News Corp has strongly denied claims made by ABC News editor Justin Stevens that contributed to Stan Grant’s decision to retire from hosting D+R.
Stevens on Monday named News (Corp) and The Australian as part of a “concerted campaign to dent ABC and people’s sense of trust in it.”
He claimed that excessive coverage was “amplifying and giving agency” to racist trolls on social media.
But News Corp Australasia chief executive Michael Miller said Stevens was making “misleading” claims and called on him to “correct the record”.
“ABC needs to stop shifting responsibility and blaming others for their internal problems,” he said.
“ABC news director Justin Stevens has made a number of unsubstantiated claims about News Corp’s reports of how ABC covered up the coronation and the ensuing aftermath that Stan Grant says contributed to his decision to step down as presenter of D+R.”
The Australian “vehemently” denied a further allegation that the paper asked questions about an Indigenous ABC reporter after they “scrutinized their social media”.
“The Australian questioned the ABC on Sunday about a post on a reporter’s social media account, and an ABC spokesperson replied that the reporter in question had been reminded to adhere to the broadcaster’s social media guidelines public,” said the Australian.
“This publication has chosen not to run a story.”
News Corp also disputed other media’s claims of 150 mentions of “coronation coverage” and “Stan Grant” by The Australian and SKY News in the 2 weeks following the ABC broadcast.
Stan Grant said on Monday: “I won’t be leaving for a while because of racism. We get it too often. I’m not leaving because of social media hate. I need a break from the media. I feel like I’m part of the problem and I need to ask myself how or if we can do it better.”
Source: Guardian Australia
