The ABC’s chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici’s reporting has again caught the ire of the Turnbull government for alleged inaccuracies.
Malcolm Turnbull has raised 11 grievances in a letter sent to the ABC on May 7 in relation to a recent Alberici television story about the federal government’s research and innovation spending.
It follows another complaint in early April about Alberici’s reporting into another story on corporate tax that included nine errors and was deemed “misleading”.
It is being reported that communications minister Mitch Fifield has also lodged a complaint to the ABC about Alberici’s latest apparent indiscretion.
Alberici’s latest reporting was said to have contained factual errors and miscalculations in terms of spending figures.
The PM’s office complained that Alberici had wrongly described UTS professor Roy Green as an adviser to the government when he’d actually reviewed policy for Labor.
Alberici’s reporting also said a company called Carbon Revolution deserved government funding despite the fact it had already received two grants. Alberici also made unproven claims that the government had cut $11.8 billion from innovation and higher education since it came to office under Tony Abbott in 2013.
However, an internal review of Alberici’s story by the ABC has cleared the journalist of any wrongdoing.
In a statement sent to Fairfax Media, a spokesperson said: “The review concluded that the story was accurate, newsworthy, in the public interest and presented in context. ABC News stands by the story.”
