ABC launches audit check for bias The ABC will launch a series of external audits in a bid to address critics who say its news and current affairs coverage is biased. ABC chairman James Spigelman said he accepted the argument the corporation's news and current affairs reports were sometimes not impartial. But this was more a case of the "imperfection of human endeavour rather than systematic bias." Mr Spigelman said the ABC earlier this year had issued a guidance note to its journalists and producers on how to be impartial, and conducted internal reviews. But to reinforce this, the ABC board had commissioned a series of external editorial audits, with the first to be publicly released this month. This initial audit by British journalist Andrea Wills looked at the ABC's coverage of the prime minister and opposition leader during the September election campaign. A second audit would look at the ABC's treatment of the asylum seeker debate. Mr Spigelman said complaints about bias were more a function of the topics chosen by journalists rather than the reports themselves. He acknowledged that city-based journalists tended to have a social and educational background that often made them more interested in topics such as gay marriage than electricity prices. "As a public broadcaster we must endeavour to engage with those sections of our community who are concerned with issues like electricity prices," he said. The ABC remained "part of the basic social infrastructure of Australia" and maintained a strong level of trust among the community. It was also good value for money, representing about $120 a year for each Australian household which compared favourably with a basic pay TV package of $564 a year. The ABC chairman rejected calls for the privatisation of the corporation. "In the case of a privatised ABC the services would be unrecognisable," Mr Spigelman said. Mr Spigelman said he expected the response to the audits would be made public and result in more training and direction for the ABC's journalists. Employees had already been encouraged to broaden their sources, interests and reading matter. Prime Minister Tony Abbott last week accused the ABC of "touting for a left wing British newspaper" in its reporting of the Indonesian spying scandal story broken by The Guardian. Mr Spigelman said it was in the public interest "within the realms of legitimate editorial decision." The story raised issues about the scope of Australia's intelligence activity, but may have been "distorted" in terms of how it focused on only one aspect of the issue. As well, Mr Spigelman said the challenge to the Australia-Indonesia relationship was "going to happen anyway," whether or not the ABC carried the story. Asked if he expected next week's mid-year budget review to include cuts to ABC funding, he said he had no reason to believe there would be any specific reference to the corporation. "As to the general cuts I really don't know, but it's in the air," he said.