Aussie journalist and founder of Media Diversity Australia Antoinette Lattouf is “considering” her legal options after she was fired from an ABC radio hosting gig over social media posts about Palestine.
The award-winning reporter and TV presenter took to social media on Wednesday to express her frustration at the ABC’s decision to allegedly “unlawfully” terminate her contract.
“I am very disappointed by the ABC’s decision today,” she wrote on Wednesday.
“I believe I was terminated unlawfully. This is not a win for journalism or critical, fair thinking. I’m currently considering my legal options.”
Lattouf was filling in for ABC Sydney Mornings host Sarah Macdonald when she was fired on Wednesday afternoon.
Lattouf has been outspoken on social media about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Two of the posts she shared on Instagram in the 24 hours prior to being fired were from the Human Rights Watch and UNICEF.
The first was a repost of a video from Human Rights Watch which said the Israeli government was using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza. Lattouf captioned the Story: “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war.”
The second post was sharing the news from UNICEF that Dina Abu Mohsen, a Palestinian girl, had reportedly been killed by an Israeli air strike. Lattouf accompanied the share with a broken heart emoji.
The ABC has a strict social media policy, which includes instructions not to “damage the ABC’s reputation for impartiality and independence.”
“ABC Sydney casual presenter Antoinette Lattouf will not be back on air for her remaining two shifts this week,” an ABC spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
At least 20,000 people have been killed in Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, according to Al Jazeera, the majority of which have been women and children.
Australia recently joined calls for a ceasefire, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning “the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza, any reduction in territory, and any use of siege or blockade.”
Who is Antoinette Lattouf?
Antoinette Lattouf is an Australian journalist of Lebanese background and is a well-known advocate for women and people of diverse backgrounds. In 2017, Lattouf founded Media Diversity Australia (MDA), a not-for-profit organisation which seeks to increase cultural diversity in Australian media.
In 2019, she was listed in Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, and in 2021, she was awarded a Women’s Agenda Leadership Award and B&T Women in Media Champion of Change.
The Australian reported that ABC chair Ita Buttrose received complaints concerning Lattouf’s social media posts about Israel’s human rights abuses of Gazans in Palestine.
Lattouf wrote an article for Crikey where she noted footage purporting to show people chanting “gas the Jews” at a Sydney protest was unable to be verified by both police and independent fact-checkers.
The day before Lattouf was fired, she was quoted in Women’s Agenda talking about being targeted and bullied by tabloid media because of her reporting on Palestine (The Herald Sun called her a “useful idiot for jihadists” in an article).
“It seems like an orchestrated attempt to bully critical thinking and fact-checking out of the craft of journalism,” she told the publication.
“Nowhere is this more obvious than around reporting of and discussion of Gaza. I will continue to report and comment without fear or favour, especially when so many innocent lives are at stake and there’s so much hate and division in Australia.”
Lattouf’s latest project is launching The Antoinettes podcast, with fellow Antoinette and poet Azure Antoinette. The podcast’s tagline is, fittingly, “Welcome to the shit show”, and it’ll drop on streaming platforms in 2024.
How has the public reacted to ABC’s decision?
Supporters of Lattouf have aired their outrage and concern regarding her termination, with some suggesting the move will have a negative impact on fearless and truthful journalism.
Greens deputy leader and senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi posted a statement to Instagram which called the firing of Lattouf “dangerous for democracy”.
“I’m really appalled by the sacking of Antoinette Lattouf by the ABC,” she wrote.
“The silencing of people across the board speaking out against the war on Palestinians is wrong, highlights flagrant double standards and is dangerous for democracy.
“Seeking and telling the truth should be applauded and encouraged, not punished.”
Sara M. Saleh, an author, poet, activist and human rights lawyer of Lebanese, Egyptian and Palestinian heritage, also expressed that she felt journalists were punished for supporting Palestine, but allowed to sympathise with Israel.
“Not one single person who has taken an Israeli government propaganda tour has been been slapped on the wrist, let alone sacked — yet Antoinette Lattouf is let go for reposting a global human rights organisation?” she questioned.
Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist Amy McQuire slammed the ABC and defended Lattouf as “only speaking the truth”.
“The ABC has failed in absolutely every way in reporting on Palestine. How shameful to sack [Lattouf] for speaking truth!” she wrote.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to the ABC for comment.
The post Here’s The ‘Pro-Palestine’ IG Posts Antoinette Lattouf Shared 24 Hours Before The ABC Fired Her appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
