GetUp’s Carla McGrath removed from Press Council
Carla McGrath has been removed as a member of the Australian Press Council due to her deputy chair position at activist group GetUp.
Indigenous member McGrath was appointed to the Press Council in May last year to “better reflect the Australian community”.
McGrath was appointed to the council in May last year
One month after her appointment The Australian said it would boycott all decisions and adjudications of complaints in which McGrath was involved in.
Meanwhile in May earlier this year, McGrath declined the Press Council’s request for her to resign.
The Australian Press Council said McGrath had to be removed as a member because her position at GetUp created an “ongoing and irreconcilable conflict of interest with her role”.
“I believe this is the best outcome in a very difficult situation.
“Carla McGrath, as a respected member of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, would have brought an important perspective to the work of the Council. While the Council is committed to increasing diversity among its members, there is an overriding need for it to be independent and to be seen to be independent,” said chair Neville Stevens, in a statement.
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What does the Press Council really do? Is it just a front for the media barons? Is not a diversity of views on the Council a good thing? If it gangs up on people, as it appears to have done in this case, can it really be taken seriously and respected?
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Great move and a long time coming!
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One can smell Rupert’s stink all over this.
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Proof positive of the intolerance by the major news media of anyone to the left of being moderately right-wing.
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Yeah remove the indigenous Australian’s voice from public discourse because that has worked out so well in the past.
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That wouldn’t be Andrew ‘Bolt’ would it?
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How can people expect to be taken seriously when they are so politically involved on a council that is supposed to be unbiased.
Oh but of course it was Rupert’s fault Carla McGrath was stood down.
Nothing to do with common sense at all.
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News Corp isn’t much different to Get Up in its active campaigning for the Right side of politics, so can they get rid of any News Corp members?
Or is having an Indigenous woman on the Council just too much diversity for some (look at the list of past Chairmans)
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Get real you guys. Get Up is a political organisation. If she resigns from that she could be accepted as a representative of her race rather than a antisocial radical.
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Given the actions of the News Ltd. stable of commentators over the past couple of weeks one would argue that they should also be removed as being political activists no?
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For those interested in such things (and the calls that the body is ‘independent’) the current member list – including Carla McGrath – are:
(from https://www.presscouncil.org.au/who-we-are/)
Chair of the Council
Neville Stevens AO
Public Members
Hon John Doyle AC (Vice-Chair)
Julie Kinross (Vice-Chair)
John Bedwell
Jennifer Elliott
Dr Felicity-ann Lewis
Dr Suzanne Martin
Carla McGrath
Andrew Podger AO
Robyne Schwarz AM
Zione Walker-Nthenda
Industry Nominee Members
Tony Gillies (Australian Associated Press)
Chris Graham (Representing smaller publishers)
Peter Holder (Daily Mail Australia)
Simon King (nine.com.au)
Paul Merrill (Bauer Media Group)
Andrew Porter (Fairfax Media)
Matthew Ricketson (Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance)
Glenn Stanaway (News Corp Australia)
Bob Yeates (Country Press Australia)
Vacant (Community Newspapers Australia)
Vacant (HT&E, formerly APN News and Media)
Independent Journalist Members
Anna Reynolds
Mike Steketee
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Stinks of the rightwhingers again. The press council is a joke and news media in Australia is out of control. It’s a disgrace that a poisonous American can rule our news service. Our government should be ashamed for letting him .
Regards the better John.
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It’s their loss; Carla is of the highest integrity
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Such a relief that none of the other council members have any political affiliations…
Stevens’ quote is also an inadvertent foot-in-mouth moment: ‘…there is an overriding need for it to be independent and to be seen to be independent.’
So actually being independent and being ‘seen to be’ independent are two different things?
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*in which she was involved.
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One voice in 24. What a fearless bunch our MSM is!
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Neville Stevens said there’s an overriding need for the Press Council to be independent and to be seen as independent. How is it then that so many of us don’t feel it is? Aren’t freedom of the press and democracy priorities for the Press Council? Paramount issues that GetUp is fighting for and things we all now need to fight for given the corruption and lies being tended by our so-called leaders in government and business! Looking at the functions of the Press Council, broad and differing views are more likely to improve their outcomes. Unfortunately, it appears this is yet another organisation displaying bad behaviour, and muzzling anyone with an alternate view, as led by the government.
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The evil tentacle of extreme left has been severed. Long over due.
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Why was it a ‘great move’? What had she done wrong? Had she shown bias?
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full spectrum dominance,…
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