We’ve often marvelled at how erroneous pieces of journalism could ever possibly have been published, and yet here we are.
As columnists, journalists and editors, our mistakes can have momentous consequences for individual people. It is never okay to forget that, but especially so when covering issues of allegations of sexual assault, or any issue that concerns vulnerable people.
The piece written by Guy Rundle last Friday, which did not meet Crikey’s journalistic standards, should not have been published. As editors, we take full responsibility for publishing the piece. Our editorial processes failed. We are in the process of addressing that.
Rundle’s writing can challenge people to think differently, surprise and provide in-depth context — all the kind of coverage Crikey aspires to. But this piece didn’t do any of those things. There is a line, and this crossed that. Crikey does not seek to cause harm. This caused harm.
Private Media’s conversations with Rundle are ongoing. Rundle states that he stands by the argument made in the article and the article’s overall approach to the matter.
Opinion pieces can sometimes be dismissed as just that, one person’s opinion. But they don’t exist in a vacuum. Publishing a piece like that has a knock-on effect: on Friday the excellent work of our journalists and contributors was undermined and overshadowed by the understandable reaction to this column.
We are reworking our work flow and will add an extra set of guardrails when it comes to approval processes. We are also in the middle of reforming our commissioning and editing processes. This is in the context of a small newsroom that publishes mainly across the morning and sometimes across the afternoon.
We are also creating a more explicit set of guiding editorial principles for opinion pieces, which we will then share with readers and contributors. We continue to be committed to publishing opinions that might be uncomfortable, challenge norms, enrage, and contradict what we may have already written. But it is possible to balance those things against other crucial considerations too.
As female journalists, we feel acute regret as the publishers of this piece. We’d be lying if we said that catering to a Crikey audience as women is not sometimes difficult. As with any news outlet, to publish any kind of opinion piece doesn’t ever necessarily mean that editors endorse the sentiments, but in this instance, we want to highlight that.
Crikey has made mistakes and questionable publishing choices in the past, and we can’t own all of them nor can we wipe them all from the record. What we can do is pledge to make material changes as a result of this moment, to be transparent about our next steps and own our mistakes entirely. Our publishing company Private Media and our editorial team are committed to ensuring this never happens again.
Most importantly we say sorry again to Brittany Higgins for the hurt the piece caused.
Sophie Black, editor-in-chief, Crikey
Gina Rushton, editor, Crikey
