Former Studio 10 host Joe Hildebrand has criticised Channel 10 for virtue-baiting over their Australia Day announcement.
Former Studio 10 host Joe Hildebrand has slammed Channel 10 for their refusal to recognise January 26th as Australia Day going forward. In his criticism, Hildebrand accused Paramount of ‘virtue signalling’, claiming they should have donated to indigenous charities that denounce the date itself.
“I’d also like to see from all these companies that have sent out group emails to their employees recently–” Hildebrand told Sunrise and news.com.au, also taking a dig at the mass exodus the media house has seen recently, “–and the good thing about Channel 10 is that every year there are fewer and fewer employees to send group emails to – why don’t they instead donate half their profits to charities that actually help Indigenous people?”
“I’m pretty sure you’ll see them jump at the chance to (donate to Indigenous charities), just as they’ve jumped at the chance to show how sensitive they are about Australia Day.” he went on to add.
In an email sent to internal staff earlier this week, Paramount co-leads Beverley McGarvey and Jarrod Villani announced that the company would no longer recognise January 26th as ‘Australia Day,’ given the date’s controversial history for First Nations people.
“For our First Nations people, we as an organisation acknowledge that January 26 is not a day of celebration. We recognise that there has been a turbulent history, particularly around that date and the recognition of that date being Australia Day.” the email read.
The channel also announced that anyone who wanted to continue working on the date could do so, asking staffers to ‘reflect and respect the different perspectives and viewpoints of all Australians.’
Channel 10’s announcement comes among growing discourse to have Australia Day moved to a different date, thus acknowledging it as a day of mourning for Indigenous communities.
