From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christian Amio. It's Wednesday, February five. Joe Halen resigned from her position as new South Wales Transport Minister after days of controversy surrounding her use of taxpayer funded car services for personal travel.
As I said on Sunday, I've made some mistakes. I did not break the rules, but I acknowledge that that's not the only test here.
The government has banned deep seak on its systems and devices on national security grounds. An assessment by intelligence officials found the Chinese Generative AI platform poses an unacceptable risk. You can read those stories right now at the Australian dot com dot au. Freelance journalist Antoinette Latouffe broke down in court on Tuesday as she reflected on her sacking by the ABC over a social media post they say
breached their editorial standards. That's today's episode. In late twenty twenty three, the ABC's managing director, David Anderson, scrolled through the social media profiles of a presenter filling in on the broadcaster's Sydney Morning radio program. He picked up his phone and texted a colleague David Anderson's words are being read by a voice actor.
I think we have an Antonette issue. Her socials are full of anti Semitic hatred.
That issue was resolved quickly. Antoinette Latoufe was sacked three days into her week long contract, and on Wednesday David Anderson will enter the witness box in the Federal Court in Sydney to explain the public broadcaster's actions. Lebanese Australian jour Antoinette Latouf is now suing the ABC in a case that goes to the far Antoinette Latouf was taken off the air at the ABC local radio branch in
late twenty twenty three. The ABC said her social media posts about the Israel Garza war, posted during that radio engagement were in breach of their editorial policy. On December nineteen, Latouf shared an Instagram post by Human Rights Watch to her personal profile. That post is being read by a voice actor.
Human Rights Watch reporting starvation as a tool of war.
The ABC says Latouf was let go because of that post, but it says she wasn't technically sacked because they paid her for the full five days. But in June, the Fair Work Commission found in favor of Latouf. The Commission's deputy president, Jared Boyce, said the employment relationship between Latouf and the ABC was terminated at the ABC's in un initiative. Later in June, Latoufe sued. Miss Latoof said the mediation had been unsuccessful, and she vowed to fight on and
take the case to trial through the federal court. As the proceedings got underway on Monday, correspondence between former ABC chair Oute Buttero's and managing director David Anderson were read in court. The emails showed Buttros had pushed for the fill in radio host to be taken off air following complaints about her social media posts by a pro Israel group. That correspondence is being read by voice actors.
Has Antoinette been replaced? I'm over getting emails about her.
Antoinette will finish up on Friday. It's a managed exit given the situation. I can explain more tomorrow. Plan to respond to all those who have emailed on Friday afternoon.
Why can't she come down with flu or covid or a stomach upset? We owe her nothing. We're copying criticism because she wasn't honest when she was appointed managed exit. Really we should be in damage control, not managed exit, s David.
The names of nine people who complained about Latouf's social media activity were suppressed by a federal court judge for ten years on Monday, following a surprise application by barrister Sukrasanthu SC and solicitor Rebecca Giles. The judge said those people could be vilified and harassed if their identities were
made public. Antoinette, Latouf's barrister, Ogi Fagear, said his client had been targeted because of her personal views, not her professional conduct, and said Buttros and Anderson had acquiesced to complaints made by the Pro Israel group.
So far as the evidence goes, they did not at any stage involve any human resources adviser, They did not at any point seek legal advice, and we will say they completely and utterly ignored the provisions of their enterprise agreement and their own dealing with these issues.
James, what is this actually about? Is this case a question of journalistic ethics or of the ABC's human resource management, or is it something else altogether?
I think certainly journalism ethics have become part of this hearing, although I think when you strip it back, it's still essentially a tale about management or mismanagement of a staff's employment and their employment conditions.
James Madden is The Australian's Media editor.
At its heart, the question is did Antoinette Latouf breach the conditions of her employment by posting to social media something that the ABC considered was inappropriate. Latouf said parameters were established between her and the content director of the station, Elizabeth Green, but at no time was the world word fair and balanced used in relation to any social media
postings that she may or may not choose to put online. Obviously, their case rests on whether latoof breached her employment conditions, although it remains contentious as to what they actually were. Latouf's argument about the HIW post in which it was claimed that Israeli was using starvation as a tool of war certainly has some merit, if only because the ABC itself had already highlighted that claim by the HIW in
one of its earlier news reports. So for the ABC to win this unlawful termination case, it has to essentially concede that it was wrong to run a story about that post earlier in the week.
Coming up Antoinete Latouf's side of the story in her own words. Antoinette Latouf spent two days in the witness box of court Room sixteen A at Sydney's Federal Law Courts. Under cross examination by the ABC's silk Ian Neil sc Latouf conceded her posts were controversial, but maintained they were based on facts from reputable sources. A voice actor is reading her words from court.
I don't share facts worrying if somebody might think it's controversial.
When she was quizzed by Neil on posts she made earlier in twenty twenty three before her casual gig with ABC Local Radio began, Latouf doubled down. Latouf admitted she had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya, who the most far right extremist in the nation's history, in those earlier posts, and claimed and Israel had perpetuated.
The worst humanitarian crisis and violence against children in modern times. As journalists, we don't operate on the basis of how people may feel. When I share facts based on reputable sources, I don't deem them controversial. If people don't accept these facts, they can you can describe it however you like, but I don't accept that premise.
The court heard. The ABC's content director, Elizabeth Green, asked Latouf to tone down her social media activity from the beginning of her five day fill instint on ABC Sydney Mornings.
I challenged it, Yes, I did, respectfully.
In her affidavit, Latouf said the pair came to an agreement that she would only share social media posts containing completely factual information from reputable sources.
No conjecture, no misinformation, just sharing information from reputable sources.
Latouf said she believed the Human Rights Watch post that old timately led to her dismissal fell within the terms of that agreement.
I had already seen it reported on the ABC and the BBC. It was newsworthy. I decided if it was good enough for the ABC and the BBC to post, it was good enough for my social media.
Latouf agreed. When asked by ian Neil if the ABC and the BBC had a responsibility to report that information. She also conceded her engagement by the ABC didn't carry the same requirement.
I was paid to be on a kind of lifestyle magazine program.
On her way out of the building on December twenty Latouf said she bumped into Elizabeth Green, who relayed through tears, according to Latouf, that she'd been let go because the post wasn't fair or balanced, but Latouf contends that was never part of the agreement and asked.
Green, how do you balance starvation?
Antoinette Latouf became visibly upset at times during her cross examination by ian Neel, especially when discussing the period following her departure from the ABC.
I was like, was I being followed or did I like, was that a coincidence? I couldn't. I don't know, and I started to just question inspiral because I couldn't definitively say whether I felt like I was being followed, and I was terrified. I've never been scared to be out in public the way I have been.
Latoof said her dismissal caused her to drink heavily, sometimes until she passed out. She said the characterization of her as insubordinate had rendered her unemployable. Asked if she characterized herself as a poster girl for humanity and a free press, Latoof said she was trying to clear her name as a journalist.
I think my memory is I posted a video of me really emotional, saying I never wanted to be I never wanted to be this. I just wanted to be able to do my job and exist safely. I didn't come out to be this per like I just I was on air talking about cats and Christmas pudding. I didn't want any of this. I have values, but I didn't want to be the face of this. When this comes at such.
A cost, James, this legal action has come at the end of a pretty rocky road for the ABC. It's also happening at a time when media organizations are trying to balance the personal profiles and platforms of their journalists, particularly on social media, which they themselves fostered in the early days of social media, with their obligations to fare reporting. What, if anything, is there to be learned from this situation?
Do you think?
I don't think any media or organization has quite got its head around the way its employees and its journalists should use social media. In many ways, this is a great test case of an organization's editorial policy versus its social media policy, and that point was actually highlighted in
court on Tuesday. News organizations like to think they can and should have great oversight of what its journalists post on social media, but the reality is sometimes personal views collide with the views of a news organization's idea of
what is appropriate in a journalistic sense. Many news editors will tell you that, despite the initial rush to encourage their staff to get on social media and promote news brands on their personal accounts, life might be a lot easier for news editors if their staff steered clear of posting any political content at all on social media.
James Madden is The Australian's Media editor. ABC Managing director David Anderson will enter the witness box today and former chair out of Buttero's It's expected to give evidence later in the week. The case returns to the Federal Court on Wednesday. You can read all our teams reporting and analysis right now at The Australian dot com dot au