Dumped SMH veteran art critic John McDonald unleashes on Sydney Morning Herald and editor Bevan Shields

The Sydney Morning Herald’s art critic John McDonald has been dropped after 41 years of writing for the masthead and accused the newspaper of taking a ‘soft’, ‘supine’ and ‘silly’ approach to arts coverage.

Former Sydney Morning Herald art critic John McDonald. Picture: Adam Hourigan / The Daily Examiner

The Sydney Morning Herald’s art critic John McDonald has been dropped after 41 years of writing for the masthead and – in a ferocious denunciation – he has accused the newspaper of taking a “soft”, “supine” and “silly” approach to visual arts coverage.

In a newsletter leaked to The Australian and to be published online, McDonald said SMH editor Bevan Shields, “who apparently doesn’t know his arse from his elbow when it comes to the visual arts and its institutions, has chosen to end an association that goes back to 1983, with one small letter’’.

McDonald said his weekly reviewing column with the SMH was terminated via “a brief, curt note’’ from Shields, who told him the publication was “pursuing new digital strategies’’.

He said Shields also accused him of being “disrespectful and unprofessional”, and upsetting members of staff.

The Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields.

The veteran critic rejected that claim, describing it as “absolute and total malarkey”, adding: “I am grossly offended by it.’’

In his newsletter, McDonald went on to accuse the SMH of taking a soft approach to investigative arts stories. “I’ve tried to do my job without fear or favour, taking on the issues the SMH ­either refused to touch, or embraced with soft propaganda,’’ he wrote.

“Under Bevan Shields’s inspired leadership, the SMH has ignored or fudged stories about the Powerhouse Museum – which will end up costing the NSW taxpayer more than $2bn for a negative result – and the APY Art Centre Collective, where they preferred to leave the investigative stuff to The Aus­tralian.’’ (This is a reference to The Australian’s award-winning investigation into allegations of white interference in Indigenous art.)

McDonald added: “There are many questions that could be asked of Australia’s art museums but the editor liked to publish ‘supportive’ pieces.

“Frankly, this supine approach is silly and counter-­productive.

“If a newspaper allows any (art) institution to believe they will always get glowing reviews and reports, it’s a virtual invitation to behave badly.’’

Last year, in his newsletter, McDonald said the media’s response to The Australian’s APY art scandal investigation “has been astounding in its wilful wrongheadedness”.

“Both the ABC and, most concerningly, my own newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age, have published seriously lopsided pieces,” he said, adding that “The Guardian has been weirdly silent”.

McDonald, who still writes a film column for the SMH’s sister paper the Australian Financial Review, admitted he was sad but unsurprised by the Herald’s decision “to dispense with my services … (because) I’ve felt out-of-step with the direction the paper has been taking over the past two to three years.’’

The Australian approached Shields but he declined to ­comment.