The ABC Ombudsman has cleared Sunday’s episode of Spicks & Specks of breaching editorial standards after a performer wore a “Free Palestine” t-shirt.
The Office of ABC Ombudsman Fiona Cameron received 42 complaints following Sunday’s episode raising the following matters:
the artist’s t-shirt that said ‘Free Palestine’ was offensive to Jewish people and encouraged Antisemitism
the song performed was a political protest and was not appropriate in an entertainment program
the content indicated the ABC was biased against Israel.
Adrian Eagle performed a cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive’” wearing a t-shirt that said, “Free Palestine, Free West Papua, Free Your Mind, Always Was, Always Will Be”.
He amended lyrics to “they got all their life to live, they got all their love to give, they will survive, they will survive,” raising his fist at the end of the song.
Dr David Adler, President of the Australian Jewish Association told TV Tonight, “Why the ABC should allow an overtly anti-Israel political slogan to be broadcast by a singer, is a question for its management. To do this at a time when there is a large amount of threatening activism on our streets, borders on the irresponsible. It should not be the role of the publicly-funded broadcaster to normalise and embolden such activism.”
However, the impartiality standards which apply to news and current affairs do not apply to songs broadcast on entertainment programs.
ABC Entertainment defended that Eagle was showing his support for a broad range of groups.
“Adrian is a passionate artist who is very honest in his music about the struggles he has had in life. Generally speaking, the ABC is, and should be, supportive of artists engaging in politics and activism through music and performance. As a production, we wanted to be supportive of the broad message he wanted to portray in the performance,” they said.
“We note that the political message was confined to the song performance at the end of the show, and the issues referenced during that performance (through the change of lyrics and the visual component of Adrian’s t-shirt) were not discussed during the rest of the episode. Spicks and Specks is an entertainment show with a musical theme, often incorporating musical performance either during or at the end of episodes. While we recognise that for some audience members the political content of Adrian’s performance may have been unexpected, we consider that it was consistent with Spicks and Specks‘ established support for musical performance and artistic expression and adhered to the ABC’s Editorial Policies.”
The ABC Ombudsman accepted ABC Entertainment’s proposition that the performance was a tribute to a broad group of “survivors” and did not believe the message could be reasonably interpreted as gratuitous or likely to condone or encourage prejudice.
“We understand that societal attitudes to this song’s changed lyrics and to the messages printed on the artist’s shirt are divergent, however, we hold that any harm or offence caused, can be justified by the editorial context of a music trivia program including an obligation to take risks in support of artistic expression. The broadcast of artistic expression by the ABC does not mean the ABC agrees or disagrees with a particular view,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.
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