Hugh Marks decries ‘opportunistic’ attacks on the ABC – but concedes broadcaster blew it with Bluey

ABC managing director Hugh Marks speaks at the National Press Club on Wednesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, has criticised attacks on the ABC as “opportunistic” as it faces accusations its Four Corners program distorted a speech by Donald Trump on 6 January 2021, but he said there are lessons to learn from the BBC’s error.

The ABC has faced pressure from Sky News Australia and The Australian who have called the treatment of the speech in a Four Corners episode an “almost identical act of deception” as the edit of a BBC program which led to multiple high-level resignations at the British public broadcaster.