‘Basic principles’ of journalism ignored
Gawenda's memoir My Life as a Jew was launched on October 5 last year and details his journey as a self-described Jew of the left.
Acclaimed Jewish journalist and author Michael Gawenda has revealed he can no longer get published in The Age post-October 7, despite serving as the newspaper’s editor for seven years from 1997-2004.
Gawenda was the guest speaker at the Kristallnacht commemoration hosted by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies in Sydney, where the 800 guests included Holocaust survivors, politicians, communal leaders and vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney Mark Scott.
Gawenda’s memoir My Life as a Jew was launched on October 5 last year and details his journey as a self-described Jew of the left who becomes increasingly alarmed by the growing hostility from the left towards Israel and Jews.
“Most of my career in journalism was at The Age,” Gawenda said in conversation with AJN senior journalist Carly Adno.
“I can’t get published in The Age or in The Sydney Morning Herald, I now get published in The Australian.”
He said he doesn’t believe The Age would ever appoint an editor, “like me again – an editor who supports the State of Israel”, and expressed his deep disappointment in how the conflict in Israel has been covered by many journalists.
“I think journalism has gone away from the basic principles that I thought journalism was about, that I think I lived by as a journalist when I was a writing journalist, and that I lived by when I was editing newspapers – that is, the role of journalists is to be as accurate and fair and open-minded and un-agenda driven as they possibly can be in describing what is going on in the world for their readers and viewers,” said Gawenda.
“It’s not hard to try to overcome whatever prejudices you’ve got to report fairly. I think all of that in the main has been thrown out of the window by most journalists.”
Gawenda said he is appalled that it is now okay for journalists to be “activists” on certain issues.
“Is it any wonder that most people don’t trust what journalists write or broadcast if they are allowed to be activists for a cause without declaring that they are that?” he questioned.
The evening included the remarkable story of 95-year-old Sydney woman Beate Hammet, whose father Alexander Beer was the chief architect of the Berlin Jewish community prior to the Holocaust. Two of his synagogues were set on fire during Kristallnacht in 1938, while Beate was saved as a Kindertransport child. There was also a moving tribute to Holocaust survivor Olga Horak, who passed away in August.
The Kristallnacht commemoration was particularly poignant in light of the shocking scenes in Amsterdam just days before that saw Israeli and Jewish football fans attacked and chased down following Maccabi Tel Aviv’s match against Ajax.
“In a classic manifestation of the pattern of Jewish history, in the aftermath of the Amsterdam pogrom, there has been no shortage of activists trying to explain why the Jewish victims were themselves responsible for the violence inflicted upon them,” said JBD president David Ossip.
“For antisemites, Jews are always inherently guilty and responsible for the evil inflicted on them.
“We have to call this out and repudiate all attempts to legitimise antisemitism, and we can’t forget that 86 years ago, the Kristallnacht pogrom, which we commemorate tonight, was itself explained away and justified as a legitimate response to alleged wrongdoing by Jews. Tonight, we gather together to once again proclaim never again.”
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