Scott McIntyre (journalist)

Scott McIntyre is an Australian football commentator formerly employed by SBS. He joined SBS in 2003, and was a sports reporter from 2008 to 2015. He was a presenter of the SBS soccer program The World Game. He has also written for The Guardian.[1]

On Anzac Day 2015 he made five tweets criticising atrocities committed by Australian soldiers, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the celebration of Anzac Day.[2] He was criticised by the then-communications minister Malcolm Turnbull over Twitter. Minister Turnbull also had a late-night phone call with Michael Ebeid, the managing director of SBS. The next morning McIntyre was sacked. Mr Turnbull denied having any influence over the sacking.[3]

After this McIntyre retained the law firm Maurice Blackburn, who worked pro bono,[4] and took legal action against SBS under the Fair Work Act 2009 for unfair dismissal alleging that proper procedure had not been followed. The Fair Work Commission ruled that his unfair dismissal case could go ahead.[5] SBS claimed that he had been sacked not for exercising his free speech but for violating the SBS code of conduct and social media guidelines.[6] SBS settled the case out of court shortly before a three-day hearing in the New South Wales Federal Court was to have started.[7]

On Anzac Day 2016 McIntyre again made several tweets regarding past Australian war crimes, such as the Surafend affair and an excerpt from Time of Fallen Blossoms by Allan Clifton describing a gang rape by Australian soldiers of a Japanese girl in Hiroshima during the Occupation of Japan. The tweets again attracted considerable media attention.[8][9][10]

References

  1. ↑ The Guardian - Scot McIntyre Retrieved April 30, 2016
  2. ↑ Whitbourne, Michaela SBS presenter Scott McIntyre sacked over 'inappropriate' Anzac Day tweets 26 April 2015 Sydney Morning Herald
  3. ↑ Malcolm Turnbull denies influence on SBS sacking of Scott McIntyre over Anzac tweets 27 April 2015 Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 29 April 2016
  4. ↑ Lawyer blasts ‘hypocrites’ as Scott McIntyre settles his unfair dismissal case with SBS 11 April 2016 News.com.au Retrieved April 29, 2016
  5. ↑ Mannheim, Markus Ex-SBS journalist Scott McIntyre free to challenge Anzac Day Twitter sacking 2 October 2015 Canberra Times]] Retrieved 29 April 2016
  6. ↑ Hall, Louise Scott McIntyre not sacked for controversial Anzac Day opinion: SBS 17 December 2015 Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 29 April 2016
  7. ↑ Visentin, Lisa Sacked reporter Scott McIntyre and SBS resolve dispute over Anzac Day tweets April 11, 2016
  8. ↑ Aubusson, Kate Scott McIntyre again tweets contentious Anzac Day comments 29 April 2016 Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 29 April 2016
  9. ↑ Davidson, Helen Former SBS reporter Scott McIntyre repeats Anzac Day accusations on Twitter 25 April 2016 Guardian Australia Retrieved April 29, 2016
  10. ↑ Piotrowski, Daniel 'Pack-rape, murder and pillaging': Former SBS reporter sacked for 'offensive' tweets about Australian soldiers launches new attack on Anzac legend 25 April 2016 Daily Mail Retrieved 29 April 2016
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.