ABC and SBS defend editorial models

Senior figures from the ABC, SBS and media regulator ACMA faced sustained questioning on July 9 and 10 as the Royal Commission turned to media, with both public broadcasters defending their refusal to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

ABC editorial director Gavin Fang said the IHRA definition “may be useful” but its examples were “contested” and adopting it risked compromising “not just our independence but the perception of independence”.

He acknowledged a “bad mistake” in the ABC’s delayed correction of a false 2025 report that thousands of Gazan babies would starve within 48 hours, conceding it would have been appropriate to correct it in the morning, rather than that afternoon on a different program.

Fang disputed suggestions of a pattern of late, unprominent corrections, and said complaints about the ABC’s Middle East coverage were roughly split between pro-

Israel and pro-Palestinian bias claims.