ABC staff revolt as Antoinette Lattouf axing fallout deepens

The ABC is facing a staff revolt over the sacking of fill-in radio host Antoinette Lattouf who was fired after she was issued a warning over her Israel-Hamas social media posts.

Around 80 staff members have now demanded a meeting with ABC managing director David Anderson – who is currently on leave – and threatened to stage a walkout.

In a social media post showing dozens of ABC staff together at the broadcaster’s headquarters in Ultimo the media union MEAA said: “MEAA members at the ABC called on managing director David Anderson to urgently meet with staff and address growing concerns about outside interference, culturally unsafe management practices and to stand up for journalism without fear or favour.”

ABC staff are calling for an urgent meeting. Picture: Instagram

The ABC’s Radio National noted on Wednesday it had contacted ABC Chair Ita Buttrose, Mr Anderson and Chief Content Officer Chris Oliver-Taylor to come on the program to discuss the matter.

“All three declined,” the report stated.

A former high profile ABC breakfast presenter Nour Haydar who filled in as a co-host with Michael Rowland has also quit over concerns about the broadcaster’s coverage of the Middle East.

She posted in support of Ms Lattouf on Wednesday who was sacked after re-posting material from the group Human Rights Watch.

Antoinette Lattouf. Picture: Instagram

Former high profile ABC breakfast presenter Nour Haydar (R) who filled in as a co-host with Michael Rowland. Picture: Instagram

“Does this mean all ABC employees can’t share info from Human Rights Watch?” Ms Haydar wrote.

“What if it’s about the treatment of Uyghurs in China or protesters in Iran? Does this rule exist exclusively for findings that are critical of Israel?”

Haydar, a former political reporter in the ABC’s Parliament House bureau, resigned and joined The Guardian as a podcast journalist.

“I have resigned from the ABC. This was not a decision that I made lightly, but one I made with total clarity,” she said.

“Commitment to diversity in the media cannot be skin deep. Culturally diverse staff should be respected and supported even when they challenge the status quo.

“Death and destruction on the scale we have seen over recent months has made me reassess my priorities.

It follows the emergence of leaked WhatsApp messages detailing a group called Lawyers for Israel writing to the ABC to demand Lattouf be sacked – development Ms Haydar was initially unaware of when she decided to resign.

Lattouf was sacked after a warning not to post controversial social media material, according to the national broadcaster — which said claims it was based on her race or political opinions are “without merit.”

In legal documents filed by the ABC in response to her Fair Work claim for unfair dismissal, her expanded claim is described as “fundamentally and entirely misconceived.”

It follows Ms Lattouf sharing a post on her Instagram account by comedian Dan Ilic on Tuesday who wrote: “This saga will end up with Ita (Buttrose) and David Anderson resigning because they forgot what their job was.”

The post was deleted a short time later by Ms Lattouf but remains on Ilic’s Instagram account.

A crowd-funding post asking for donations for her legal fees remains up and has raised $29,000.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson during the Environment and Communications Senate Estimates at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

But in a legal filing, the ABC rejected claims Ms Lattouf was terminated following a direct intervention by the broadcaster’s managing director.

Cassie Derrick, the MEAA media director, urged the ABC to work with staff who are concerned about the treatment of Lattouf and other staff.

“And at the ABC, the management is letting these journalists and the public down. Management needs to work with the staff to ensure that the trust in the ABC can be maintained,” she said.

‘This is our generation of McCarthyism’

Labor frontbencher Ed Husic weighed in on the sacking of Lattouf, warning people should be able to “express their views without feeling their jobs are on the line.”

The cabinet minister, who has previously described Israel’s military action in Gaza as “very disproportionate” and that children “are not Hamas” made the comments at a press conference on Wednesday.

“If it’s peaceful and conforms to what we think is acceptable in a democratic country, they shouldn’t feel their jobs are on the line,” he said.

Mr Husic, the industry minister, has previously stated that Australians should be free to express concerns about the loss of innocent life in Gaza without being “professionally black-listed”.

“This is our generation of McCarthyism which we saw back in the 50s, where people were in targeted believing that they were communist … I don’t think we need to replay that in this day and age,” he said.

SOURCE: NEWS.COM