Ita Buttrose offers semi-apology for ABC’s ‘disrespectful’ coverage of King Charles’ coronation after the network focused on the royal family and colonialism

Ita Buttrose has issued a conditional apology for the ABC’s divisive coverage of King Charles’s coronation, saying she regretted not the splits in the royal family but the fact that some people were offended by them.

The two-hour special on May 6 featured four guests, three of whom — Stan Grant, Indigenous activist Teela Reid and Australian Republic Movement chairman Craig Foster — are Republicans, with Liberal MP Julian Leeser the only monarchist.

Many viewers disagreed that the panel was critical of the royal family and focused on the impact of colonization, rather than reporting on the event itself.

The wave of complaints was led by the Australian Monarchist League, which demanded an apology from the taxpayer-funded broadcaster in a letter signed by 10,000 people and sent on June 19.

The ABC chairman eventually responded to the backlash, saying “I recognize that there are members of our audience who wanted to watch the ABC watch and focus on the live feed of the arrivals and then were disappointed.”

“I’m sorry they were disappointed with our coverage,” she said in a letter obtained by Daily Mail Australia.

AML campaign chairman Eric Abetz and national chairman Philip Benwell said the apology was “exceptionally hollow” given the “extremely bad” and “patronising” coverage.

“The answer is clearly unsatisfactory and indicative of the malaise that appears to have plagued your organization,” they said in a reply to Ms Buttrose.

“The 10,000 petitioners will be rightly and fully justified in being baffled, if not outraged, by your response as both unnecessary and dismissive of their legitimate concerns.”

They added that ‘the coronation was a once-in-a-lifetime historic occasion – the first in 70 years… This was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

“It wasn’t like a weekly segment where different points of view could be presented every other week or balance across a series of shows.”

The AML had asked ABC’s board of directors and management to apologize to taxpayers for the way the coronation was discussed at the panel hosted by Julia Baird and Jeremy Fernandez.

It called on the broadcaster to give in it was “clearly against the ABC’s own editorial standards, which require independence and integrity along with impartiality” and that it was “not fair and honest in its dealings on the occasion of the coronation”.

Many viewers disagreed that the panel was critical of the royal family and focused on the impact of colonization, rather than reporting on the event itself. (pictured King Charles III with Queen Camilla)

The League demanded that the ABC acknowledge that coverage of the coronation has “significantly undermined viewership’s confidence in their taxpayer-funded national broadcaster.”

The AML also called for an independent inquiry into the coronation coverage for “members of staff responsible for the extremely bad decision to hijack such a momentous and historic occasion” to be disciplined.

But Ms. Buttrose’s reply failed to meet any of these requirements, pointing out that the ABC ombudsman found the program did not violate editorial standards.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ABC for further comment.