ABC staff members praised the cancellation of one of their channels watched by “dozens of people” in a now-deleted video posted to TikTok.
Broadcaster Chris Ilsley says we are seeing more and more “activism” from the ABC after journalist Laura Tingle labeled Australia a “racist” country. “Essentially what we have is a Commonwealth public service with transmitters, from what I can see,” Ilsley told Sky News presenter Danica De Giorgio. “We are funding something that allows people to push their own agenda.”
Joyful ABC employees took to TikTok to literally pop some champagne in celebration of ABC TV Plus’ recent cancellation.
“RIP ABC TV Plus. We barely watched you,” a producer captioned a now-deleted video that showed ABC employees cheering on their colleague making the channel’s final announcement.
The producer wrote on the video: “POV: recording the last narration of a deceased TV channel that dozens of people watched.”
The video shows a voice actress jokingly announcing at the booth: “Goodbye ABC… what was your name?”
ABC employees rejoice at the end of the broadcaster’s little-watched channel ABC TV Plus. Photo: TIkTok
An ABC employee joked: “Goodbye, ABC, what was your name” in the deleted video. Photo: TikTok
The cut to ABC TV Plus was announced last month when the national broadcaster revealed plans to launch two new channels: ABC Family – which replaces the previous channel – and ABC Entertains.
The change at the broadcaster comes after a series of dramas widely publicized by the media outlet.
On Monday, the Fair Work Commission found that the ABC fired presenter Antoinette Lattouf after she was taken off air following social media posts relating to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Lattouf claims she was illegally fired after sharing a Human Rights Watch post that said: “HRW reporting on hunger as a tool of war.”
“The Israeli government is using the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza.”
Lattouf beat the ABC after the Fair Work Commission ruled the presenter was fired. Photo: Instagram
Loading embed…
The Australian journalist filed a case with the Commission after she was sent home for the final two days of a five-day stint on ABC Radio’s Sydney Mornings in December last year.
In a ruling published on Monday, the Fair Work Commission concluded that the broadcaster had terminated Ms Lattouf’s employment, opening the door for her to sue the national broadcaster in Federal Court.
Along with Lattouf’s dismissal, the ABC recently faced turmoil when its chief political correspondent, Laura Tingle, called Australia a “racist country” while speaking at the Sydney Writers’ Festival last week.
Tingle controversially called Australia a “racist country” when speaking at the Sydney Writers Festival. Photo: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman
“We are a racist country, let’s face it. We always have been and it’s very depressing,” she said.
Tingle also criticized Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s budget response speech, where he promised to crack down on migration to ease rising house prices.
“(I) had this sudden flash of people turning up to try to rent a property or at an auction and they look a little different – whatever you define as different – (and) that basically (Mr Dutton) gave them license to be abused and in any circumstance where people feel like they are missing out,” she said in reference to the speech.
His comments led to a Senate estimates hearing, where ABC managing director David Anderson echoed ABC News director Justin Stevens’ warning of Ms Tingles’ comments when asked by Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson whether they did not meet to editorial standards.
“I agree with Mr. Stevens’ statement yesterday and agree that if they were on an ABC platform they would not meet our editorial standards,” Anderson said.
#ABC #employees #rejoice #littlewatched #channel #cut