The chair of the Australian Press Council, Prof David Weisbrot, has resigned because of what he says are “persistent personal attacks” about the appointment to the council of GetUp deputy chair Carla McGrath.
The Australian has published more than a dozen articles this month arguing that McGrath is unsuitable because Get Up is an activist organisation and “effectively another wing of the Labor party and the Greens”.
Weisbrot, who has been in the job two and a half years, said there had been a campaign of “misinformation” about the appointment of McGrath, an Indigenous woman, and that her appointment as a public member was made after a “fair and open process” and a convincing vote by the full council.
“My heart is simply no longer in the job, and it’s a difficult enough job at the best of times,” Weisbrot said on Wednesday night.
“For the record, the basis of these attacks is thoroughly misconceived, suggesting that the appointment of a public member to the council is within the gift of the chair, and that I have the authority unilaterally to ‘rescind’ that appointment.
“In fact, the whole appointment process was carried out with careful attention to good process and the requirements set down by the council’s constitution.”
McGrath is one of 26 members, comprising Weisbrot and 10 public members and 11 nominees of media organisations and four independent journalist members.
An adjudication panel, which decides whether a publisher is in breach of standards usually comprises of the chair, two public members and two independent journalists. Publishers never sit on panels.
In any given year, a public member could expect to be asked to sit on only one or two adjudication panels, in the absence of any conflicts of interest, and McGrath would not be asked to sit on one for at least six months.
The vice-chairs of the Australian Press Council John Doyle and Julie Kinross expressed their “deep regret” at Weisbrot’s decision and said the council would be “the poorer for the loss of his leadership”.
The vice-chairs said they had made concerted efforts to convince Weisbrot, an emeritus professor of law and honorary professor of medicine at the University of Sydney as well as a part-time commissioner of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission, to stay.
Doyle and Kinross said Weisbort had achieved a great deal on the council including re-energising its role as a strong public advocate for free speech, adding Indigenous and multicultural publications as members and introducing new guidelines on reporting family violence.
Weisbrot replaced Prof Julian Disney after a tumultuous term which saw News Corp in general and the Australian in particular regularly attack the decisions of the press council under Disney, who they called “censor-in-chief”.
Except for the past month, Weisbrot’s term has been marked by a period of stability and relative support from News Corp.
