Independence, integrity and Ita’s parking space – Leigh Sales’ Andrew Olle Media Lecture

On October 27, at Doltone House, Hyde Park, Leigh Sales delivered the 2023 Andrew Olle Media Lecture. She’d initially turned the invitation down as she, as is core to her speech, was avoiding the news herself.

She said:

“The Digital Media Australia report last year noted that about two-thirds of people say they actively avoid the news. When asked why, the reasons included it’s untrustworthy or biased; it affects my mental well-being; it wears me out; there’s too much politics; and it leads to arguments I don’t have time for.

Recently, I’ve been one of those people avoiding the news. When I took six months of leave last year, stepping away from work and out of the news cycle for the first time in almost thirty years, it gave me time to reflect. And that time helped me better understand why exactly the news is at risk of turning me (and others) off.”

The full speech about why we still need to ask hard questions of others (and ourselves) as well the framed note signed by Ita Buttrose that Sales has kept over a parking incident, can be read here.