The ABC squandered trust with its multicultural audience when it sent Antoinette Lattouf packing
The media industry is facing challenges on multiple fronts. Still, whether it involves working with broken business models or the disruption of AI in creating content, there is always hope in the face of an uncertain future if you have the trust of your audience. In the chaos of media distraction and twisted truth, trust is everything.
So it is of great concern if the country's most trusted news outlet squanders this valuable attribute. The federal court ruled that the ABC unlawfully terminated the journalist and Media Diversity Australia co-founder Antoinette Lattouf in December 2023. The evidence gave an unflattering insight into the broadcaster's multilayered management and found that Lattouf had been unfairly fired for her political opinions. But what has shaken trust internally and externally is the impact of an orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists.
Sign up to get Guardian Australia's weekly media diary as a free newsletter
You break trust with the broader community when an interest group can go to the top of an organisation and get its way. Lobbyists skip the process that everyone else must follow. And it hits particularly hard among people who struggle to have their voice heard.
For culturally diverse staff, offering a different perspective based on your insights and experience carries a risk. What should be a healthy process of testing the adequacy of a position can instead be a belittling experience, or you are labelled a threat to impartiality. For many journalists, Lattouf's experience at the ABC is a familiar one of shutting down the person instead of discussing the position. If that wasn't enough, the public broadcaster then pursued a legal argument that Lattouf had to prove the existence of a Lebanese race – a daring journey deeper into the territory of mistrust for a leadership team not following the compass of its company principles. The ABC withdrew the contentious race argument and apologised. Still, staff need to know it was withdrawn because senior leadership knows it is wrong and not just because of the angry response to it. We are weary of the cycle of corporate concern, review and apology, particularly when those involved continue to break new ground of mistrust with employees.
Even more significant for the ABC is the break in trust with a multicultural audience. These communities already feel silenced by a media industry that neither understands nor represents them. Building trust with our communities means nurturing inclusion and calm reasoning around our most contested and controversial news stories. Silencing one side of the story isn't success. Shutting down voices is not 'social cohesion'. But silencing and shutting down were the preferred responses of senior ABC management under pressure from pro-Israel lobbyists. We need a different approach to our most difficult conversations.
When I attended a multicultural community consultation event in Sydney I was surprised by the importance our culturally diverse leaders place on media representation in creating a sense of belonging. Of all the challenges the communities face, the issue of media representation and trust is persistent. They are also concerned about how misinformation and disinformation will affect them, particularly their brilliant and bright young people. They value trusted sources of truth but it is hard to trust Australian media when the reporting of your community doesn't match what you know to be true.
There is now considerable constructive discussion about media literacy and educating multicultural communities about news and credible news sources. But the decline in trust in the media should not be a problem for the marginalised audience to fix. It is the responsibility of news organisations to improve their cultural literacy and be open to adapting their position so both sides are better equipped to lift public discourse, not shut it down.
Sign up to Weekly Beast
Amanda Meade's weekly diary on the latest in Australian media, free every Friday
after newsletter promotion
Paula Kruger is the chief executive of Media Diversity Australia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
14 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Labor is open to fresh options to secure east coast gas supplies. Is it about to make a radical shift?
A sweeping review of domestic gas market regulation will be conducted over the next six months as the federal government attempts to shore up supplies of a fossil fuel it argues is critical to energy affordability, security and the renewables transition. The government has opened the door to establishing a scheme to reserve east coast gas for domestic use – an idea it criticised when Peter Dutton pursued it at the federal election. As the consumer watchdog issues fresh warnings about looming supply shortfalls, the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the federal government would consider 'well-calibrated opportunities to ensure that Australian users get access to Australian gas'. Regulation of the gas market is complicated to say the least. The federal government has three mechanisms designed to ensure sufficient supplies of gas for Australian households, business and industry while allowing gas companies to honour LNG export contracts. The Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism – colloquially known as the 'trigger' – is a Malcolm Turnbull-era tool that allows the commonwealth to restrict LNG exports if domestic shortfalls are forecast. Then there's the code of conduct, which the Albanese government introduced in 2023 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent global gas prices soaring. The code currently sets a $12-a-gigajoule price cap for domestic sales, while offering exemptions to companies that commit to extra supply. Finally, the government has a 'heads of agreement' with major LNG exporters to safeguard domestic supplies. With reviews into two of those mechanisms due this year, the government has now decided to examine all three at once. And it's leaving open the option of making minor tweaks or wholesale changes. The idea of forcing companies to 'reserve' gas for domestic users, rather than allowing the bulk of it to be sold on the lucrative export market, has long been touted as a straightforward solution to prevent local supply shortfalls. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) this week warned of a 'deteriorating outlook' for supplies for the east coast in 2025 and 2026, with shortfalls projected from 2028 unless new supply was brought into the market. Groups such as the Australia Institute argue Australia would have more than enough gas if the largely foreign-owned producers weren't exporting the vast majority of it. Western Australia has had a gas reservation since 2006, which requires offshore gas producers to set aside 15% of their gas for the domestic market. Queensland has its own version, which means gas developed through certain tenements can only be sold and used in Australia. But no such regime is in place across the east coast, with the major political parties historically resistant to the market intervention. That changed ahead of this year's federal election with Dutton promising to create an east coast gas reservation if the Coalition was successful. Under Dutton's plan, which the opposition is yet to either dump or re-adopt, a 'gas security charge' would be used to incentivise LNG exporters to keep more supplies onshore. The proposal sparked alarm inside the gas industry, and was ridiculed by experts and dismissed as unnecessary by Labor, which maintained it had already secured substantially more gas through its code of conduct than Dutton's reserve would. But almost two months on from its thumping election win, Labor has signalled it is open to looking at some form of reservation scheme as part of the new review. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Asked on Monday if producers should prepare for a gas reserve, Bowen noted that 660 petajoules worth of supply had already been locked in via the code of conduct. 'Now, that's not to say there isn't more to do, and [the resources] minister [Madeleine] King and I will look at sensible, holistic, carefully designed, well-calibrated opportunities to ensure that Australian users get access to Australian gas. I think that's reasonable. That's a reasonable request by the Australian people and one that we will continue to work to deliver,' he said. Bowen all but confirmed any reservation scheme would be limited to new projects, a key difference from Dutton's proposal, which would have captured existing supplies except for those already under contract. 'One thing we won't contemplate is ripping up existing contracts, creating sovereign risk, engaging in behaviours which would see Australia as an unreliable supplier. We won't be doing that,' Bowen said. A consultation paper published on Monday outlined potential options to regulate supply that ranged from 'minimal change' to 'fundamental reform'. The 'fundamental reform' option would involve a new framework that required all LNG exports to be approved subject to conditions, including relating to supply and price. Mark Ogge, a principal adviser to the Australia Institute, said a review was unnecessary when the government already had 'all the tools it needs to ensure Australia has a plentiful supply of gas'. 'The government should not allow any uncontracted gas to be exported unless the Australia market is plentifully supplied with low-cost gas,' he said. 'This is a resource that belongs to Australians.' The federal opposition said the review could not be used to avoid or stall immediate action to bring down prices or avert gas shortages, without offering solutions of its own. The Greens said the review must crack down on profiteering by the gas giants. 'Massive gas corporations are exploiting loopholes to make massive profits off Australia's gas,' the Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, said. Australian Energy Producers, the peak body for gas companies, said the review was an 'opportunity to future-proof the east coast gas market and ensure reliable and affordable gas supply for Australian households and manufacturers'. Submissions to the review are open until 15 August. A report will then be handed to Bowen and King to consider the next steps.
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Melbourne childcare worker charged with sex offences; NSW braces for storm; and a basketball player's own goal
Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update. Victorian health authorities are recommending that 1,200 children are tested for infectious diseases after a Melbourne childcare worker was charged with allegedly sexually abusing infants and children in his care. Police on Tuesday confirmed that a Point Cook resident, Joshua Brown, 26, had been charged in May with more than 70 offences relating to eight alleged victims aged between five months and two years old. The infants and children attended a childcare centre in Melbourne's western suburbs and their families were notified last week of the alleged offending. Victoria's premier, Jacinta Allan, said she was 'sickened' by the 'shocking and distressing' allegations. 'My heart just breaks for the families who are living every parent's worst nightmare,' she said. Musk vows to unseat lawmakers who support Trump's one big beautiful bill NSW weather: Sydney and south coast residents warned to 'stay indoors' as vigorous coastal low batters state Popular sunscreens accused of 'greenwashing' by ACCC over 'reef friendly' claims Federal court orders Sydney Muslim cleric to remove 'racist and antisemitic' lectures from social media Brain fade sees basketball player dunk in his own net to trigger double-overtime defeat Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo paired for the first time in blockbuster exhibition at the NGV Intimate stories of birth, a nude winter solstice swim and a Matildas win – Guardian Australia's best pictures from around the country in June. 'I've been respectful of the president. And I must say that he's been respectful of me as well.' Anthony Albanese was on a media blitz this morning to spruik changes coming into effect this financial year but the elephant in the room – Donald Trump – is getting all the focus. Asked whether he should consider telling the US president to 'bugger off' after what many perceived to be a recent snub when their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 was abruptly cancelled, the prime minister insisted on a more diplomatic approach. When the law was announced, critics immediately said it would be used as a weapon to demolish institutional opposition in the city. The disbandment of Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats, an almost 20-year-old opposition party, this week has shown just how comprehensively the law worked. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion In today's culture, responsiveness is a proxy for care. But being in constant rotation has left the speech pathologist, writer and director Miski Omar, tired of the tyranny of being reachable. Today's starter word is: BEN. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply. Enjoying the Afternoon Update? Then you'll love our Morning Mail newsletter. Sign up here to start the day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know, and complete your daily news roundup. And follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland. If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email. If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Albanese's super tax faces major setback amid union alarm
Anthony Albanese's plan to tax Aussies with more than $3million in super has come under fire from the head of Australia's trade union movement. Labor wants to impose a new 15 per cent tax on the unrealised gains, or paper value, of retirement savings above this threshold before assets in a self-managed super fund are sold. This would double the headline rate to 30 per cent when the new tax for those with particularly big super balances was added to an existing 15 per cent tax on earnings during the accumulation phase of super. The government argues only 0.5 per cent of Australians, or 80,000 people have more than $3million in super and says a future government can index it for inflation. But Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus (pictured) said the policy needed to be indexed now to avoid trapping future workers as their super balances increased in coming decades. 'Over time, I do think it's got to be indexed because you've got to make sure eventually people don't end up there,' she told Nine's Today program on Tuesday. 'But that's a very long time in the future. You've got to have $3million in super in a self-managed fund to be affected by it.' Ms McManus has joined former Labor prime minister Paul Keating and a former ACTU chief Bill Kelty in criticising the Albanese Government's Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions bill. Ms McManus argued an 18-year-old tradie would need to be earning $300,000 a year to build up a $3million super balance by retirement, when asked about Keating and Kelty's comments on the super tax plan. 'It does need to be indexed though so I do support what they're saying about that,' she said. 'It will take a long time for your average tradie to be getting $3million when they retire.' But new analysis shows even average-income young workers now would be affected in four decades' time. Wilson Asset Management has done new modelling showing this failure to index the new tax would affect 5.4million Australians, aged 18 to 34, by the time they turned 67 and were able to qualify for the age pension. 'All age cohorts under the age of 35 would be captured by the taxation on unrealised gains by retirement,' it said. The modelling showed Labor's new tax on super balances above $3million, known as tax Division 296, would even affect young Aussies with a zero super balance now. 'Our modelling indicates those aged 27 and under with a zero starting superannuation balance would exceed the unindexed cap before retirement,' it said. 'This has led to some characterising it as a 'stealth tax', one that fundamentally alters the long-term investment incentives within superannuation.' A 19-year-old worker on a $54,088 salary, with zero super, would have $3.491million in retirement savings by 2071. Someone who is 20 now on a $66,768 salary and with just $75,000 in super would $5.197million in superannuation by 2072. Australians who studied longer before starting work would also be affected, with a 27-year-old worker with zero super, on a $90,315 salary now, likely to have $3.098million in super by 2065. A typical income earner, now 34, with $180,000 in superannuation would $3.5million in super by 2058. Keating, whose government introduced compulsory super in 1992, was also scathing of Labor' plan to tax the unrealised gains on super balances above $3million arguing 'every young person joining the workforce this year' would be affected. With Labor and union luminaries slamming the proposed super tax, Albanese declined to comment. 'I'm not commenting on various things that you tell me other people have said,' he told Sky News. Kelty, who served as ACTU secretary from 1983 to 2000, described the idea of taxing unrealised gains on super as 'bad policy'. 'I don't mind taxing people but not unrealised earnings,' he told The Australian last month.
