Despite making polarizing statements about racism, politics and the Murdoch Press, a number of controversial ABC personalities avoided the same fate as a radio presenter who was removed about a post on Gaza, a court was told.
Antoinette Lattouf was hired as an informal presenter for the mornings show on ABC Radio Sydney for five days in December 2023.
But the 41-year-old was fired in the broadcast after three days after sharing a Human Rights Watchpost on Instagram and said that Israel had used hunger as a 'war of war' in Gaza.
While an unfair dismissal hearing of a federal court continued on Wednesday, the departing ABC director David Anderson admitted that the removal of Lattouf was 'atypical' because she had not had the opportunity to defend her actions.
However, he told Lattouf's lawyer Oshie Fagir that the end result would have been the same because her behavior gave “reason for concern.”
Mr. Anderson received examples of ABC News personalities that make public controversial statements without being fired.
At the Sydney Writers' festival, Chief Political Correspondent Laura Tingle “Australia is a racist country,” a statement that Mr Anderson said was impartial.
“I think it is an impartial statement because it is actually based,” he told the court.
Antoinette Lattouf (center) was removed from the ABC in 2023 after sharing a Human Rights Watch post on Instagram and said that Israel had used starvation as a 'weapon of war' in Gaza
ABC director David Anderson admitted that the removal of Lattouf was 'atypical' because she did not get the chance to defend her actions
Tingle was not punished about the comment, but was advised on later criticism she made from federal opposition leader Peter Dutton.
Mr. Fagir mentioned other ABC personalities that stayed with the public broadcaster, including a former media watch -hostess Paul Barry, who tweeted that Israel killed journalists and the global editor John Lyons, who said the ABC had bent the pressure from foreign lobbyists by Lattouf to fire.
Chairman Kim Williams said individually that the Murdoch press had an unbalanced, loose obsession with the ABC and that Mr Dutton's energy policy was a 'sound bite without detail'.
None of these figures had lost their jobs at the ABC, Mr. Fagir said.
Mr. Anderson said how the ABC reacted dependent on the context.
Earlier on Wednesday, ABC lawyer Ian Neil SC said that his managers' head of Capital City Networks Steve Ahern blamed the placement of the broadcaster in an 'unacceptable position' by not assessing the history of Lattouf before hiring her.
'Dear Ita, we are absolutely in damage control,' e -mailed Mr. Anderson to Chairman Ita Buttrose on December 20.
“Mr Ahern made a negligent judgment of the judgment by hiring Mrs. Lattouf.”
Mr Anderson Defender Chief Political Correspondent Laura Tingle's Claim 'Australia is a racist country' as 'an impartial explanation because it is in fact based'
While the organization established complaints about Lattouf's comments about Israel and Gaza, Mr Neil denied that they have influenced the decision to let her go.
After an investigation, it turned out that she had not violated guidelines and would stay in the air.
That evening Mr. Anderson personally inspected the Instagram feed of Lattouf before he expressed further concerns to another director.
“I think we have an Antoinette issue,” he texted.
“Her socials are full of anti -Semitic hatred.”
He added a screenshot of a message, who said on Monday under cross -sanction that the journalist said he was written as a 'brutal' response to hate mail.
'Hell no, (Israel) should close the ethnic cleaning track that they started and then go to the West Bank. Dead and annexe. Then the same with Lebanon and Jordan, “wrote Lattouf.
A further investigation showed that the 41-year-old still had not violated social media guidelines and an agreement was concluded to keep it in the broadcast.
Lattouf (depicted in White) was hired as an informal presenter for the Mornings show on ABC Radio Sydney for five days in December 2023
Acting editorial director Simon Melkman said that it was 'carefully worthwhile', since Lattouf was pronounced, had strong views on Gaza and 'it would make it a very large and very public issue'.
Although he was dealing with a 'clearly agitated' Mrs Buttrose, Mr Anderson still held the border and kept Lattouf, Mr Neil said.
That is until it was discovered that she had shared the commentary of the Human Rights Watch and ignored the instructions for not posting about Israel and Gaza during her employment at the ABC, the court was told.
The freelance journalist has denied that he has given such direction and claims that she was only released after the ABC was allowed to press pro-Israeli lobbyists.
The hearing will continue on Thursday.
