Investigation Report No. 2723

File No. / ACMA2011/1915
Broadcaster / Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Station / ABN Sydney
Type of Service / National Broadcaster
Name of Program / The Hamster Wheel
Date of Broadcast / 16 November 2011
Relevant Code / Clause 7.7 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011
Date finalised / 24 January 2012
Outcome / No breach of clause 7.7 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 (avoid the unjustified use of stereotypes or discriminatory content)

Background

  • The complaint concerns a statement made in the program, The Hamster Wheel, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (the ABC) on 16 November 2011.
  • The Hamster Wheel is a comedy program and is described on the ABC’s website as:

The Chaser team mourns the death of journalism. The new show examines how the media works or, in most cases,doesn't work. Why do we get the news we get? And inside the frantic rush of the hamster wheel, has the race to be first replaced the race to be right?[1]

  • During the ‘Media News’ segment of the program, the hosts referred to Channel Ten launching a new breakfast program in 2012 and that Lachlan Murdochhad ‘unveiled the identity of their secret weapon host’, PH from New Zealand. The segment then broadcast excerpts of PH’s breakfast program in which he made negative comments about Indians, Hispanics and a woman’s appearance.
  • One of the hosts of the program made the following comment:

It’s interesting that Ten was so keen to sign [PH] up given that we’re talking about a guy who is so on the nose in New Zealand that when he ran for Parliament representing the right wing National Party in a safe, rural, conservative seat, he lost to a transsexual.

  • The complainant submitted that the commentperpetuates the stereotype that there is something ‘immoral or evil or simply stupid in being a transgendered person.’
  • The investigation has considered the licensee’s compliance with clause 7.7 of the ABC Code of Practice 2011 (the Code):

7.7Avoid the unjustified use of stereotypes or discriminatory content that could reasonably be interpreted as condoning or encouraging prejudice.

  • This assessment is based on a recording of the segment supplied to the ACMA by the ABC, submissions from the complainant and correspondence between the ABC and the complainant. Other sources used have been identified where relevant.

Issue 1: Whether stereotypes or discriminatory content was unjustifiably used

Finding

The ABC did not breach clause 7.7 of the Code.

Reasons

  • When assessing broadcast content against the Code, the ACMA considers the meaning conveyed by the relevant material according to the understanding of an ‘ordinary, reasonable viewer’.
  • The ACMA considers the natural, ordinary meaning of the language used; the tenor, tone and context of the material; as well as inferences that may be drawn by the ordinary, reasonable viewer.
  • The issue in this case is whether anordinary, reasonable viewer would have understood that the ABC unjustifiably used stereotypes or discriminatory content against the transgender community that could reasonably be interpreted as condoning or encouraging prejudice.
  • The program host commented that PH is so unpleasant and distasteful[2] in New Zealand that he lost a bid for a National Party Parliamentary seat in a safe conservative area to a ‘transsexual’.
  • The following quote from the Otago Daily Times was broadcast at the same time the comment was made:

[PH]…ran unsuccessfully as a National Party candidate in the 1999 [W] electorate, won by transsexual Labour MP [GB]

  • The licensee submitted[3] that it was relevant to mention the politician’s sexuality because there is ‘often prejudice against transsexuals’.
  • The ACMA considers that an ordinary, reasonable viewer would have understood the comment to convey negative sentiments about the transgender community. Namely,that transgendered peopleareincapable of being elected to Parliament unless there is no credible opposition. Whilst the newspaper article mentioned that the successful MP represented the Labour Party, the program host only referred to the candidate as a ‘transsexual’. The humorous manner in which the comment was made and the ensuing laughter from the audience reinforced the notion that the host was ridiculing the fact that a transgender person had defeated PH.
  • While the ACMA is satisfied that the comment ridiculed the transgender community and portrayed them in a negative light, the Authority does not consider that the comment could reasonably be interpreted as condoning or encouraging prejudice.
  • In this regard, the ACMA is of the view that thecomment did not did not urge or inflameviewers to share the host’s negative attitudes toward the transgender community as a group.
  • Further, the Code sets out principles relating to ‘Harm and offence’ which state that ‘Consideration of the nature of the target audience for particular content is part of assessing harm and offence in context’. The ACMA considers that the ordinary, reasonable viewer would not have understood that they were being persuaded to discriminate against the transgender community in the context of a comedy program.
  • The ACMA acknowledges the complainant’sconcernabout the comment, however, is satisfied that while the material broadcast ridicules and reveals a lack of respect towards the transgender community, it does not meet the high threshold test in the Code in regard to condoning or encouraging prejudice.
  • Accordingly, the ACMA finds that the licensee complied with clause 7.7 of the Code in this instance.

ACMA Investigation Report 2723—The Hamster Wheel—ABN—16 November 2011

[1]

[2] Definition of ‘on the nose’ in the Macquarie Dictionary (Fifth Edition): c: unpleasant; distasteful.

[3] In its response to the complainant dated 22 November 2011.