SEN Radio has parted ways with prominent cricket journalist Peter Lalor halfway through Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka over his social media activity relating to Palestine.
Lalor was told on the final morning of the first Test by SEN’s chief executive Craig Hutchison that his services were no longer required.
Cricket commentator Peter Lalor.
Lalor’s X feed includes re-posts of news stories about Israeli attacks in Gaza, and about the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Lalor, formerly the chief cricket writer at The Australian, was used by SEN as a commentator in Galle. He also works as a commentator for Seven and writes and podcasts for the Cricket Et Al Substack.
Lalor released a statement on Monday night in which he said he had received two calls from senior management at SEN on the third day of the Galle Test, and was informed the following morning that he could not no longer work for them.
“I was told in one call there were serious organisations making complaints; in another I was told that this was not the case,” Lalor wrote in his statement.
“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.”
