Who is a terrorist

ABC watchdog attacks broadcaster’s view

A Jewish media-monitoring group has attacked the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC's) style guide, which instructs its editorial staff on the appropriate use of labels such as "terrorist".

Issues of Concern for Justice and Society (ICJS), an independent ABC watchdog, said that the style guide, launched earlier this year, singles out Israel's use of the word "terrorist" as the sole example of what the ABC calls"one-sided labelling":

The guide states:

"Remember, one person's 'terrorist' is usually someone else's 'freedom fighter'. 'Terrorism', 'terrorist', 'militant', 'gunman', etc., are all labels."

In an article on ICJS website, Frances Feldman, a writer for the group, said: "The style guide appears to single out the Israel-Palestine conflict as the main arena in the world where 'terrorist' is meaningless."

ICJS executive member Ralph Zwier told the AJN: "The use by the ABC of the Israeli government as a hypothetical example of the misuser of the word 'terrorist' is unfortunate and particularly insensitive to the Jewish community." Zwier called on the ABC to rewrite the guide's section on terrorism, with a warning not to use the term terrorist "except in cases where the dictionary definition is consistent. This usually means: targeting civilians' lives and safety to further a political cause."

During a Senate Estimates Committee hearing on May 23, ABC managing director Russell Balding, answering questions from Queensland Liberal Senator Santo Santoro, set out the current policy on labelling of groups involved in regional and global conflicts.

Balding said the national broadcaster now generally refrains from using labels. Yet if it does describe a group as "terrorist'', it also refers to the government, country or organisation that is the source of the description.

The policy was changed earlier this year. The ABC had previously adhered to a United Nations list of groups deemed to be terrorist (which did not include organisations such as Hamas,Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad). The ABC's director of news and current affairs John Cameron was unavailable for comment at the time of the AJN going to press.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein slammed the ABC for trying to turn the definition of a terrorist into a matter of opinion. "Terrorism is not simply an abusive phrase combatants hurl at each other, as the ABC implies, but a tactic, the deliberate targeting of civilians," he said.