Public Broadcaster Apologizes for Error in Fact Checking
The ABC RMIT Fact Check has issued a correction for stating that entrepreneur Dick Smith was against renewables.
Australian businessman Dick Smith has received an apology from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) after incorrectly claiming he did not support the use of renewable energy.
Mr. Smith is known for founding the Dick Smith Electronics brand and his strong advocacy on various social and environmental issues.
Last week on Sydney radio station 2GB, Smith expressed his opinion that Australia should invest in nuclear power, stating that a country cannot function entirely on renewables.
He challenged the narrative presented by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) that solar and wind alone could power all of the country’s grids.
“This claim by the CSIRO that you can run a whole country on solar and wind is simply a lie. It is not true, they are telling lies,” said Mr. Smith on March 25.
“No country has ever been able to run entirely on renewables, that’s impossible, and so we should be making a decision to go nuclear now,” Smith added.
The CSIRO denied making public announcements “of that nature,” but did acknowledge that solar and wind are complementary to traditional energy sources.
ABC decided to fact-check Mr. Smith’s claims in partnership with RMIT University. They cited Nepal as an example of a country that could rely 100 percent on renewable energy.
However, information from the International Energy Agency contradicts the CSIRO’s claims regarding Nepal, stating that most of Nepal’s energy supply comes from biofuels and waste.
With his integrity being questioned, Mr. Smith threatened to sue the ABC if the Fact Check was not corrected, stating that the broadcaster was “damaging my name” by claiming he was opposed to renewable energy.
He told Sky News that the public broadcaster was being antagonistic.
“So they’ve brought out this pack of lies, which they said they’re not going to correct,” he said.
“They said (my statement’s) not correct and then have used all this disinformation because they’re trying to prove something which is unprovable. To say that I don’t support renewables—when I do, I’m a strong supporter of renewables—that’s a lie,” Mr. Smith said.
ABC Apologises and Blames Human Error
On the evening of March 27, ABC issued an apology to the entrepreneur and corrected the fact-checking error on its website.
There was an acknowledgment that Mr. Smith was not contacted to clarify his views before the fact check.
The ABC explained that the mistake was made because the initial version of the article “was based on the inference that in Mr Smith’s interview he was only referring to electricity grids,” when he had been referring to the “full energy mix.”
“The article has been updated to reflect that and to add information on the full energy mixes of four countries whose grids are 100 percent renewable. The article also previously incorrectly stated that Mr. Smith had rejected renewable-led electricity generation.
“The article also previously incorrectly stated that Mr Smith had rejected renewable-led electricity generation; this has been amended. The ABC apologises to Mr. Smith for the error,” read the statement.
