Source : Perth Now news
Gina Rinehart has issued a brutal statement to the ABC after its apology for broadcasting a segment that seemingly denoted violence against the mining magnate.
The national broadcaster apologised late last week for a four-minute Race Around the World clip that aired in July and ended with the voiceover message: “When the revolution comes, will you hide under the bed or will you know exactly how to shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butthole, stirring it round, mixing her guts up nice and smooth, to make one big sausage roll to make something out of nothing”.
“The ABC acknowledges the episode has fallen short of community expectations. The ABC apologises to Mrs Rinehart and to anyone else affected or upset by the publication of the film,” Managing Director Hugh Marks said, nearly four weeks after the initial broadcast.
Hancock Prospecting, the company owned by Mrs Rinehart, complained after the episode went to air and demanded the material be taken down and a public apology issued.
The company issued a statement in response to the apology, saying: “The content shown on the ABC normalised violent torture against a woman …, and dehumanised an Australian, such that she was worthless and ok to be sexually tortured.”
“The internal ABC Ombudsman’s decision that the ABC did not breach ABC Editorial Standards fails all Australian women and the millions of taxpayers who fund the ABC.”
Mr Marks said that “while the Ombudsman has found that the film did not breach the ABC’s editorial policies, the ABC acknowledges the episode has fallen short of community expectations”.
The Ombudsman found the key question was not whether the remarks were offensive or in poor taste, but whether any offence was justified in the context of the program.
It pointed to the show’s format, the filmmaker’s established style, the exaggerated nature of the piece, the lack of any visual violence and the criticism from the judging panel in concluding that most viewers would not take the remarks as a “genuine call for, endorsement of, or encouragement of violence”.
Kate McGuinness also apologised for the clip, describing the style of humour used in her Race Around the World films as absurd rather than literal.
“In no way was it my intention to promote violence,” Ms McGuinness told the ABC.
“My writing is cartoonish and always satirical.”
“Unfortunately, jokes do not land with everyone. Its purpose was never to be taken literally.”
McGuinness made the film in Scotland, under the title A Very Relaxing Video, using a flat voice-over style to create a satirical piece featuring a Scottish “forest warrior ninja” and tips on how to “make something out of nothing”.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was among those to have condemned the clip, calling it “completely inappropriate and unacceptable”.
“We do think that it is appropriate that the ABC has referred this to the Ombudsman and I’m surprised that this video is still on its site,” Mr Marles said this week.
Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young also labelled the segment “disgusting” and urged the ABC to apologise.
The film that the clip was in has now been removed and it will be replaced by an edited version.
