A union meeting of ABC journalists has called for the broadcaster’s chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor, to stand down after what they say is his mismanagement of the removal of casual radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf.
Lattouf claims she was sacked from the casual presenting role on Sydney’s Mornings radio program over her political views and her race.
In December she filed a submission to the Fair Work Commission for unlawful termination on the grounds of “political opinion or a reason that included political opinion”.
The motion passed by 75 members of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) on Wednesday expressed outrage at the way Oliver-Taylor and senior executives have “damaged the public’s trust in our capacity to report without fear or favour”.
The ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, declined to comment on the motion because the ABC is defending the matter before the Fair Work Commission, but he backed Oliver-Taylor, the former director of production for Australia & New Zealand for Netflix, who joined the ABC last year. He held senior roles at ABC TV including head of television production before he left for the private sector in 2011.
“The commission has had the benefit of hearing the evidence of all witnesses in its entirety – not just selectively reported comments – and of hearing the legal submissions made by both parties,” Anderson said.
“I have continued confidence in Chris Oliver-Taylor to perform the role of ABC chief content officer. Chris has an outstanding record as a media executive and is widely respected across the media sector.”
The meeting reaffirmed its lack of confidence in Anderson, after a vote of no confidence in the managing director in January.
Lattouf was contracted as a casual presenter for five shifts in December. She maintains she was terminated after three shifts, after she reposted a video from Human Rights Watch on her personal Instagram page that said: “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza”.
The ABC’s case is that Lattouf was not dismissed, but rather was told she would not be required to present the final two shifts of the Mornings program, which she was paid for.
The ABC strongly denied being influenced by lobbyists after revelations of a campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have her dismissed.
“The ABC rejects any claim that it has been influenced by any external pressure, whether it be an advocacy or lobby group, a political party, or commercial entity,” Anderson’s told staff in January.
The MEAA’s media director, Cassie Derrick, said the incident had been mishandled and had damaged the integrity and reputation of the ABC.
“Evidence provided in the Fair Work Commission hearing about the involvement of David Anderson and Chris Oliver-Taylor in her dismissal has further undermined the confidence of staff in the managing director and his senior managers to be able to protect the independence of the ABC from outside criticism,” Derrick said.
“The Lattouf case continues a pattern of ABC journalists lacking support from management when their work is criticised by lobby groups, business organisations and politicians.
Documents before the commission show that Oliver-Taylor asked radio executives to investigate whether Lattouf had breached the ABC’s editorial standards. Anderson asked him to act after the corporation received complaints that her social media activity was biased towards Palestine.
Oliver-Taylor asked: “Can we also advise why we selected Antoinette as stand in host?”
Lattouf has separately sued the ABC in the federal court for allegedly breaching its enterprise agreement.
