After its lengthy court grilling of a journalist sacked over a post critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, the ABC is set to explain why her termination was legal and justified.
Antoinette Lattouf, 41, was hired on a casual basis to present the Mornings show on ABC Radio Sydney over five days in December 2023.
She was dismissed three days into her role after sharing a Human Rights Watch post on Instagram saying Israel had used starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.
She has sued the ABC in the Federal Court for unfair dismissal and on Wednesday the public broadcaster’s barrister Ian Neil SC will open on why the ABC was justified in dismissing Lattouf.
It alleges she disobeyed a direct order not to post anything regarding Israel or Gaza during her five-day stint and breached its editorial policies of impartiality.
On Tuesday, the 41-year-old freelance journalist denied she had been given any such direction.
Instead, she said ABC Radio Sydney content director Elizabeth Green had suggested that she keep a low profile online before eventually agreeing that she could post facts from reputable sources.
She mentioned that the ABC and BBC had published articles on the Human Rights Watch report themselves, saying that if it was good enough for both news organisations, it was also good enough for her social media.
She is suing for damages and penalties against the public broadcaster.
Lattouf told the court she had received death threats, been publicly derided by the ABC, and been mischaracterised in the Murdoch press.
Consultant psychiatrist Nigel Strauss gave evidence about how the 41-year-old’s dismissal from the ABC exacerbated her symptoms of previously existing depression and anxiety.
The ABC is expected to call its two top leaders at the time of the sacking – managing director David Anderson and chair Ita Buttrose – in its list of witnesses.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
