ABC managing director Mark Scott apologised to the prime minister on Tuesday morning after the broadcaster inadvertently broadcast a crude Twitter account name on its flagship show Q&A.
The Twitter handle @AbbottLovesAnal flashed up briefly along the bottom of the screen during the panel debate show on Monday night.
“Q&A handles a very high volume of tweets during its live broadcasts,” an ABC spokesman said. “Last night’s program contained a vibrant discussion on a range of topics and featured some lively Twitter exchanges.
“This particular tweet was not published on purpose and the ABC regrets any offence this may have caused.”
The apology to Abbott followed an early morning call from the communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to the ABC.
“In what felt like a groundhog day moment yet again in the early hours of Tuesday I spoke with Mark Scott about another unedifying incident at Q&A,” Turnbull said in a statement.
“The tweet should obviously never have been put on the screen and the fact that it was underlines the need for better supervision of the program.
“I am assured by Mr Scott the offensive tweet will not appear in the replays of the program. The ABC should apologise to the PM and its viewers.”
Guardian Australia understands Scott texted an apology to Abbott early on Tuesday morning, and was preparing to send a formal written apology to the prime minister later in the day.
Abbott told reporters on Thursday Island he thought Q&A was “a bit out of control”, AAP reported. He said he hoped ABC management would take action to impose tighter control of the program.
The panel was unaware of the offending Twitter handle at the time of the broadcast, but New South Wales MP Fiona Scott quickly tweeted a screen shot of it saying: “What a disgraceful Twitter handle for @QandA to broadcast!”
What a disgraceful Twitter handle for @QandA to broadcast! #auspol pic.twitter.com/jOToWwVq28
— Fiona Scott (@FionaScottMP) August 24, 2015
However, the apology from the ABC appeared to draw further attention to the tweet. The hashtag #AbbottLovesAnal began trending on Twitter around the country on Tuesday morning.
The leader of the opposition Bill Shorten said while the broadcast of the Twitter handle was certainly offensive most Australians were sick to death of talking about Q&A.
“There are bigger things happening in people’s lives than what happens on Q&A – and Tony Abbott doesn’t seem to get that,” Shorten said on Tuesday afternoon.
“I wish Tony Abbott was as obsessed with creating new jobs for Australians as he is with Q&A.”
The mistake has given plenty of ammunition to the ABC’s critics, with News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt calling it an example of the ABC being out of control. “It’s no longer just a question of bias but of barbarity,” Bolt write on his blog.
“The ABC is out of control. The tweet was published during a discussion between five panellists of the Left and just one conservative. The Abbott government is paying the ABC $1bn a year to promote the left and vilify conservatives.”
The Twitter snafu is an unwelcome development for the program, which is currently undergoing a review of its processes, including the appropriateness of showing live tweets during broadcast.
The review by broadcasters Ray Martin and Shaun Brown is expected to be published before the end of the year.
It had been back to business for Q&A after it dominated headlines for three weeks earlier in the year after provocative statements were made by former terrorism suspect Zaky Mallah, who had been chosen to ask a question of the panel.
The affair led the ABC board to decide to move the program from the TV division into the news and current affairs division, but not until the end of the year.
Mallah jumped into the latest controversy on Monday night to claim that the person behind the @AbbottLovesAnal account was a friend of his, and congratulated him for the “great work”.
But the account, listed under the name of Gregg Schurch, denied any connection: “I’d just like to say I have no affiliation with the fool Zakky Mallah. He wishes he knew me.”
I'd just like to say I have no affiliation with the fool Zakky Mallah. He wishes he knew me. #qanda #analgate
— Gregg Schurch (@AbbottLovesAnal) August 24, 2015
