Ex-director slams ABC over retraction
The ABC reported a claim by UN spokesperson Tom Fletcher that '14,000 babies would be at risk of dying in Gaza within a 48-hour period' due to starvation
A former ABC director has strongly criticised the national broadcaster’s coverage of the Gaza war, after it retracted a report claiming thousands of babies would be at risk of starving to death in Gaza within 48 hours.
The retraction followed widespread reporting on ABC programs last week of a claim by UN spokesperson Tom Fletcher that “14,000 babies would be at risk of dying in Gaza within a 48-hour period due to starvation”.
Fletcher’s assertion was initially made in an interview with the BBC, after a report by the IPC, an organisation based on the global food-security benchmark, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which forecast 14,100 cases of acute malnutrition were expected to occur between April this year and March 2026 among children aged between six months and five years.
While the BBC clarified its report some hours after it was first broadcast, the ABC did not issue a retraction until May 28, a week after its own report. An ABC spokesperson told media its report has now been retracted and has removed it from all platforms.
Businessman and Jewish communal figure Joe Gersh, who served on the ABC board from 2018 to 2023, told The AJN this week, “As a former ABC director, I have been vocal in calling out the ABC’s inadequate response to the antisemitism crisis besetting the Australian Jewish community.
“I have pointed out numerous times in the media that the way in which the ABC deals with the Gaza conflict impacts directly on the safety and standing of the Jewish community, which makes the unquestioned repetition of outright lies and the unchallenged reporting of IDF actions unacceptable, both in terms of the ABC’s impartiality requirements but also in terms of its wider obligations to the Australian community not to inflame tensions or promote disharmony.”
The Zionist Federation of Australia welcomed the ABC’s retraction but questioned how the error could have been made in the first place. “It is commendable that the ABC corrected the error. However, the initial misinformation has already shaped narratives – unfairly maligning Israel and contributing to a climate where the truth struggles to catch up. This has dangerous consequences. We deserve better from our national broadcaster.”
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