Nine newspapers tighten staff impartiality rules after Israel-Hamas open letter
The move to prohibit staff from signing petitions and open letters comes as management and staff prepare to negotiate a fresh pay deal.
Journalists at Nine Entertainment’s metro newspapers will be subject to hardened impartiality rules, after several staff signed an open letter calling on news publishers to improve coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
Management at Nine’s publishing division, which includes The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, told staff in a Slack message on Thursday that the company’s editorial code of conduct would be updated to prohibit staff from signing petitions and open letters. It comes as management and staff prepare to negotiate a fresh pay deal.
The note, seen by Capital Brief, said future signatories to open letters could breach the code and give management a mandate to pull them off relevant coverage to prevent “perceived or actual” conflicts of interest.
“The signing of an industry open letter by some staff led to them being unable to participate in reporting or producing coverage about the war in Israel and Gaza. This will end on May 24 — six months after the decision was implemented,” said the note, which was signed by executive editor Luke McIlveen, Herald editor Bevan Shields, Age editor Patrick Elligett, and national editor David King.
