Entertainment reporter Peter Ford has criticized the ABC for letting Stan Grant go on the air after the Q&A host accused his bosses of not defending him against racist trolls.
Grant is ‘walking away from the ABC’ after being racially abused by viewers for focusing on the dispossession of Aboriginal people during the coronation of King Charles III.
After just 10 months in the role, Grant will host the Q&A show on Monday before taking a “break” from the show.
He becomes the second full-time presenter to lose the weekly evening program in two years after his predecessor Hamish Macdonald stepped down.
Grant took aim at ABC bosses, claiming it was an “institutional failure” because they failed to publicly defend his coverage of the one-off event.
In a post shared on Twitter on Sunday, Ford criticized the ABC’s decision to let Grant go on the air after the Q&A host publicly criticized the national broadcaster.
Controversial entertainment reporter Peter Ford (pictured) has criticized the ABC for letting Stan Grant on the air after the Q&A host publicly criticized the national broadcaster
“The most astonishing aspect of Stan Grant’s story is that he will go on the air tomorrow night after openly criticizing his employer,” Ford wrote.
That would never happen in the commercial world and indicative of the problem within the ABC. The people in power are not the management.’
It comes after Grant wrote a powerful essay saying he was submissivepitched at “relentless racial filth” with viewers targeting him for being Indigenous.
“The ABC has made an official complaint to Twitter this year about the brutal racist filth I’ve been subjected to,” he said.
“I am not without criticism. I occupy a privileged and prominent place in the media – I should be criticized. And I don’t have thin skin.
‘Aboriginal people learn to endure it. That’s the price of survival.
“I have been a media target for racism for years and have paid a high price for it. For now I don’t want to be a part of it – I’m walking away.’
Grant continued to voice the negative attention he had received.
‘For how long? Don’t know. I’m not taking time out because of racism – I’m not going to give racists the satisfaction,” he said.
“I am not taking time out because I believe the ABC was wrong to discuss the legacy of colonization and empire on coronation day.
“We did that, I believe, with maturity and respect.”
Grant called out top ABC executives for not publicly defending his coverage of the coronation, claiming the national broadcaster’s silence was an “institutional failure.”
“Nobody at the ABC — whose producers invited me as a guest for their coverage of the coronation — has uttered a single word of public support,” Grant said.
“No ABC executive has publicly refuted the lies written or spoken about me.
‘I hold no one responsible; this is an institutional failure.’
Ford claimed that the national broadcaster’s decision to allow Grant to be on the air was “an indication of the problem within the ABC (pictured)”
Stan Grant (right) said he ‘walked away from the ABC’ after being racially abused for doing a live coverage of King Charles’ coronation to focus on Aboriginal dispossession. He also criticized ABC bosses for not publicly defending his reporting
Grant said he appreciated the friendship of national broadcaster Justin Stevens.
“He has been a help and support. He’s trying to change an organization that has its own legacy of racism. But he knows I’m disappointed. I am discouraged,” he said.
The ABC told Daily Mail Australia that Grant is taking a ‘break’ from hosting the program and has the broadcaster’s ‘full support’.
Stan Grant is taking a break from presenting Q&A following Monday’s schedule. He has the full support of the ABC,” said a spokesman.
All panelists involved in the coronation discussion were addressed and supported by the ABC.
“On Friday, May 19, a public statement from Director of News Justin Stevens on the specific abuse directed against Stan Grant was released, and a personal column on the matter by Mr. Grant.”
Mr Stevens issued a statement on Friday in response to Grant’s claims, acknowledging that the host had been ‘the victim of grotesque racist abuse, including threats to his safety’ following the coverage of the coronation.
“This has become particularly virulent since it appeared as part of ABC’s coverage of the coronation,” he said.
“It’s disgusting and unacceptable. Stan is one of Australia’s best and most respected journalists and broadcasters.
“The ABC stands with him and condemns the attacks directed at him. The ABC has and will refer any threat to the police.”
Some of the abuse of social media was reported to the police.
The ABC reportedly received more than 1,000 complaints for its allegedly “disrespectful” coverage of the May 6 coronation, which linked the British monarchy to the expropriation of Aboriginal people since 1788.