Antoinette Lattouf has thrown her hat in the ring to be the next presenter of ABC’s Media Watch show, despite the fact that she is currently immersed in unfair dismissal proceedings against the national broadcaster.
Current host Paul Barry announced this week that he will be leaving the show at the end of the year because it was “time to give someone else a chance.”
Lattouf, 40, was taken off the air three days into her week-long stint as a substitute presenter on ABC Radio last December due to controversial Instagram posts she had made.
One post linked to a human rights report that accused the Israelis of “using civilian starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.”
Lattouf subsequently lodged a Fair Work claim, claiming she was dismissed because of her political views and Lebanese heritage.
The ABC claimed that she violated the organization’s social media policy on impartiality and that she was not actually fired because she was paid for the entire week.
Antoinette Lattouf has been unveiled as the new presenter of Media Watch on ABC despite being embroiled in an unfair dismissal battle with the broadcaster
Current presenter Paul Barry will step down from his role after 11 years at the helm of the flagship programme.
But Lattouf won a major victory in her case earlier this month when the Fair Work Commission ruled that she had effectively been sacked by the national broadcaster.
The bitter and protracted legal fight could still end up in Federal Court if scheduled mediation talks between Lattouf and ABC fail next week.
Despite the ongoing saga over her dismissal, Lattouf has suggested that she should be the one to take over flagship show Media Watch after current host and media veteran Barry announced last week that he would be leaving in December after 11 years.
—So, dear aunt, let’s put the dismissal behind us. “I will gladly accept my reinstatement as the new host of Media Watch,” Ms. Lattouf wrote in a tongue-in-cheek article for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Lattouff said that even though the job usually falls to an older man, she felt she was cynical enough to take the reins of one of the toughest jobs in media.
He took to social media platform X, where he surveyed just under 3,200 people about who should be the show’s next host, giving them four options.
Along with herself, she nominated 16-year-old Leo Puglisi, founder of online news website 6 News Australia, veteran columnist and political commentator Gerard Henderson, and hit Australian cartoon character Bluey.
Teenage 6 News founder Leo Puglisi was also approached to host the show to attract younger viewers.
Veteran columnist Gerard Henderson was also suggested in a Twitter poll conducted by Ms Lattouf.
Like the cartoon character Bluey, who he said, ironically, would be a great host to keep the quote in-house and maybe capitalize on some of that show’s popularity.
The journalist said Puglisi would be a smart appointment to attract younger viewers, something ABC desperately needs, while Bluey would do well to keep the “in-house” role at ABC.
Henderson, who already writes the Media Watch Dog column for The Australian, was included to avoid any perception of the ABC’s leftist bias, he said.
Lattouf came out on top with 45 per cent of the vote, well ahead of second place Mr Puglisi with 35 per cent, followed by Bluey Wit with 17 per cent and Mr Henderson with a paltry 2.9 per cent. hundred.
He said he “loved holding the media accountable” and would enjoy the concert.
‘Lately, I have appeared on the show, not as a presenter, but still on the sidelines. Fortunately, he has supported me,” she said.
Puglisi said he was flattered that Lattouf considered him for the job.
“As long as ABC moves the Media Watch start time earlier when it’s a school night, I’d be happy to host,” Mr Puglisi told Daily Mail Australia.
