MELBOURNE
— The social media post simply pointed to a report from Human Rights Watch, but
it was critical of Israel and came from a Lebanese Australian journalist whom
critics considered biased.
اضافة اعلان
The
journalist, Antoinette Lattouf, a well-known figure in the Australian media,
was on a brief contract with the country’s main public broadcaster when she
posted the Instagram story with the caption: “HRW reporting starvation as a
tool of war.”
The
next day, as pro-Israel lawyers continued a private campaign to have her ousted
— which had begun before she started the job — Lattouf was told by managers at
the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that her radio hosting gig would conclude
early.
The
dispute over whether that was justified, now mired in legal wrangling, has
thrown one of Australia’s most trusted institutions into strife and, on Monday,
resulted in a rare “vote of no confidence” in its top editor. It has become
another example of how intense debate over the Israel-Hamas conflict is
revealing deep fault lines of identity and divided opinion in different parts
of the world.
The
ABC, publicly funded and with an obligation to represent all stripes of
Australian life, is confronting the collision of two contentious issues. First,
how do news outlets and their employees cover hot-button topics in a time of
stark political divides and strong personal brands? And second, as its
journalists allege, has Australia’s beleaguered public broadcaster been so
weakened by underfunding and right-wing political attacks that it will not
stand up for its journalists, especially people of color and women?
At a
fraught union meeting of about 200 employees Monday, John Lyons, the ABC’s global
affairs editor, who was set to fly to Israel on Tuesday, said the broadcaster’s
independence and reputation had been “compromised” by its willingness to yield
to outside pressure on such an important matter.
Lyons
said the ABC “faced one of its darkest days” last Tuesday when The Melbourne
Age and its sister publications outlined how a letter-writing campaign
pressured the ABC’s top two leaders in Lattouf’s case.
“I
was embarrassed that a group of 156 lawyers could laugh at how easy it was to
manipulate the ABC,” Lyons said, according to multiple sources. Members of the
union voted 129-3, with dozens of abstentions, to pass a motion saying that
they had “lost confidence” in David Anderson, the ABC’s managing director and
top editor.
In a
statement, Anderson said he had “always defended the ABC’s journalism” and
would continue to do so. The ABC did not respond to repeated requests for
comment.
In
recent years, many ABC journalists — some Indigenous, others of Arab, Asian, or
African descent — have left after complaining that they experienced racism or
were held to different standards than white colleagues.
Stan
Grant, a high-profile Indigenous Australian journalist, publicly resigned in
May after a torrent of racist abuse over his role in coverage of the coronation
of King Charles III. At the time, he said he had received no public support
from the organization. Nour Haydar, a political reporter, also resigned this
month, citing concerns about coverage of the conflict between Israel and Hamas,
as well as the ABC’s treatment of culturally diverse staff.
Diversity
struggles are not unique to the national broadcaster. A study of Australian
media in 2022 found that only around 10 percent of hosts and reporters on the
air during two weeks were from a non-European background, far below their
proportion of the population.
Using propaganda, misinformation, and
disinformation to justify genocide in the makingLattouf,
40, had been a frequent contributor at the ABC. The author of “How to Lose
Friends and Influence White People,” has called for greater diversity in the
media and has often criticized Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip. In
one recent post, she said 2023 would be remembered as a year when calling for a
cease-fire seemed more offensive than “using propaganda, misinformation, and
disinformation to justify a genocide in the making.”
Last
month, the ABC hired her to fill in for a host on a Sydney radio station for
five days. On her first day, she was informed by a manager that “Jewish
lobbyists were unhappy she was on the air,” according to legal filings, and
urged to avoid potentially controversial topics on social media.
The
following day, in an Instagram story, she shared a Human Rights Watch post that
accused Israel of starving civilians in Gaza “as a weapon of war.” Colleagues
at the ABC had separately covered the report. Less than 24 hours later, Lattouf
was told that she would not be returning to the air for the final two days of
the contract.
Lattouf
has filed an unlawful dismissal dispute, saying that she was discriminated
against for her race and political opinion.
“It
is devastating, personally,” Lattouf said in an interview, “but I think more so
it’s devastating in the message it sends.”
In
legal filings, the broadcaster denied that Lattouf’s political opinion or race
had anything to do with its decision. It now says that it did not fire her, and
it has called on the Fair Work Commission, a government employment tribunal, to
dismiss the dispute.
The
ABC has also said lobbying played no role in taking her off the air, though the
leaked WhatsApp messages published by local media showed the extent of pressure
directed at management.
In
the group chat, one lawyer wrote that she had told ABC that Lattouf’s
employment “should be terminated immediately,” encouraging other lawyers to
write letters “so they feel there is an actual legal threat.” She added that
she had already threatened to escalate the legal matter, even though “I know
there is probably no actionable offense against the ABC.”
Members
of the group did not respond to requests for comment. In interviews with the
Australian news media, they have not denied that the messages are theirs, while
arguing that there was no coordinated campaign to get Lattouf fired. Some have
since reported being subjected to death threats and abuse.
For
Lattouf, the recourse is clear. She said she is hoping to be reinstated at the
broadcaster after a formal apology.
“I
love the ABC,” she said, “and I plan to get back on it.”
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