Channel Seven is being formally investigated by the broadcasting watchdog over complaints it aired “a highly offensive, racist and divisive statement” in a Sunrise panel show. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) on Thursday confirmed it was investigating whether Sunrise breached the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2015, in a panel discussion of the Indigenous child protection issue earlier this month. It exercised its discretion to investigate 120 complaints about broadcasting matters and declined to investigate another 78, its annual report said. After sustained criticism, Sunrise invited three Indigenous child protection experts for a “special” panel the following week. That panel, hosted by Armytage’s cohost, David Koch, discussed the complexities of child protection and possible solutions, but made no acknowledgement or correction to the false claims aired in the first panel.

Source: The Guardian March 29, 2018 06:33 UTC