By Andrew Taylor and Jim O'Rourke
TONY JONES, host of the ABC program Q&A, is being paid to run mock versions of his influential discussion show at business conferences.
Prominent figures in the healthcare and information technology industries, as well as senior federal government bureaucrats, will be at the ''HIC 2011 Q&A with Tony Jones'' - promoted as one of the premier events at the conference on e-health opening in Brisbane tomorrow. Jones hosted a similar Q&A at the HIC 2010 conference in Melbourne last August.
Host Tony Jones on ABC's Q&A.
The ABC, which gave Jones permission to conduct the sessions, says the moonlighting does not amount to media training or breach any of its editorial policies covering independence and conflict of interest.
Companies including Cisco, Microsoft, Intel-GE, SAP, Telstra, Panasonic, Deloitte and PwC and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing are conference sponsors.
Some have been the subject of reports on ABC1's Lateline, also hosted by Jones. ABC management did not directly respond to a question about whether the work could lead to a perception of a conflict of interest the next time Jones interviews anybody from the conference.
The ABC's editorial policy stipulates: ''External activities of individuals undertaking work for the ABC must not undermine the independence and integrity of the ABC's editorial content.'' It says ''commercial or personal interests'' must not influence editorial decisions.
Conference delegates and members of the Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA), who have paid up to $1560 to attend this week, can submit questions to a panel of experts during Jones's Q&A session on the topic ''Health Informatics: Are We Good at Innovating in E-Health?''
''Similar to the TV show our host Tony Jones will read a selection of questions,'' the conference website states. ''Your name and organisation will be read out in association with your question if chosen.''
''It's a paid gig but HISA can't disclose how much,'' a spokeswoman for the conference organisers said.
Many ABC presenters, including Virginia Trioli, Leigh Sales and Tony Eastley, earn money for public speaking and officiating at events, as do journalists from other organisations, including Fairfax Media. The ABC's head of policy, Alan Sunderland, said strict guidelines were in place to ensure no conflicts between the outside work and the staff member's specific role and responsibilities at the ABC. Mr Sunderland rejected the notion that the ABC's Q&A brand had been exploited or that there might be an apprehension that the public broadcaster was ''for sale''.
The Sun-Herald tried to speak directly to Jones, but the ABC insisted any comment come from management. Mr Sunderland said every specific instance of outside work, including Jones working at the conference, was approved by management. ''It is not surprising that, in organising such an event, the involvement of someone of Mr Jones's talents, integrity and experience would be sought. The participation of Mr Jones as a facilitator at one such event is entirely appropriate, and does not create any conflicts of interest given that his role at the event is an independent journalistic role and does not involve any endorsement of the conference organisers.
''The key is the nature of the work and its potential to create a real or perceived conflict of interest. The ABC is confident that none exist in this case.'' Mr Sunderland added: ''In any event, Mr Jones's participation in such events also provides an opportunity to make contacts, an opportunity to enhance and extend the ABC's profile in the community, and an opportunity to encourage and facilitate discussion and debate in a range of fora.''
In April, ABC Radio's AM presenter, Tony Eastley, hosted the first of the NSW public meetings of the Gillard government's Climate Change Commission. Last month, ABC TV's Catalyst presenter, Graham Phillips, was master of ceremonies for the mainland launch of the National Broadband Network in Armidale.
''This work is, in many ways, an extension of the staff member's ABC role as a journalist/presenter, which is to facilitate public and community discussion and debate while not taking sides in that debate or representing a particular corporate or sectional view,'' Mr Sunderland said.
He added that it should be remembered Q&A-style sessions had been a standard feature of public conferences long before the Q&A program existed.
It is not the first time that the external paid work of ABC presenters has come into question. In 1999, the public broadcaster investigated three senior staff including Richard Morecroft, then the 7pm TV news presenter, and Peter Thompson, then presenter of Radio National's breakfast program, after allegations of conflicts of interest were aired on radio by broadcaster Mike Carlton.
Carlton alleged Thompson gave paid advice to the Federal Airports Corporation, Microsoft and AMP. He also made claims against two other unnamed ABC staff; one was later identified as Morecroft, who admitted he gave presentation training to people dealing with the media.
An internal ABC inquiry found the corporate deals had not compromised the independence of Morecroft or Thompson. But Thompson was hauled over the coals when it was found he had breached editorial policies. He presented a segment on mining in Kakadu, having previously provided media training to the managing director of North Ltd, owner of the Jabiluka and Ranger mines.
Damian Borchok, chief executive officer of brand analysts Interbrand Australia, said Jones was synonymous with the Q&A brand but ''I think the impact on brand is negligible because it is a low-key event''.