Special Broadcasting Service Corporation Discussion

Senator JOYCE—You may have already answered this. Did you do any sort of reporting on or publishing of those Danish cartoons?

Mr Brown—Only in the same way as every other media outlet certainly in the broadcast world has done recently.

Senator JOYCE—Did you show the cartoons?

Mr Brown—Only in distant form, panning shots.

Senator JOYCE—Why? Did you have some concern there?

Mr Brown—I think we are sensitive to that, yes.

Senator JOYCE—Sensitive to what?

Mr Brown—To take you through the process that operates inside a broadcasting organisation, the only people who would be interested in broadcasting that sort of material would be the newsroom. It is up to them to identify whether or not they think it is appropriate to carry them. In a situation as significant as this, that would be referred up through the director of news and current affairs and probably to me. I have checked with the director of news and current affairs and that issue has not arisen.

Senator JOYCE—Why would you stop it?

Mr Brown—I have not stopped it. That is the point of my argument. It has not arisen from the newsroom; there is no sense that this is needed to be done in order to communicate the story.

Senator JOYCE—Obviously what I am inferring is—and I think that is probably the right thing, by the way—the sensitivities portrayed in that event are well and truly acknowledged, while the sensitivities in regard to other religions seem to be left behind.

Mr Brown—I do not believe that is the case. I think the issue of satire and parodying of religious beliefs is a pretty sensitive area. Certainly, this extraordinary event surrounding the Danish cartoons has given people pause for thought. If I look back over the last year there have been occasions when the Islamic faith has been the subject of satirical programming on SBS.