SEN (Radio)

Cricketer Usman Khawaja has posted screenshot of an Instagram story about the incident with the caption ‘unbelievable’, before defending Lalor’s character. As quoted by the ABC:

"Standing up for the people of Gaza is not antisemitic nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia, but everything to do with the Israeli government and their deplorable actions.

“It has everything to do with justice and human rights. Unfortunately hatred towards the Jewish and Muslim community will always exist. Pete is a good guy with a good heart. He deserves better.”

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Pretty piss poor from Hutchy and SEN here. Pete’s never exactly been shy in his political views in the past and that’s generally been accepted, even back when he wrote for The Oz (whose editorial line differed considerably to his views). And I hardly see how someone’s thoughts on the war in Gaza are in any way relevant to their coverage of a test series being held in Sri Lanka or their cricket journalism more broadly.

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Pete is allowed to have his views but the company can have its policy which they probably want to show they apply consistently.

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The natural comparison has been made between himself and Tom Morris.

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I think the comparison between Pete and the wrongful dismissal claims the ABC are currently defending are arguably more relevant.

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Pete’s views and comments on this haven’t exactly been a secret throughout this conflict, and surely Hutchy was well aware of this prior to engaging his services for this series.

I do wonder if there’s a particular post or theme in Pete’s posts that has been considered to have crossed a line however. While it’s one thing to highlight the awful humanitarian situation in Gaza (which is absolutely fair and reasonable)- but at least one of the posts he has shared was a celebration of the release of Palestinians that were held in Israeli prisons (some of whom were members of terror groups and had been convicted of very serious offences), in return for the freeing of (largely) civilian hostages that were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th (on which, Pete made no comment).

If I was to hazard a guess, I would not be surprised if this in particular may have been what tipped the scales against him in the end as far as SEN/Hutchy was concerned.

At the end of the day though, Pete’s a decent bloke and has only the best intentions with his activism in regard to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza- but sadly I do think, like many of us, he does have a blind spot on certain things and in his case that is towards the Israeli victims of the conflict which is what has landed him in hot water here.

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Ignoring the historical oversights and borderline defamatory assertions here… even if you don’t find that material agreeable, that doesn’t mean it breaches reasonably accepted standards of decency.

It also doesn’t mean SEN has a right to tell a freelancer what they can and cannot share on their social media channels.

The concern here is that a decision was made as the result of external pressure, and not because it breached company policy - which in all likelihood may not actually extend to a freelancer employed by the station to service their cricket commentary.

The comparison to Tom Morris, a Fox employee subject to Fox’s social media and human resources policies, is laughable.

Don’t get me wrong- I do agree that SEN have overstepped the mark here, especially given Pete is a freelancer.

The question remains though- why now? What has changed in the past few weeks to suddenly render his position with SEN untenable? He’s been a part of the team all summer with seemingly no concerns prior to now (while being active on socials regarding this issue throughout).

I’ve offered a couple of suggestions above (and I am well aware that I have my own biases and blind spots on this issue)- I certainly wasn’t going for anything potentially defamatory, just trying to reason through the thought processes that people may have reading his social feed especially if looking at it from a certain angle or lens.

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I think you summed it up well in your earlier post. There was clearly something that brought things to a head.

The easy thing for Hutchy to do was wait it out and find another excuse to not give him any more work.

I get people want to compare it to Tom Morris but every situation is different. If someone can’t understand that then they have never been in a workplace.

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I’m sure whatever contract he has with SEN still has some sort of provision about social media/public comments etc.

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Any names listed in the article?

SEN set to deliver unmatched coverage of Super Bowl LIX live from New Orleans

Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) is proud to announce its extensive broadcast coverage of Super Bowl LIX, marking the network’s eighth consecutive Super Bowl broadcast. SEN will bring listeners comprehensive coverage as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles, live from New Orleans on Monday 10 February, starting at 9am AEDT.

With Gerard Whateley, Ben Graham, and Larry Fitzgerald Sr. headlining the call team, SEN promises an unmatched listening experience. Ben Graham - the first Australian to play in a Super Bowl - brings firsthand insight, while Fitzgerald Sr. - a highly respected voice in American football - adds expert analysis.

This Super Bowl is set to be one for the history books. Australian offensive lineman, Jordan Mailata - a key player for the Eagles - is aiming to become the first Australian to win a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are looking to secure their third consecutive Super Bowl title, further cementing their dynasty status.

Gerard Whateley has been broadcasting live from New Orleans all week leading up to the Super Bowl, hosting ‘Whateley’ live from Radio Row daily at 9am AEDT, giving fans an inside look at the build-up to the big game. In addition, SEN has been airing the ‘All American Hour’ daily from 5am to 6am AEDT, with Jordan Kounelis and David ‘The Chief’ Alcaro also reporting live from Radio Row, covering all the latest news and interviews leading up to the showdown.

“There’s nothing quite like the Super Bowl,” said Whateley. “It’s the biggest annual stage in world sport, and to be here covering it live is always a privilege. Eagles offensive tackle, Jordan Mailata, continues the quest to be the first Australian to play in a winning Super Bowl team, while the Chiefs are chasing a history-making third straight championship. It’s loaded with drama and storylines and we’ll take our listeners right to the heart of the action.”

SEN’s Head of Sport, Julian Bayard, added: “Our eighth consecutive Super Bowl broadcast reflects SEN’s commitment to delivering world-class coverage of the world’s biggest sporting events. With a star-studded call team and unrivaled access live from New Orleans, fans across Australia will have everything they need to be a part of the action.”

SEN’s Super Bowl LIX broadcast will run from 9am to 3pm AEDT on Monday 10 February, with the game kicking off at 10.30am AEDT.

Fans can tune into SEN’s comprehensive Super Bowl LIX coverage across all SEN stations, including; SEN 1116am Melbourne, SEN 1170am Sydney, SENQ 693am Brisbane, SEN Gold Coast 1620am, SEN SA 1629am, SEN Tassie 1629am, SEN Top End 1611am, SEN Mt Gambier 1629am, SENSpirit 621am Bunbury, SENSpirit 1494am South West, SEN Peel in Mandurah DAB+, SEN Goldfields 1611am Kalgoorlie, SEN Fanatic on DAB+, and the SEN App.

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Interesting the article references one “major sponsor” in Hejaz Financial Solutions potentially ending their partnership with SEN.

But I suspect other major sponsors (and at least one shareholder we know of) have the opposite view which lead to Lalor’s marching orders in the first place. It is commercial radio after all.

The values of the advertisers/sponsors determine the values of the company in the current media climate. It’s an advertisers market.

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How is the employment of a known racist. homophobe, misogynist and ‘jobs for the boys’ recipient not comparable to the (essential) dismissal of a guy who retweeted Twitter posts?

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Well you’d think so, being a Muslim business, and supporting a company that seemingly doesn’t support people from their religion probably would hurt their business and standing.

Just for the record I’m on neither side of the conflict.

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Former West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson joins SEN WA breakfast

Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) has bolstered its Western Australian line-up with former West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson (pictured) joining Breakfast alongside Tim ‘Goss’ Gossage each Monday from 6-8am. Tuesday to Friday it’s Scott Cummings and Tim Gossage, making sure WA is connected with the latest in sports news, insights, analysis and entertainment throughout the week.

Hutchy made the comments about Lalor in this episode of The Sounding Board podcast (starts at 03:53 mark).

Is it just me or does the SEN news and sports updates need more meat on the bones?

They could cover a lot more sports during their TOTH updates. At least 5 minutes.

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They don’t really have a newsroom capable of doing that. News bulletins and staffing a newsroom have never been their forte.