Lateline host Emma Alberici - one of the ABC presenters Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said could adopt a "less aggressive" interviewing style - says female interviewers are regularly attacked for asking tough questions while their male colleagues are not.

In a Sunday appearance on The Bolt Report, hosted by conservative columnist Andrew Bolt, Mr Turnbull said budget interviews by Alberici and 7.30 host Leigh Sales were "very aggressive" and recommended journalists take a "more forensic" approach.

Sales and Alberici both defended their budget week interviews and said they have no intention of adopting a less adversarial style in future interviews.

"People are far quicker to attack a woman in public than they would a man," Alberici said.

"When I do a tough interview I will be called an 'aggressive bitch' but when [fellow Lateline co-host] Tony Jones does a similar interview he is just tough. No one would call him a bitch. That's something we grapple with [as female interviewers] because people don't want us to be tough."

Alberici added that, to be fair to Mr Turnbull, the Communications Minister had previously strongly criticised 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones for saying that Julia Gillard's father had "died of shame". Former 7.30 host Kerry O'Brien, who had previously worked as a Labor staffer, was also regularly criticised by the Coalition, she said.

But she said it was "silly" for Mr Turnbull to use the term aggressive to describe a television interview.

"It suggests some kind of animosity between interviewer and interviewee that doesn't exist," she said.

"For all the nonsense about bias we are all just doing our job."

Alberici said she doesn't "understand the hoo-ha" about her post-budget interview with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann in which she accused the government of making up "nonsense" figures that "you continue to trot out".

"I was just trying to bring facts to the table - that's what we are supposed to do. I don't think doing a challenging interview is biased. I think the opposite: we should be challenging everyone who is in front of us."

Alberici added: "It is a bit rich for Andrew Bolt to complain about bias. Everyone is to the left of Andrew Bolt. And that certainly includes Malcolm Turnbull."

She said she was "annoyed" that Mr Cormann accused her of running a "Labor argument" during their interview.

"It's not running a Labor line to try to bring facts and accuracy to the conversation," she said.

Asked about Mr Turnbull's comments, Sales said: "He's free to have an opinion on whether he thought the interview was aggressive, but it won't change the way I do interviews.

"I'd argue my interviews are forensic - I try look at how the figures line up with what the person is saying.

"I do the best I can to be fair, impartial and to always ask what I think the average viewer would want asked.

"If people aren't answering the question then I push them to answer it because that's what I'm paid to do."

Mr Turnbull said on Sunday: "I would say as somebody who used to interview people as a living, both as a journalist and as a barrister and of course as a politician, I would say a more effective interviewing style is one that is less aggressive and more forensic."

But he defended ABC journalists against the accusation of bias, said the ABC employed conservative presenters and argued that the broadcaster provides politicians with a forum to deliver their message.

An independent editorial audit commissioned by the ABC found that last year's budget interview with Joe Hockey, by journalist Sarah Ferguson, did not show the Treasurer enough respect and was so aggressive that it could inflame perceptions of bias.

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