Category: Media Bias

  • When Journalists Silence Debate: Leon Compton Saying NO Debate on the Drum

    On 9 June 2023, ABC journalist Leon Compton appeared on The Drum and made an extraordinary admission. He questioned whether dissenting views should be aired at all: “As a journalist it’s sometimes hard because you want to air a balance of perspectives but what perspectives are reasonable to air? Particularly those that dress up opposition,…

  • The Media’s Campaign Against Media Freedom and Free Speech in Tasmania – Let Women Speak

    This speech, delivered by Isla MacGregor at the Let Women Speak rally on the Parliament House lawns in Hobart in March 2023, outlines her concerns about media coverage, public institutions, and gender-identity policy debates in Tasmania. She argues that journalists and broadcasters have avoided reporting viewpoints from women’s and children’s rights advocates, describes her experiences…

  • When Journalism Becomes Advocacy: Ryk Goddard’s Bias on ABC Hobart

    Public trust in journalism depends on balance, fairness, and a willingness to present all sides of the story. Unfortunately, ABC Hobart’s Breakfast presenter Ryk Goddard has repeatedly failed to meet these standards, particularly on sensitive issues such as women’s rights, safeguarding, and gender identity. The Case of Cr Louise Elliott’s Motion On 14 February 2023,…

  • Media Accountability: When the ABC Sidelines Critical Voices in the Gender Identity Debate

    In our ongoing efforts to ensure meaningful and evidence-based public discourse, and to express our disappointment with the inadequate and unsatisfactory response we received from ABC Hobart Manager, Marcus Cheek, Isla MacGregor recently wrote to Fiona Cameron—ABC Tasmania’s Ombudsman—expressing deep concern over the broadcaster’s biased and incomplete coverage of gender identity law reform discussions. Requesting…

  • Media Failure: ABC’s Oversight on Tavistock Closure & the Gender Debate

    In August 2022, ABC’s Media Watch, hosted by Paul Barry, took the extraordinary step of criticising its own broadcaster for failing to report on the closure of the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service—the UK’s central clinic serving transgender youth. Despite covering many other trans-related stories, the ABC remained silent on this pivotal development. Public Concern…

  • The Mercury’s One-Sided Report on Gender Identity Forum

    Women Speak Tasmania’s official complaint noted that the article misrepresented the forum’s organisers—it was incorrectly portrayed as an “anti-trans” event. It was also organised by the Coalition for Biological Reality, not Women Speak Tasmania. The public forum was titled: “Gender Identity in Law – Impacts on Women, Children and Transgender People: Balancing the Conversation.” The…