Australia has had a problem with the one-sided non-reporting of the lives of people identifying as transgender by many media outlets. In the wake of the BBC crisis over its reporting of Trump’s January 6 speech, Mediawatch examined three reporting controversies on its host broadcaster. Mediawatch gave a green light to the ABC for Gaza reportage, and for the Trump speech and “Russiagate”, but gave the national broadcaster a red card for transgender coverage.
“But as for that third major criticism that the ABC, like the BBC, is failing to report critically on transgender issues, we fear there may indeed be grounds for concern,” Mediawatch’s Linton Besser said last night.
“Because despite some coverage in recent years, like this Four Corners, about the debate over youth gender care and these online stories – all of which have included criticisms of the gender-affirming approach to care – there have also been significant gaps, beginning three years ago with dramatic news that the prominent Tavistock Clinic in London was to be shuttered.
“Despite Australian physicians mirroring some of Tavistock’s gender-affirming approach, this news was not reported by the ABC for three weeks after the event. Since then, a number of significant developments have played out, like this one in an Australian court, reported in June: “RENOWNED PROFESSOR REVEALED AS SUBJECT OF JUDGE’S CRITICISM
NATIONAL GUIDELINES QUESTIONED” – The Australian, June 6 2025
‘That story revealed that Michelle Telfer, Australia’s experienced gender-medicine expert, was identified as having given misleading evidence in a Family Court case involving a mother wanting puberty blockers for her 12-year-old child.
‘The judge in that case questioned claims puberty blockers were fully reversible and relatively risk-free, as well as what he described as the:
“ … oddly binary approach … in relation to children … to affirm unreservedly those who present with concerns regarding their gender …” – The Australian, June 6 2025
‘The story, of obvious significance, was covered by the Law Report on ABC Radio National.
‘But even though the ABC News division had previously shown great interest in Telfer’s work, including in this 2021 doco, it published not a single story about the case which might have also canvassed criticisms of the judgment.
‘In 2014, Four Corners produced this intimate and important portrait of two children seeking to change gender – and a landmark Family Court ruling which eased the availability of puberty blockers, interviewing its then chief justice Diana Bryant, who wrote the decision.
“Last week, however, Diana Bryant revealed she would not find the same way now:
“’… if I were deciding the … case now and had the evidence that’s now becoming available, I certainly doubt that I would have come to the conclusion that … (court) approval wasn’t needed for puberty blockers.’– The Australian, November 10 2025
“Which, a week on, has yet to be reported by the ABC.
“Meanwhile, Auntie has also failed to tell its audience about an appeal of a Federal Court decision, which ruled for the first time that a trans-woman must be granted access to a women-only online space under the Sex Discrimination Act.
“Nor, as far as we can tell, has the ABC interviewed Sall Grover, the woman running that appeal, despite her appearing regularly in other parts of the media.
“We asked the ABC if those stories should have been covered or covered more extensively.
“A spokesperson told us:
“‘We’re always open to feedback if there are significant gaps in news coverage or we could do more.‘ – Email, ABC spokesperson, November 14 2025
“Adding: ‘The ABC takes no position on gender affirming care but seeks to adequately cover this issue, keeping in mind its obligation to not unduly cause harm … Over time the ABC has covered this issue from many angles and given voice to both opponents and proponents of gender-affirming care.‘ – Email, ABC spokesperson, November 14 2025
“There are, I’m sure, several reasons for these gaps in the ABC’s coverage, and I suspect one of them is how clamorous the blowback can be, reporting this very difficult story about a very vulnerable community.
“But the ABC and its journalists have a duty to the public to find the courage to do so, with just as much dispassion as compassion.”
Another story where the ABC deserves criticism is the Cardinal George Pell saga. The detailed case against Pell has been presented in depth several times. But this viewer has yet to see any detailed retelling of the evidence and reasoning that convinced the High Court to render a unanimous verdict overturning the lower courts’ guilty verdicts.
The Other Cheek believes that the public deserves media that will try to present both sides of a controversial issue, like how society should treat people living with gender dysphoria.
Or perhaps, it is better put to say media outlets should present the information that a reasonable watcher or reader would like to know – let’s leave one-sided rants to the internet where they belong.
For the purposes of this argument, it does not matter which “side” one is on. A good test is asking, “Am I receiving info that I disagree with, that challenges my perceptions?” If the answer is “no,” then the media outlet is not doing its job.
While the ABC has an excellent radio program in the Religion and Ethics Report, it seems to The Other Cheek that the news division shies away from the conservative side of religion and “cultural war” issues.
Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief at CBS, recently laid out the journalistic principles she wants that outlet to follow. They are helpfully old-fashioned. “What I can tell you on day one is that I stand for the same core journalistic values that have defined this profession since the beginning, and I will continue to champion them alongside you,” Weiss emailed the staff.
Here are her ten commandments.
- Journalism that reports on the world as it actually is.
- Journalism that is fair, fearless and factual.
- Journalism that respects our audience enough to tell the truth plainly — wherever it leads.
- Journalism that makes sense of a noisy, confusing world.
- Journalism that explains things clearly, without pretension or jargon.
- Journalism that holds both American political parties to equal scrutiny.
- Journalism that embraces a wide spectrum of views and voices so that the audience can contend with the best arguments on all sides of a debate.
- Journalism that rushes toward the most interesting and important stories, regardless of their unpopularity.
- Journalism that uses all of the tools of the digital era.
- Journalism that understands that the best way to serve America is to endeavour to present the public with the facts, first and foremost.