ABC chair takes aim at Joe Rogan, says Aunty needs more investment to counter mis- and disinformation

The chair of the ABC has declared it was “non-negotiable” that the national broadcaster served the truth, not causes, as he slammed the rising scourge of online mis- and disinformation through overseas actors, including controversial figures Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate.

In an address to the National Press Club, Kim Williams singled out pro-Trump podcaster Rogan, who he described as “deeply repulsive”; and “poisonous, misogynistic” Tate as he pitched the public broadcaster as a bulwark against the trend.

“As the waters of misinformation and disinformation rise, the continuing existence of the ABC as a trusted source of the truth will help save our democracy from the populist damage going on elsewhere,” he said.

“That tsunami of overseas-generated content breaching our information defences is now competing for the affections, hearts, minds and aspirations of our people.”

After being asked what he thought was behind the “Joe Rogan effect”, Mr Williams confirmed he was not a “consumer or enthusiast” of one of the world’s most successful podcasts.

He went on to launch a scathing attack on Rogan, who once claimed that the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines were gene therapy, with Mr Williams branding the podcaster as someone who “preys on people’s vulnerabilities”.

“People like (him) prey on fear, they prey on anxiety,” Mr Williams said.

“They prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society, and they entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as being a normal part of social narrative.

“I personally find it deeply repulsive, and to think that someone has such remarkable power in the United States is something that I look at in disbelief.

“I’m also absolutely in dismay that this can be a source of public entertainment, when it’s really treating the public as plunder for entrepreneurs that are really quite malevolent. “

He also took aim at Tate, the self-proclaimed misogynist facing trial in Romania, and Vladimir Putin’s bot-farms as being part of a broader trend of “deliberate spreading of false information and narratives to achieve malicious intent”.

The former chief of News Corp Australia has made a splash since taking over at the ABC, through his reversal of several board decisions about the future of radio and the recent restructure. The board is also in the process of replacing managing director David Anderson.

Mr Williams took over amid heightened scrutiny over the ABC’s reporting of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and in the wake of extensive criticism of its coverage on the Voice referendum.

He said he had made impartiality a journalistic “non-negotiable” since taking over.

“I have been insisting that all of our journalists adhere always to the highest standards of objectivity and professional ethics,” he said.

“We do not serve causes at the ABC, we serve the truth. This is non-negotiable.”

He said the ABC should be used as a bulwark against the kind of misinformation being peddled by people like Rogan, but that was difficult to do if the broadcaster wasn’t properly funded.

He argued the ABC’s operating revenue had fallen by 13.7 per cent in real terms over the past decade — equivalent to about $150m annually.

The broadcaster had a budget of $1.13b in the last financial year, while recording a 3.5 per cent decline across all platforms. Mr Williams said the budget “has not kept pace with rising costs”

“We stood back for the best part of three or four decades and allowed the ABC to lose one-third of its funding in real terms when its services have been needed more than ever before,” he said.

As the next federal election looms — and after mining magnate Gina Rinehart urged the Coalition to sell off ABC radio and close ABC TV — Mr Williams called for extra funding that could expand fact-checking capability, develop more and better children’s programs, and open new newsrooms in suburban and peripheral urban locations.

“The ABC needs a plan for renewal and re-investment, and it needs it now,” he said.

Mr Williams conceded the ABC “sometimes makes mistakes”, and defended the broadcaster’s process to rebuild trust after the broadcaster was found to have added extra gunshot sounds to footage of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

“We will sometimes make mistakes but when we do, we will acknowledge them and correct them and redouble our efforts to avoid them in the future as we have done in recent times,” he said.

Asked whether the audio doctoring had constituted mis- or disinformation, Mr Williams defended the findings of an independent review that concluded it had been an error.

“The independent review … identified the error that had been made in that program. The ABC has apologised for the error and indicated that it should never have happened,” he said.

“Running an independent review and properly examining matters that have been brought to the ABC’s attention, and in immediately apologising for what had happened, and having taken the story down, that is part of the process of rebuilding trust.”