Julie Posetti
Julie Posetti is an Australian journalist and academic best known as the subject of a threatened lawsuit because of statements she reported via Twitter.
Career
Posetti graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Canberra, then worked as a news reporter and reader for WIN i98 commercial radio in Wollongong in the late 1980s, moving to work as a radio and television journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) where she reported on politics, industrial relations, research and higher education, and social affairs, eventually becoming the ABC's Regional News Editor. During the 1990s, Posetti moved to Sydney as a reporter with ABC TV Documentaries, then worked as a radio reporter for ABC current affairs. In 1997, Posetti was appointed political correspondent for ABC Radio AM, PM and The World Today working in the Canberra Press Gallery.[1] In 2003, she was appointed journalism lecturer at the University of Canberra and is currently researching a doctorate on the Twitterisation of Journalism.
"#Twitdef"
Posetti achieved notoriety as the subject of Australia's first threatened Twitter lawsuit however there has so far been no writ issued.[2] On 25 November 2010 while at the Journalism Education Association of Australia conference in Sydney, Posetti used Twitter to cite part of a presentation by rural reporter Asa Wahlquist, who suggested that the editor in chief of The Australian had been prescriptive about her election coverage of environmental stories. The three tweets that were subject to debate were:
- 'It was absolutely excruciating. It was torture': Asa Wahlquist on fleeing The Australian after being stymied in covering #climate
- Wahlquist: ‘Chris Mitchell (Oz Ed) goes down the Eco-Fascist line’ on #climatechange.’ I left because I just couldn’t do it anymore”
- Wahlquist: ‘In the lead up to the election the Ed in Chief was increasingly telling me what to write.’ It was prescriptive.
The following day, Chris Mitchell, the editor-in-chief of The Australian, stated that he had been defamed by the tweet and was considering suing Posetti for the statements.[3]
By Nov 29, Mitchell's lawyers had sent a letter[4] demanding an apology.[5]
However with a tape recording of the conference proceedings supporting Posetti's side of the story,[6] a lawsuit increasingly seemed unwinnable.
Posetti's employer, the University of Canberra, expressed their support for Posetti and on December 9, Posetti's lawyers replied refusing an apology and inviting Chris Mitchell to attend lectures on journalism at the University of Canberra.[7]
Posetti's supporters also created a Facebook page to support her case.[8]
Journalist Jonathan Holmes pointed out that the case was significant because "It's not every day that the editor of a newspaper threatens to sue a journalist simply for reporting a matter of public interest. To put it mildly, it's a somewhat counter-intuitive action for a newspaperman to take."[2]
References
- ↑ Julie Posetti - Unleashed (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ABC The Drum - Editor's letter makes for a bizarre Posettigate twist
- ↑ The Australian's Chris Mitchell to sue Julie Posetti for defamation | The Australian
- ↑ http://www.justinian.com.au/storage/pdf/mitchellvposetti.pdf
- ↑ Posetti receives letter of demand from Chris Mitchell, and a special invitation | Crikey
- ↑ <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/29/3079695.htm
- ↑ http://www.canberra.edu.au/blogs/vc/files/2010/12/Letter-HWL-Ebsworth1.pdf
- ↑ Niet compatibele browser | Facebook
External links
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