TV Reporter Sacked Over Less-Than-Rosy Tweets About Australia’s War Memorial Day

Anzac day cerimony held in Wollongong, Australia. Photo: Manuel Ribeiro/GV

Anzac day ceremony held in Australia. Photo: Manuel Ribeiro/GV

A sports reporter for Australian public broadcaster SBS has been sacked after using Twitter to criticise Anzac Day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand commemorating Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.

Observed on April 25 each year, Anzac Day was originally to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli (Turkey) against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. This year, the celebrations marked its centenary.

Scott McIntyre published a series of five tweets regarding the day that distressed some readers, blasting some of Australia's actions in WWI and WWII.

Australian Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull described these comments as “inappropriate” and “despicable which deserve to be condemned”:

SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid also disapproved of Mr McIntyre's statements on Twitter:

Scott McIntyre. Photo: Twitter

In a statement issued the following day, he and SBS Sports Director Ken Shipp announced McIntyre had been fired:

Mr McIntyre’s actions have breached the SBS Code of Conduct and social media policy and as a result, SBS has taken decisive action to terminate Mr McIntyre’s position at SBS, with immediate effect.

At SBS, employees on and off air are encouraged to participate in social media, however maintaining the integrity of the network and audience trust is vital. It is unfortunate that on this very important occasion, Mr McIntyre’s comments have compromised both.

The episode sparked a debate on Twitter about freedom of expression.

Some users drew parallels between the criticism of McIntyre's comments and worldwide solidarity for French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, known for its crass and vulgar humour, following an attack on its Paris office that left 12 dead.

Ten News’ Hugh Riminton agreed that McIntyre's tweets were “immature”, but argued that Australian troops have fought for his right to express them:

Riminton believed SBS should have acted differently:

SBS Managing Director replied:

The debate its far from over. It is challenging for an individual to find the boundary between expressing a personal opinion without affecting the reputation of an employer.

Academic Julie Posetti is currently writing her PhD dissertation on ‘The Twitterisation of Journalism’ at the University of Wollongong. In 2012, Julie wrote an article entitled “Journalists, Twitter Gaffes and Freedom of Expression” where she argued that it is increasingly difficult for journalists to claim that their personal Twitter accounts “are not the views of my employer.” At the same time, it is growing harder for employers to apply standards of conduct onto journalists when the latter are commenting on personal social media accounts.

The same matter is also being discussed in other countries around the world. In Europe, Portuguese journalists have recently faced pressure from news outlets trying to enforce a code of conduct, specifically when using their private social media accounts. University of Porto journalism lecturer and researcher Suzana Cavaco believes this is a matter of self-regulation, in which the journalist should take into consideration individual ethics in determining if what he or she is about to say is moral.

McIntyre hasn't publicly responded to his termination nor to the Twitter campaign #sackScottMcIntyre.

In the meantime, Australian journalists union Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) challenged the fairness of McIntyre´s dismissal in a statement issued today:

[…] media employees are being required to use social media platforms to promote their work and those accounts are then being used as a marketing tool benefiting media employers. The policies have begun to infringe on the private lives of media professionals, dictating what they can and can’t say in a private capacity, outside of their work.

MEAA believes that employers must recognize that their employees are entitled to a private life, with their own beliefs and opinions; opinions that should be able to be expressed without heavy-handed retribution by the employer.

Striking a balance between engaging in debate and freedom of expression requires social media policies to be nuanced. What MEAA is finding is that social media policies of employers are inflexible and deny staff the right to have and express a personal opinion.

Not all Australians took issue with McIntyre's tweets:

And some considered the TV network's actions shameful:

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