Sydney Morning Herald and The Age arts critics quit in protest

Four of the five young SMH and Age arts critics quit or reduce their hours to protest the fact that they are all white.

Cassie Tongue.

Four of the five young critics hired by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in May to write about the arts have either quit their jobs or reduced their own hours to protest the fact that they are all white.

Two of the five white writers – Bec Kavanagh and Jack Callil – quit their jobs on Monday, with each saying “our resignation is in opposition to the lack of diversity in the selection, which resulted in an all-white group of peers.”  

Hi all, I'm resigning, with @beckavanagh, as an emerging book critic for @theage/@smh, an initiative generously funded by @CopyrightAgency and @JN_Institute. The selection of all-white critics fails to reflect Australia's cultural diversity. Our full statement is below. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/77Rz4WGE4W

— Jack Callil (@Jack_Callil) June 22, 2020

Hi friends. I am resigning, with @Jack_Callil, as an emerging book critic for @theage/@smh, an initiative generously funded by @CopyrightAgency and @JN_Institute. The selection of all-white critics fails to reflect Australia's cultural diversity. Full statement below. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/XoPxAD7tKp

— bec kavanagh (@beckavanagh) June 22, 2020

A third critic, Tiarney Miekus, hired to write about visual arts in Victoria, has described the whiteness of the group as “completely appalling and shameful.”

She has not quit, but will give up some of her salary to enable Nine to hire more BIPOC – black, indigenous, people of colour – writers.

I know I’ve been silent on @theage and @smh hiring five white critics for their arts coverage under their grant from the @CopyrightAgency and @JN_Institute – from the outset I have found this completely appalling and shameful. 1/6

— Tiarney Miekus (@tiarneym) June 26, 2020

A fourth, Cassie Tongue, is “in discussions” to share her job with a BIPOC candidate.

The group were employed in May to write about the arts by parent company Nine Newspapers, under grants issued by the Copyright Agency and the Judith Neilson Institute.

“I know I’ve been silent on The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald hiring five white critics for their arts coverage,” Ms Miekus said, on Twitter.

“From the outset I have found this completely appalling and shameful.

“It shows the media’s bias when it comes to supporting the voices and opinions of people of colour and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers in arts publishing.

“The selection was not ethical or representative of arts writing and art practices in this country today.

“Since the announcement, I’ve had many exchanges with multiple editors. Having essentially halved the number of pieces I’ll be publishing, I’ve been advocating the extra funding set aside for my role — visual arts in Melbourne — be used to publish arts pieces by BIPOC writers.”

She said The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald “have agreed a large portion of funding originally set aside for my role will be used to commission people of colour and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers to publish visual arts pieces.

“For me, at this moment, I’m hoping it’s a way to generate change from within the critic role, and will advocate for @theage to publish new and diverse voices and opinions it previously hasn’t published.

“I don’t think this change would have been possible had @jack_callil and @beckavanagh not resigned their positions.

“Without this, I don’t believe my requests would have been taken as seriously. Jack and Bec made a brave choice that has created real change.”

Ms Tongue, hired to write about theatre for the Herald, put up a “quick note” yesterday to say “I’m not ignoring this.”

“I’m having discussions with Fairfax (now called Nine) about how I can use my role to share space, facilitate relationships between Fairfax and emerging critics of colour,” she said.

She said should be interesting in “handing over pieces to other writers” and mentoring applicants for future jobs.

The fifth white employee, Chloe Wolifson has not released a statement.

Nine says it will now seek candidates with “diverse voices.”

In statement, Nine said: ‘We accept the reasons why Jack Callil and Bec Kavanagh have decided to resign. We are reopening applications for the two freelance book critic roles, considering the previous applicants as well as seeking to ensure the roles are posted more widely to encourage a greater diversity of applicants. The successful applicants will need to have expertise as literary critics and strong writing skills.’

“This is an opportunity for talented writers with experience in reviewing a broad array of books, who can bring fresh and diverse voices to our reviewing ranks,” the new ad says.

According to his online CV, Jack Callil is an editor and writer “living in Naarm/Melbourne, working and playing on the land of the Wurundjeri-willam people of the Kulin Nation.”

Currently digital editor of Australian Book Review and proofreader of Meanjin, he regularly donates one per cent of his income to “pay the rent” to Aboriginal people in Victoria,

He is cheerfully encouraging people to apply for his old role, saying: “For CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) writers interested in book reviewing, (Nine) have announced they will be reopening their application process to replace @beckavanagh and I. Uncertain when they will be taking applications, but hopefully good things will come from it. Good luck!”

For CALD writers interested in book reviewing, @theage and @smh have announced they will be reopening their application process to replace @beckavanagh and I. Uncertain when they will be taking applications, but hopefully good things will come from it. Good luck! https://t.co/ixMJef2pji

— Jack Callil (@Jack_Callil) June 24, 2020