SL Vs AUS: SEN Radio Sacks Journalist Peter Lalor Over Palestine Posts

Australian sports radio broadcaster SEN Radio has reportedly terminated the services of noted cricket journalist Peter Lalor midway through Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka, owing to Lalor's social media posts pertaining to Palestine. Lalor’s X (formerly Twitter) feed includes amplification of news stories on Israeli attacks in Gaza, and regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. (More Cricket News)

According to a report in The Age, Lalor was informed on the fourth (and final) day of the first Test by SEN’s chief executive Craig Hutchison that his services were no longer needed. Earlier the chief cricket writer at The Australian, Lalor was employed by SEN as a commentator in Galle. He commentated for Seven and writes and podcasts for the Cricket Et Al Substack concurrently.

In a statement released on Monday (February 3), Lalor said that he had received two calls from SEN senior management on the third day of the Galle Test, and was told the next morning that he could not work for them anymore.

“I was told in one call there were serious organisations making complaints; in another I was told that this was not the case,” Lalor's statement read. “Perhaps I misunderstood. I was told there were accusations I was antisemitic which I strongly objected to. I was told my retweeting was not balanced, and insensitive to one side and that many people had complained.

“I was asked by station boss Craig Hutchison, who was civil, if I didn’t care that my retweeting of events in Gaza made Jewish people in Melbourne feel unsafe. I said I didn’t want anyone to feel unsafe. Of course, I care. I have friends who are frightened and have heard the fear in their voices during conversations. It is an awful situation. But so is Gaza. It was a brief and cordial call.

“The following day Hutchison told me that because the ‘sound of my voice made people feel unsafe’ and that people are ‘triggered by my voice’, I could not cover the cricket for them anymore,” the statement added.

The report further states that SEN confirmed it had parted ways with Lalor ahead of the second Test, which starts on Thursday, also in Galle. “Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) confirms it has parted ways with Peter Lalor, a freelance commentator within SEN’s cricket coverage,” the report cited SEN as saying.

SEN chief executive Craig Hutchison was quoted as saying in the report: “We’ve been in dialogue through the back half of the [1st] Test [in Sri Lanka] about some of the commentary on Peter’s private social media feed. Peter and I have a different view of the impact of that in the Australian community.

“SEN Cricket is a celebration of differences and nationalities and a place where our SEN audience can escape what is an increasingly complex and sometimes triggering world.

“We respect Pete as a journalist and long-time contributor to the game but also acknowledge the fear that many families in our community feel right now, and we also need to respect that.”

The report further adds that SEN colleagues in Sri Lanka were intimated about the decision on Sunday.