MORE than two months after The Australian's political editor Dennis Shanahan formally complained to the ABC about a stinging - and, in Shanahan's view, unjustified - attack by Media Watch on one of his articles, the national broadcaster has yet to formulate a response.
Media Watch criticised Shanahan's August 31 article "Surge working, says US general", which reported the view of the top US commander, General David Petraeus, that the troop surge had thrown al-Qa'ida "off balance". Program host Monica Attard criticised Shanahan for not taking a more critical stance towards Petraeus and the troop surge. She similarly criticised The Sydney Morning Herald's Miranda Devine.
Attard pointed to reports published by other global media outlets that took a more critical stance.
Following the airing of the segment on September 10, Shanahan complained to the ABC, pointing out his article was a straight news piece reporting Petraeus's views and that his article was vindicated within days of Media Watch's segment, when Petraeus reported to the US Congress what Shanahan had foreshadowed in the article. He sought a correction and apology.
Shanahan also pointed out that the critical media reports Media Watch referred to were published after his article was published.
The ABC has not responded to the complaint, lodged on October 4, other than to say the complaint was being dealt with.
An ABC spokeswoman yesterday said the complaint was "continuing to be investigated" by its audience and consumer affairs division.
"The ABC regrets there has been a delay in this investigation and will endeavour to respond to Mr Shanahan as soon as possible," the spokeswoman said.
Both Attard and Media Watch executive producer Tim Palmer have since quit the program. Journalist Jonathan Holmes, a former executive producer of The 7:30 Report, will replace Attard next year.
