshore firm – helped clients launder money and evade tax, the company says it has never been accused of any wrongdoing.

#PanamaPapers

• Panama Papers probed – China limits access to news
• ABC Four Corners – The Panama Papers
• The Panama Papers: Massive leak reveals the global elite’s secret cash havens – Vice News
• Panama papers: How the rich hide their money – New Zealand Herald
• What are the Panama Papers: The biggest leak in history

Reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louie Eroglu had questioned Najib during a public event in Kuching over a corruption scandal, and police had claimed they had crossed a security cordon — an allegation they deny.

Last night, Besser and Eroglu were told they would likely be charged with obstructing a public servant in the discharge of their duties. If they were found guilty of the charge they could have faced two years in prison.

But three hours after the pair were given the order to appear in court on Tuesday morning, their lawyer was called by police and told no charges would be filed and they may be able to leave the country today after some paperwork.

Yesterday the lawyer for the ABC pair, Albert Tang, said he received a call from Ng Ahlek, the superintendent of police for Malaysia’s Padawan District, telling him to bring his clients to court at 8:30am (local time) so they could be charged.

“When asked who made the decision to institute the charge against my clients, he said it was the Attorney-General who made the decision,” Tang said.

Tang said normally those decisions were made by a local deputy public prosecutor.

Change unclear
ABC South East Asia correspondent Adam Harvey said it was not clear why there had been a change of heart.

“The lawyer was called in the middle of the night and told it’s all off you don’t have to go to the court,” he said.

“What you’ll need to do is bring the ABC team to a police station here where we’ll do some paperwork and hopefully a few hours after that they’ll be able to leave Malaysia, which was just not looking like happening any time soon just a few hours ago.”

Najib, 62, has been under fire for a year over allegations concerning as much as $1.4 billion being deposited into his personal bank account. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The pair were arrested after Besser questioned Najib as he walked into a mosque on Saturday night, asking the Prime Minister why hundreds of millions of dollars had been deposited into his bank account.

ABC News director Gaven Morris has previously denied the allegations that were made about the behaviour of Besser and Eroglu at the event in Kuching.

“I can tell you that at no time did our journalists obstruct or intend to obstruct any public servants in performance of their duties,” Morris said in a statement yesterday.

“They did not see a police line and do not believe they crossed one. They stopped filming and left the event as soon as they were asked. They fully cooperated with the police before and after their arrest.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has said Australia’s High Commissioner in Malaysia was in contact with the pair.

Earlier story