April 5, 2021- Samantha Maiden, a Walkley award-winning author and political editor for news.com.au, was bullied in an article written by Aaron Patrick, a senior correspondent at the Australian Financial Review (AFR). After digging into her childhood and work history, Aaron described Samantha as “difficult, challenging, and spiky”. Samantha Maiden is the journalist who revealed the ground-breaking story of Brittany Higgins, the young staffer who was raped in the Australian Parliament on March 23, 2019. Samantha wrote a detailed report on how Brittany’s vulnerable situation was mishandled with insensitivity and indifference by Liberal Party officials. In his article, Aaron Patrick criticized seasoned women journalists and accused them of instigating anger directed at the government. CFWIJ is troubled by Aaron Patrick’s senseless allegations and the Australian Financial Review’s facilitation of such blatant bullying. We demand that Aaron Patrick issues a public apology, and The Australian Financial Review clears its position of what it considers fair journalism. 

In the article titled, “PM Morrison caught in crusade of women journos”, Aaron named Laura Tingle and Louise Milligan from ABC News, Katharine Murphy and Amy Remeikis at The Guardian, Lisa Wilkinson, host for The Project TV, and Karen Middleton from the Saturday Paper. Aaron called these journalists “a new female media leadership” and accused them of angry coverage often masked as unapologetic activism. Editor-in-chief at AFR, Michael Stutchbury, defended the article, justifying that Aaron Patrick has written about the need to combat sexism in the Liberal Party more than most other journalists. Stutchbury said that including details about Samantha from her supporters and critics offered the readers a better perspective.

In response to the AFR article, many celebrated journalists tweeted in support of Samantha Maiden and commended her hard work. Lisa Wilkinson, the host for The Project TV, tweeted a paragraph from Aaron’s article that named the women journalists. Lisa added, “So apparently giving Brittany Higgins a platform, calling the powerful to account, exposing gov coverups & a vile rape/sexual assault culture in Parliament House, is not journalism. According to the AFR, it’s angry activism.”

Katharine Murphy, a political editor for The Guardian and one of the women journalists mentioned in Aaron’s article, wrote a detailed piece in response to his accusations. She explained the sensitivity of reporting about a rape incident and how it is not activism. In her article, Katharine mentioned Aaron’s oversight directly, clarifying that harassment and rape are not the circumstance of the female perspective but a reprehensible crime.  Katharine went on to write about the crucial role of men in tackling the issue of sexual misconduct, declaring it a human problem. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the bullying towards Samantha and the female journalists mentioned in Aaron Patrick’s crass article. We hope that the AFR will evaluate this unjustified approach towards women journalists reporting a sensitive yet significant subject. To research and report matters of public interest is journalism, not activism. No woman journalist should face bullying for seeking and sharing the truth.