The subtext of ABC Director of News, Gaven Morris’s column Journalists Must Be Allowed To Visit Nauru, in Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald is that only journalists who can be trusted to return and report the “approved” version of life on Nauru should be allowed to visit. Most of us could pretty much write the script in advance. Other journalists from both The Australian and the Nine Network have been to Nauru. (check the video embedded in the story where Fran Kelly on RN interviewing Malcolm Turnbull, unashamedly continues the activism and advocacy)
Unfortunately this is a problem of trust that the ABC has brought upon itself with their activism and advocacy journalism best highlighted again in the cut and paste, outsourced to Youtube, production last Monday night. In addition they refused assistance from the Department of Immigration as well as the offer of a live interview (to avoid editing) with the Minister.
The slick and dishonest editing of a prerecord, designed to take out of context and discredit key players as in the program on Don Dale shows why this is necessary and is another example that further undermines the ABC’s and 4 Corners credibility and reinforces the trust deficit.
4 Corners used the word “detention” 14 times in the program to convey the impression of people behind chain link fencing, when it is common knowledge that no one has been held in detention on Nauru for over 12 months. They also failed to show the new school and hospital facilities relying on old out of date images to further prosecute their activism and their agenda against offshore processing.