Former Age editor slams paper’s integrity

Former editor of The Age, Michael Gawenda, has delivered a stinging rebuke of his old newspaper, declaring it has “no heart” and “no intellectual integrity”.

Speaking at an event hosted by Zionism Victoria at Beth Weizmann Community Centre on Thursday night, Gawenda said he could no longer get published in the newspaper he once led.

“I think the Age is terrible, it has got no heart. I think the Age has got no intellectual integrity. I think it’s a really, really bad newspaper,” he told the audience.

Gawenda, who edited The Age from 1997 to 2004, told interviewer Julie Sego that  his deepest disappointment is with the state of journalism more broadly.

“I’m disappointed by the fact that what I thought were accepted ethical principles under which journalists operate, under which I operated the whole of my life… turns out it’s not true,” he said.

“It turns out that most people in journalism nowadays, wherever they’ve come from, believe the role of journalists is to change the world. To [do] social justice, whatever that means.”

The veteran journalist criticised both The Age and the ABC for prioritising opinion over reporting.

“They don’t report. They want to have opinions. They want to tell you what journalism can do,” he said.

“I don’t want to know their opinions. We don’t need their opinions, but we need their reporting.”

Gawenda expressed particular dismay at the Melbourne University journalism centre he established, saying its newsletter recently featured a Palestinian flag and expressed support for journalists who signed letters critical of Israel coverage.

“I’m an old man, but things like that can still absolutely shock me,” he said. “To see that from [a] person that runs a centre for journalism and a journalism course, a Master’s course, the world has gone crazy.”

The former editor voiced deep concern about  the prospects for young Jews seeking careers in journalism.

“Where are they going to get a job? Where are they going to be able to go and say, yes, I’m Jewish. I’m a Zionist. I support Israel.  But are they ever going to get a job? Will they have to hide this sort of stuff?” he asked.
“When I think about that, the world goes a bit dark.”

Gawenda reflected on his own ideological journey, saying he had spent 40 years as a journalist where being Jewish “wasn’t central” to his work, but it had since become so.

He described feeling unwelcome on the political side he had long identified with, a shift that  began before October 7.

Despite his concerns, Gawenda expressed hope that audiences would eventually demand better journalism.

“I think a point will be reached where someone will say, this can’t keep going, how do we change it? I think that will happen.”