August 27, 2003
YOUR ABC, LIKE IT OR NOT
The ABC’s defenders claim that a public broadcaster is required to maintain freedom of speech. Commercial broadcasters, they argue, are constrained by financial issues, and may pull stories to appease advertisers. With no commercial concerns, the ABC is free to fearlessly discuss any issues.
Right?
Wrong. Ask Stephen Crittenden, host of the ABC’s Radio National Religion Report, who’s been stood down -- and could be fired -- because he expressed views to which the ABC objected. The Sydney Morning Herald reports:
Supporters of radio presenter Stephen Crittenden, who has been stood down as the host of Radio National's The Religion Report, have accused ABC management of seeking to suppress religious and cultural debate at the national broadcaster.
Crittenden faces dismissal at the end of the week unless he can convince management to overturn the findings of an internal investigation which found he had engaged in "serious misconduct".
The case involves an article written by Crittenden for the July 19-20 edition of The Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum section, which examined Samuel P. Huntington's contentious 1996 book on growing Islamic unrest, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order.
In his piece, Crittenden wrote that "the Huntington thesis seems to have been remarkably prescient in the light of recent world events". That thesis, summarised in Huntingdon’s words: "The underlying problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilisation whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power." Back to the SMH’s report:
The following week, the ABC's head of national talk radio, Mark Collier, suspended Crittenden, on the grounds the presenter had not secured permission to have the story published.
The Herald understands that Mr Collier had requested to see a copy of the story before granting permission for publication, on the grounds the topic was one of "extreme sensitivities".
Crittenden was waiting for that permission on the day the article was due to go to press, having previously forwarded it to Mr Collier.
Mr Collier and Crittenden were not commenting yesterday. The ABC's head of radio, Sue Howard, was unavailable for comment. The executive producer of religion radio, Florence Spurling, did not return the Herald's calls.
Why, it’s a regular free speech jamboree over at the ABC! Gerard Henderson (from whom the above thesis extract is lifted) rightly asks if the newspaper columns of ABC broadcaster Phillip Adams are subject to similar pre-publication review:
His columns invariably involve controversial criticisms - on sensitive issues - of the Howard Government and to a less frequent extent, the Opposition and its leader, Simon Crean. It would be interesting to note, say, where ABC management stands with regard to the Late Night Live presenter's comparison of the Prime Minister and the al-Qaeda operative David Hicks, and in particular, Adams's suggestion that "a stretch in Guantanamo Bay might be good for the PM".
The old perv apparently isn’t constrained by the same rules that imperil Crittenden. The ABC’s anxiety over Crittenden’s article is especially surprising given that Crittenden has previously discussed Huntingdon’s work on his own program. Perhaps nobody from management was listening.
ABC Watch has more on this, including that as of yesterday Crittenden has been suspended for five weeks without pay.
Five weeks? Why haven’t we heard about this on Media Watch -- broadcast, of course, on the ABC? One assumes they’ve heard about it; an ABC insider told me early yesterday a petition supporting Crittenden had been circulated throughout the corporation. ABC staff are now threatening to strike:
More than 50 ABC staff wrote to managing director Russell Balding yesterday to protest at Crittenden being stood down five weeks ago.
Several high-profile broadcasters - including ABC board member Ramona Koval, Geraldine Doogue, Robin Williams, Norman Swan, Peter Thompson and Chris Masters - signed the letter, saying they found Crittenden's treatment "perplexing and disturbing".
Has Media Watch host and free-speech advocate David Marr signed the letter?
A former religion editor for the ABC, Father Paul Collins, said that when he was a full-time ABC employee he had written opinionated newspaper articles and two controversial books. No one ever questioned him - in fact, he was encouraged.
He has written to Radio National general manager Mark Collier saying that if Crittenden was to be suspended, so should Phillip Adams and Terry Lane, who are high-profile broadcasters and newspaper columnists.
If Media Watch knew about the Crittenden dispute and declined to comment on it, shame on them.
And if they didn’t know about it ... same deal.
Posted by Tim Blair at August 27, 2003 04:31 AM"because he expressed views to which the ABC objected"
Is this correct? I haven't read the original article but it sounds as if he reported the views of someone else to which the ABC objected.
Posted by: Alex Hidell at August 27, 2003 at 11:03 AMAnti-censorship ABC censors its own writers and its staff go on strike.
That's a win-win.
Posted by: ilibcc at August 27, 2003 at 11:27 AMHanson, death penalty, muslim extremists
Apparently there is a lot we shouldn't be talking about according to the left
Posted by: Chris Rice at August 27, 2003 at 11:54 AM"The underlying problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilisation whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power."
Many Aussies would agree.
I'm sure the ABC would have accepted the above statement if "Islam" was repalced with "The United States"
Posted by: Random_Prose at August 27, 2003 at 12:06 PMI'm going to go out on a limb and guess that regular Aussies don't usually open a can of lager and draw up a chair to listen to "The Religion Report".
Still, Mr. Crittenden sounds like the victim of a petty tyrant (Collier), exactly the type of prick that would work in public broadcasting in the US.
Think they'll schedule a music program of stirring patriotic marches and hymns in place of Religion Report?
Posted by: JDB at August 27, 2003 at 12:27 PMOf course, Alex, if the ABC fired Steven Crittenden for reporting the views of somebody else who the ABC didn't agree with, that makes it even worse... it's not just firing somebody for having an opinion, it's firing somebody for associating with a person who has an opinion!
Posted by: TimT at August 27, 2003 at 02:19 PMMeanwhile, Jew-haters have plenty of free speech on the ABC forums.
Dear ABC,
The forum for "Israel's Secret Weapon" has several posts contravening ABC's forum guidelines against racial vilification.
Forum members have claimed that Jews control the media, international finance and various Western governments.
It may be too late to remove the posts, but why were the guidelines contravened? Is racial vilification against Jews not taken as seriously as racial vilification against other ethnicities?
Yours sincerely,
Andrew
=======
Here are some such posts:
***Posts alleging Jews control international finance:***
Post id: 81
Interesting but bound to disappear into the locker of history until Western governments cease judging the worthiness of a campaign by how it will affect trade.
Post id: 136
it seems that the fact that this story has not been censored by the israeli billionaries who run hollywood, the news media and the U.S. government has upset you ... the truth hurts my friend ... deal with it ...
Post id: 364
It is always double standards when the issue comes to Israel since everywhere in the world jews control the main business practices and banks.
Post id: 530
The US will never do anything their "double standards" in Israel, due to the huge amounts of Israeli money that props up the US economy.
Post:
Israel has not only the support of the US. Don't forget MONEY.
Post:
The U.S. only seems to monitor those who can hurt it financially
Post:
The fact is Israel is not an economic entity in its own right and relies on the funds from the US. It has come to the point where the economic interests of the American Jewish community is so powerful that they can weild significant influence over an increasingly corporate American political system
***Posts alleging Jews control various western governments:***
Post id: 136
it seems that the fact that this story has not been censored by the israeli billionaries who run hollywood, the news media and the U.S. government has upset you ... the truth hurts my friend ... deal with it ...
Post:
I agree. It probably was shown very late in order not to offend Israel and the pro-Israel lobby in Australia. The pro-Israel lobby in Australia is very powerful political, and is well-connected to the H**ard Government.
Post:
This only proves that the USA is owned and operated by the jewish movement. Without the help of the USA, isreal could not function. President Kennedy (a Catholic)stood up to them (Isreal), but ever since then, all the presidents have toed the party line in regards to that country. Where are the inspectors looking for the WMSD in Isreal? Maybe in Iraq! HaHa!
Post id: 30
yes I agree ...a very disturbing program....why the hell is Israel so privilged??
***posts claiming Jews control the media***:
Post id: 136
it seems that the fact that this story has not been censored by the israeli billionaries who run hollywood, the news media and the U.S. government has upset you ... the truth hurts my friend ... deal with it ...
Post id: 207
So if Israel is good enough at covering their tracks and stoping any media focus on the "unkown gas". Does that mean it never existed?
If a tree falls in the forrest....
Post:
Why wasn't this shown in prime time? as the Israeli Lobby that wants to stifle free speach and ask how much and what "pressure" was placed on the ABC and by whom - Well done ABC - can I distribute the video?
Posted by: Andjam at August 27, 2003 at 08:06 PMWhile listening to the journo's forum the other evening, I caught some of Margo's views on the ABC. She claimed that the ABC was vital and that it must remain(!) both independent and accountable.
Independent and Accountable happen to be two incompatible qualities.
Posted by: parallel at August 27, 2003 at 10:39 PMI'd love to watch the ABC more but unfortunately the socialist parasites that present such drivel as the "Labour Party 7.30 Sounding Board / Report" make me sick to the core.
Cheers
Posted by: Brad at August 27, 2003 at 11:20 PM"Has Media Watch host and free-speech advocate David Marr signed the letter?"
uh huh:
David Marr along with several members of the Media Watch team voted in support of Stephen Crittenden at a recent staff meeting.
Posted by: adam at September 2, 2003 at 12:50 AM
And there was a segment on last night's "Media Watch" damning the ABC for its action on Crittendon, and raising the very points you mention.
Happy?
Posted by: Geoff at September 2, 2003 at 11:26 AM