But now, let's turn to a man who really does do meaty stories - and is causing some angst as a result.

On Friday, The Australian carried this news story ...

An ABC journalist has been disciplined by the broadcaster's management over concerns that his online posts about the National Broadband Network failed to meet its "standards of objective journalism". — The Australian, 8th March, 2013

The journalist concerned is Nick Ross, editor of ABC Online's Technology and Games site. We're going to spend some time on his role tonight, but let me stress we're not analysing the media's coverage of the NBN. We're looking at what ABC journalists can and can't do.

On ABC 774 in Melbourne on Friday morning , Communications Minister Stephen Conroy weighed in in Nick Ross's defence.

Stephen Conroy: Malcolm Turnbull is constantly attacking and trying to bully some of your journalists, and today I read in The Australian - and I know you shouldn't always believe everything you read in The Australian - but a very disturbing thing where another journalist on the ABC staff has been internally disciplined because they're not prepared to just accept every policy pronouncement or claim that's made publicly... — ABC Local Radio 774, 8th March, 2013

Senator Conroy was talking to morning host Jon Faine, who told his listeners...

Jon Faine: Well now by way of background, the ABC has disciplined one of its editors, who, a man called Nick Ross ... Mr Ross has been critical of the Coalition's broadband policy and supportive of yours, and it's been determined by the ABC internal complaints process that his reporting has not been even-handed. — ABC Local Radio 774, 8th March, 2013

Well Senator Conroy got one thing right - you shouldn't believe everything you read in The Australian. And Jon Faine got one thing right - Nick Ross is a supporter of the government's National Broadband Network, and a critic of the opposition's alternative policy.

But he hasn't been disciplined by ABC management. And no formal complaint about his NBN articles has been upheld.

Though some of them have proved controversial. As Nick Ross told Jon Faine later that morning ...

Nick Ross: You may have noticed not many people know too much about the National Broadband Network in this country, and coverage isn't that great, so I wrote what I hoped to be a definitive article that summed up every single thing we knew about it. And this article was 11 thousand words long. It seems to have caused a few waves! One of the first responses came from Malcolm Turnbull who tweeted that I was biased and corrupt and stuff like that. — ABC Local Radio 774, 8th March, 2013

We haven't been able to find any tweet in which Malcolm Turnbull has even hinted that Nick Ross is corrupt. But spats on Twitter between the opposition spokesman for communications and the ABC's Editor of Technology and Games, who tweets under the handle @ABCTech, are nothing new. For example, last July...

Malcolm Turnbull: do you really work for the ABC or is it the NBN Co? ABCTech: I work for the australian public. Malcolm Turnbull: ... Your relentless NBN propaganda is an embarrassment to the ABC Malcolm Turnbull: Well here is a challenge to you - set out ... the facts upon which you rely. — Twitter, 23rd July, 2012

Which is what Nick Ross claims to have done in his extraordinary article , first posted a bit over two weeks ago...

The vast differences between the NBN and the Coalition's alternative — ABC Technology and Games, 21st February, 2013

It is very long, very detailed, and it pulls no punches...

In just about every case the Coalition's alternative compares unfavourably to the current plans - and usually in dramatic fashion. That's based upon the facts and the information currently available in the public domain. — ABC Technology and Games, 21st February, 2013

The article attracted hundreds of comments, most of them complimentary. If you're a loyal reader of The Australian or the Financial Review, you'll have got the impression that the NBN is going to be an expensive white elephant. But the tech world, on the whole, believes that is misinformation. Veteran tech writer Renai LeMay, for example, who publishes the website Delimiter, wrote a paean of praise for Nick Ross...

Virtually alone, out of all of Australia's technology journalists, Ross has had the courage and the conviction to seriously and in detail investigate the often dubious claims which the Coalition has made... — Renai LeMay, Delimiter.com, 26th February, 2013

Ross's work, claimed LeMay

represents fantastic value for the ABC's audience. — Renai LeMay, Delimiter.com, 26th February, 2013

But needless to say, there are those who think the opposite - notably Grahame Lynch, founder of Commsday.com, a newsletter for communications executives.

He posted a scathing riposte to Ross's magnum opus

Not only is the piece unbecoming of acceptable editorial standards regarding bias, but also those of accuracy and logic. It is a disservice to both the ABC's audience and the cause of NBN supporters. — Grahame Lynch, Commsday.com, 22nd February, 2013

The same day, Malcolm Turnbull tweeted...

Malcolm Turnbull: Grahame Lynch ... exposes the bias and ignorance of the ABC's Nick Ross — Twitter, 22nd February, 2013

And the spat was on again...

ABCTech: you said you don't like personal bilious attacks ... Please be consistent ... — Twitter, 22nd February, 2013

Just days earlier the pair had clashed at an annual conference for tech heads - if I can call them that - in Queensland, when Ross challenged Turnbull after his keynote address. Apologies for the quality of the recording ...

Nick Ross: one of the biggest benefits of the NBN is telehealth is going to save billions every single year. It's already saving tens of millions in trial rollouts around Australia - Malcolm Turnbull: Well that is just absolute nonsense. I don't know where you get this stuff from ... — Kickstart Forum, 19th February, 2013

The exchange lasted for several minutes

Malcolm Turnbull: Now your assertion that you can't have telehealth without fibre-to-the-premise, you should raise that with the rest of the developed world and the rest of the OECD because it is a view that is clearly not shared elsewhere. Nick Ross: You're completely wrong there. — Kickstart Forum, 19th February, 2013

You heard the astonished laughter. Kickstart conferences are known for robust question and answer sessions. But some people present felt Ross went too far. It was that, it seems, as much as or more than his articles, which caused his ABC line manager to have a little chat with him. The manager, Bruce Belsham, tells Media Watch...

Contrary to some reports Nick has not been disciplined, but we did talk about the best approach in such situations, and about his NBN pieces in general. — Bruce Belsham, Head Current Affairs, ABC, 8th March, 2013

So what about that article? According to his admirer, Renai LeMay...

Ross's NBN opus is not only long ... it's impeccably well-researched. — Renai LeMay, 26th February, 2013

But, after cataloguing nearly fifty examples of what he claims are factual inaccuracies and unsustainable assertions in Ross's essay, Grahame Lynch writes that he is engaged in a

slipshod and embarrassing campaign. — Grahame Lynch, Commsday.com, 22nd February, 2013

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I know who's right on the facts. Nor, I suspect, does Bruce Belsham. But he supports the expertise of his specialist journalist...

I am comfortable that Mr Ross's conclusions are evidence-based and that he is knowledgeable about the NBN. — Bruce Belsham, Head Current Affairs, ABC, 8th March, 2013

There's no doubt that it would have been safer if Ross did what ABC journalists often do...set out what the government claims about the costs and benefits of the NBN, and the opposition's claims for its own policy, and "leave it to the reader to judge".

But to many media critics, that's just a cop-out. It's what New York University's Jay Rosen has called "he said, she said journalism" - and he's been railing against it for years...

The tools are there to make an independent assessment of who is right: for journalists, that is the critical point. — Press Think, 12th April, 2009

That's certainly what Nick Ross claims to have done. As he put it a year ago ...

...being a public servant I'm duty bound to inform the public of the truth. — ABC Technology and Games, The Great NBN Fail, 21st February, 2012

But what if an ABC journalist concludes that the truth is almost all on one side? Isn't he supposed to be 'impartial'?

The ABC's answer is this: he can't just publish his opinions. He can publish expert analysis - and let the chips fall where they may. How do you tell the difference? Well two years ago the ABC issued a Guidance Note for its editors to help them do just that. Analysis, it says, typically...

is made by a person with professional expertise or specialist knowledge about the subject matter being analysed — ABC Guidance Note, 11th April, 2011

Well, Nick Ross certainly has that.

is grounded in reporting work... refers to the information on which it is based... — ABC Guidance Note, 11th April, 2011

Check to both of those. Ross has done a huge amount of work, and his article provides links to nearly a hundred reports and other sources.

is not partisan or ideological — ABC Guidance Note, 11th April, 2011

Nick Ross says he has no political affiliations.

I really don't give a monkey's about who's running the country after the next election. But I do care about the NBN. I'm passionate about technology (did you notice?)... — ABC Technology and Games, The Great NBN Fail, 21st February, 2012

Ross might be politically na?ve, but he's no Labor party hack. However, the Guidance Note also says that analysis....

refrains from public advocacy does not prescribe what should be done nor urge what the audience should conclude. — ABC Guidance Note, 11th April, 2011

Those are tests that Nick Ross, in my view, fails. A year ago, he wrote this...

If the public knew the truth about the NBN, and believed that the Coalition wanted to destroy it, then Labor would have an unassailable lead in the polls right now ... I'm deadly serious. — ABC Technology and Games, The Great NBN Fail, 21st February, 2012

Ross is an advocate - and it shows.

That was probably one of the matters that his boss discussed with him when they had their little chat. As Bruce Belsham puts it...

I have discussed with him the importance of providing a diversity of perspectives and the importance of analysis being underpinned by accurate information. He is aware of the need to ensure this. — Bruce Belsham, Head Current Affairs, ABC, 8th March, 2013

You can't help but admire Nick Ross's industry - and there's no doubt that his passion for the NBN is sincere. But in my view, the chat came none too soon.

Bruce Belsham's full response, and links to some crucial articles and that ABC Guidance Note, will be on our website shortly. While you're there, let us know what you think.

Until next week, goodnight.