GetUp’s Carla McGrath declines request to resign from Press Council
After a “boycott” by The Australian and the resignation of chairman David Weisbrot, the Australian Press Council has asked member and GetUp activist Carla McGrath to resign.
The Press Council, which completed a review of potential conflicts of interests at its quarterly meeting, concluded McGrath’s external position as deputy chair of GetUp was “incompatible” with her role on the Council.
McGrath has hit back, arguing resignation prior to her three year tenure was ‘not necessary’.
McGrath was appointed to the Council nearly a year ago, as part of the APC’s efforts to “better reflect the Australian community”.
At the time former chairman, David Weisbrot, said she had “shone through the selection process”. McGrath had an extensive background in advocacy, working across organisations including BlakDance, Shared Path Corporation and the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.
However one of her biggest advocacy roles was with GetUp, a left-leaning political activist group.
Just one week after her appointment, The Australian pointed to McGrath’s involvement in raising funds to campaign against News Corp Australia’s publications and noted she had made fun of the major newspapers’ election coverage.
At the time, Paul Whittaker, editor in chief at The Australian, said the APC’s decision to appoint McGrath made a “mockery” of its role as an independent adjudicator.
“The Australian will not accept any adjudication finding that the GetUp deputy chair has participated in, as we have a reasonable apprehension of bias given the organisation’s strident political activism, including its campaigns against News Corp publications,” he said.
The boycott wasn’t a first for The Australian against the APC.
In 2015, former editor-in-chief, Chris Mitchell, vowed to remove his newspaper from what he described as the “activism” of The Australian Press Council, urging publishers to “reconstruct” the online and print watchdog.
But the boycott was the least of it. After weeks of coverage against the APC and McGrath, chairman Weisbrot resigned, citing ‘personal attacks’ and ‘misinformation’ following McGrath’s appointment.
Yesterday, chairman Neville Stevens said the Press Council had noted GetUp’s public position.
“The Council considered that the nature and extent of these activities result in a conflict between Carla McGrath’s interest as Deputy Chair of GetUp and her duties as a public member of the Council which is irreconcilable and likely to continue. This will inevitably give rise to the perception of a lack of independence of the Council itself,” Stevens said.
The Council will now take appropriate steps to remove McGrath in accordance with the Constitution. It should be completed by August.
But it added it would remain committed to increasing diversity among its public members and adjudication panel.
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The press lost all credibility years ago. No one believes a word they say anymore. It’s all agenda driven rubbish.
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Getup is “left leaning”. There is an under statement
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Mitchell and Whittaker and other sock puppets in the Australian and the daily telegraph etc love to go on about freedom of speech. They bang on endless about bullying and so on.
Then when someone with no resources happens to get a gig with the completely toothless so called media watchdog they behave though Khomeini was made Pope.
These blokes are wimps and losers.
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#Mansplaining is the new #WhiteOnRice✌
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What a mealy-mouthed lot the Press Council are. Independent? Not likely. It is clear that when the going gets tough the APC just buckles under pressure from its big publisher members. The pressure to get Carly McGrath to resign is a prime example of this naked bullying. And coming from an organization that should have a plurality of views on the issues it is supposed to address it is a clear that the Council is confused about its role. The public has always had difficulty with the credibility of the APC, just as readers are abandoning the printed and broadcast products of its members.
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About time, if she wasnt an aboriginal woman would she have lasted this long? we don’t think so. The press council needs to be independant or whats the point?
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Oh let her stay, but only if the Press Council allows Pauline Hanson to be Chairperson. and extend the Press Council brief to TV too, as the 7/9/10/ABC/SBS watchdog. The ABC budget spent on Media Watch can then be eliminated, and then allocated to this expanded remit.
That’s balance.
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Getup left-leaning? Gimme a break! If it was any further left it would fall over. That’s almost as good as saying that the Press Council has a role to play.
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I agree. News Corp surely has been around long enough, should be thick skinned enough and has certainly argued the right of its journalists and satirists to say what they think enough, to have more grace and extend their arguments of freedom of speech to others, even if it is about them. There are parallels with Get up, as a good deal of News Corps’ profits really lie in their positioning and the power to transform public opinion. So she probably had a valid point. Saying there is a conflict of interest is the pot calling the kettle black.
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Rrrosco wins in the comments.
McGrath should be sacked and then refuse to leave. They should then hold many meetings amongst themselves and McGrath until they find they still don’t know what to do. The navel gazers that interviewed and approved the appointment of McGrath should then be sacked and refuse to leave and when all of them have run out of feet to shoot they should lock themselves in a room (including McGrath) and continue the debate about freedom and agendas. At least this might keep them all out of circulation and out of harms way.
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