An Australian sports presenter has been sacked after he wrote a stream of "disrespectful" tweets about WWI soldiers on Anzac Day on Saturday.
Australia's public broadcaster SBS fired Scott McIntyre after the station said he breached the social media guidelines of the company. His series of tweets -- sent on the 100th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand troops (Anzacs) landing at Gallipoli during WWI -- spoke of Anzacs committing war crimes.
The cultification of an imperialist invasion of a foreign nation that Australia had no quarrel with is against all ideals of modern society.— Scott McIntyre (@mcintinhos) April 25, 2015
Wonder if the poorly-read, largely white, nationalist drinkers and gamblers pause today to consider the horror that all mankind suffered.— Scott McIntyre (@mcintinhos) April 25, 2015
Remembering the summary execution, widespread rape and theft committed by these ‘brave’ Anzacs in Egypt, Palestine and Japan.— Scott McIntyre (@mcintinhos) April 25, 2015
Not forgetting that the largest single-day terrorist attacks in history were committed by this nation & their allies in Hiroshima & Nagasaki— Scott McIntyre (@mcintinhos) April 25, 2015
Innocent children, on the way to school, murdered. Their shadows seared into the concrete of Hiroshima. pic.twitter.com/DQOGXiKxEb— Scott McIntyre (@mcintinhos) April 25, 2015
SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid and Director of Sport Ken Shipp released a statement on the SBS website on Sunday, stating McIntyre's position has become "untenable" due to his "inappropriate and disrespectful" comments.
"SBS has taken decisive action to terminate Mr McIntyre’s position at SBS, with immediate effect," the company wrote. "SBS apologises for any offence or harm caused by Mr McIntyre’s comments which in no way reflect the views of the network. SBS supports our Anzacs and has devoted unprecedented resources to coverage of the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings."
At an internal meeting on Monday, The Guardian reported McIntyre was in fact only sacked after refusing to delete the inappropriate tweets.
Australia's Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull also became involved in the debacle. He labelled the tweets "despicable" and spoke to SBS management directly. In the face of widespread criticism over a minister getting involved in such an issue, Turnbull released a statement on his website.
Difficult to think of more offensive or inappropriate comments than those by @mcintinhos. Despicable remarks which deserve to be condemned.— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) April 25, 2015
He admitted he spoke to Ebeid, but that the management of SBS was responsible for staffing decisions and not the government. Some believe Turnbull's influence may have played a part in the decision to fire McIntrye and that he is policing the Internet, yet he denies this is the case.
"The comments were so offensive that they deserved the widespread condemnation that they received," Turnbull wrote. "Mr McIntyre, as a private citizen, is entitled to express his political views, but in his capacity as a reporter employed by SBS he has to comply with, and face the consequences of ignoring, the SBS social media protocol, a number of provisions of which were breached by him with his offensive tweets."
One prominent Channel 10 journalist, Hugh Riminton, who is also on the board of a soldier support initiative Soldier On, stood up for McIntyre on Twitter saying there were other options the company could have taken besides firing him.
#ScottMcIntyre's tweets were untimely, immature and in one case offensively wrong. But lest we forget, Our Diggers also died for free speech— Hugh Riminton (@hughriminton) April 26, 2015
Wrong call @michaelebeid. You had options other than sacking him.— Hugh Riminton (@hughriminton) April 26, 2015
Ebeid responded directly to the criticism on Twitter.
@hughriminton Hugh, this has nothing to do with free speech. It's not tenable to remain on air if your audience doesn't respect or trust you— Michael Ebeid (@michaelebeid) April 26, 2015
The situation eventually became a battle between those proclaiming the right of free speech and those disgusted by McIntyre's comments.
The sacking of @mcintinhos is a low point in media independence in Australia. A journalist challenged national psyche only to lose his job.— Dominic Bossi (@DomBossi) April 27, 2015
History is complex. Twitter is not a platform with the space for nuance unfortunately, yet nuance is what history requires. #ScottMcIntyre— Adam Spence (@AdamSpenceAU) April 26, 2015
Absolutely no respect for the land whereby you are able to express your free will and speech. You're a wanker #ScottMcIntyre— Tabbetha Senior (@tabbetha1987) April 26, 2015
Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. Scott McIntyre was deliberately insensitive and had to go. #auspol #sbs— Sean Garman (@SeanSJG) April 26, 2015
@ABCthedrum The trouble with McIntyre's tweets is he does not discriminate btween good & bad soldiers-all are tarred as criminals— Hot Rats (@jarro56) April 27, 2015
@BriggsJamie @SBS so what exactly does #freedomofspeech mean? McIntyre was giving Australians a view of history most don't want to hear!— Julie Library (@julie_library) April 26, 2015
But writer Geoff Lemon, who has researched both wars, put it best. First in a twitter stream, and then in an article for The Guardian. He detailed the reasons that may be behind McIntyre's tweets, the reason for the reaction and the reasons for the fallout.
"McIntyre breached the general public accord: not in saying hateful things about people who might suffer as a consequence, but in how we collectively view ourselves and our past," Lemon wrote.
"As much as I think his comments were factually flawed and deliberately designed to inflame, nothing says that I should then send him messages of rage and hate, or that he doesn’t deserve to have a job that is in no way related to those opinions."
The abuse poured on him is alarming: politicians and shock jocks sensing an easy target, rousing people who have very partial information.— Geoff Lemon (@geofflemon) April 26, 2015
Describing all Anzacs as criminals is as ignorant as describing them all as pure noble heroes. They were individuals, all different.— Geoff Lemon (@geofflemon) April 26, 2015
Having a clearer picture of who we’re commemorating, and why, and what happened to them, would be the most respectful act of remembrance.— Geoff Lemon (@geofflemon) April 27, 2015
He was backed by the host of the ABC’s Media Report program Richard Aedy, who told Mumbrella, the grey area in social media policies for journalists is beginning to cause issues.
"Journalists are now expected to use social media to promote their work, to seek information and to interact with their audiences. It is OK to have opinions, especially about things that don’t really matter, like sport, or reality TV," he told the website.
"I don’t believe he should have lost his job for expressing an opinion that other people find upsetting. If SBS wanted to punish him, there are other avenues."
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance agrees, releasing a statement saying social media policies are beginning to infringe on the private lives of media professionals, dictating what they can and can't say in private.
"MEAA believes that employers must recognise that their employees are entitled to a private life, with their own beliefs and opinions; opinions that should be able to be expressed without heavy-handed retribution by the employer," the organisation wrote.