Peter Lalor dumped by SEN over Palestine posts
SEN Radio has dumped cricket journalist Peter Lalor midway through the Australia v Sri Lanka test series, after the commentator reposted several news stories about the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Lalor is currently in Sri Lanka, and was covering the Test series as a freelancer for SEN, before CEO Craig Hutchison told him his services were no longer required.
“I was told in one call there were serious organisations making complaints; in another, I was told that this was not the case,” Lalor wrote in a statement.
“Perhaps I misunderstood,” he continued.
“I was told there were accusations I was antisemitic which I strongly objected to. I was told my retweeting was not balanced, and insensitive to one side and that many people had complained.
“I was asked by station boss Craig Hutchison, who was civil, if I didn’t care that my retweeting of events in Gaza made Jewish people in Melbourne feel unsafe. I said I didn’t want anyone to feel unsafe,” he said.
“Of course, I care. I have friends who are frightened and have heard the fear in their voices during conversations. It is an awful situation. But so is Gaza. It was a brief and cordial call.
“The following day Hutchison told me that because the ‘sound of my voice made people feel unsafe’ and that people are ‘triggered by my voice’, I could not cover the cricket for them anymore.”
Hutchison confirmed in a statement that Lalor would no longer be covering the cricket for SEN.
“We’ve been in dialogue through the back half of the Test about some of the commentary on Peter’s private social media feed,” he said.
“Peter and I have a different view of the impact of that in the Australian community. SEN Cricket is a celebration of differences and nationalities and a place where our SEN audience can escape what is an increasingly complex and sometimes triggering world.
“We respect Pete as a journalist and long-time contributor to the game but also acknowledge the fear that many families in our community feel right now, and we also need to respect that.”
The timing of this public departure is curious, given the highly politicised Antoinette Lattouf trial kicked off this week.
The freelance broadcaster is suing the ABC for unlawful termination, after they removed her from air after making social media statements about the conflict, including “Gaza was being annihilated hourly” and pointing to reports that Israel was using “starvation as a tool of war”.
Got a tip?
Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
Linkedin
Have your say