Across the retirement village sector operators and residents are overwhelmingly responding angrily to the ABC’s recent TV, online and social media campaign citing an extreme lack of balance. 

The negative theme was apparent in the title Retirement Rip Off and the interview by reporter Adele Ferguson of Daniel Gannon, the Executve Director of the Retirement Living Council. 

The Weekly SOURCE has learned in the full 40-minute interview she interrupted Daniel’s responses to her questions 78 times. 

It was apparent she had a predetermined outcome before the interview. 

The three televised segments on 7.30 featured only residents and their families highly critical of the sector, plus two online stories that again only told a negative side of the sector.  

Not a single resident in favour of retirement living has been featured by the ABC and none of the voluntarily run Retirement Village Residents Associations were interviewed, despite them being the recognised spokespeople for residents by governments.  

Last Tuesday, we published a story on ACT RVRA Secretary Anne Caine closing down the criticism of retirement living on ABC Radio Canberra.  

We also published a story where the ABC contacted Kevin McCreton, Managing Director of Catalyst Research, and asked him about his research. When he informed them it was overwhelmingly positive, he was told the ABC was not interested.     

Last Wednesday, 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson had Adele on the program for a five minute interview. The journalist issued a call to arms to any other parties who might be aggrieved by dubious practices within the retirement village industry, and who might be willing to be part of a “concerted push” to bring about policy reform in the area. 

There was no mention of people who might hold a different view to the one being pushed by the ABC. 

Asked by The Australian if the ABC’s coverage of the issue had been even-handed, an ABC spokesman said: “It is the legitimate role of all journalism, including objective and impartial journalism, and particularly investigative journalism, to identify and call out malpractice, maladministration and disfunction (sic) where the evidence clearly demonstrates it. It is implicit in all this journalism that action should be taken. 

“The stories and the interview with Sarah Ferguson were completely in accord with the ABC’s editorial policies in relation to impartiality.”