Monday 3 May 2010

McDonald's Australia accuses ABC Radio of bias in reporting on its move to build a 24hr fast food outlet in Yamba


One would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to have noticed that Yamba (a small coastal town at the mouth of the Clarence River on the NSW North Coast) is coming out strongly against the McDonald's Australia Limited application to build a 24hr eat-in and drive though fast food outlet in Treelands Drive.

Indeed, the Yamba community has been quite successful in getting its message across to both Clarence Valley Council and the wider community. Nevertheless it is facing off against a very large multinational and a financial investment group quite skilled in the way they approach local government and used to getting their own way on matters such as this.

So it was rather amazing to find that McDonald's only gave the ABC a short written statement after refusing to have a spokesperson interviewed for a segment on ABC North Coast Radio's Sunday Morning program out of Newcastle on 2 May 2010 - citing a belief that the ABC would not give the corporation a fair hearing.

The mind boggles as to why it would state something so blatantly untrue. Unless it was attempting to get the radio presenter to over compensate it its favour during that on-air segment or was looking to curry a sympathy vote from Clarence Valley shire councillors.

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