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Leigh Sales deletes Twitter account

After speaking out on social media bullying, ABC host is the latest profile name to leave Twitter.

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“Journalist; Chat10Looks3; latest book “Well Hello”; RTs do not signal endorsement and likes are used as bookmarks.”

Outgoing 7:30 host Leigh Sales has deleted her Twitter account a day after the Federal Election was called, which media reports are linking to an ongoing barrage of criticism.

In September she filed on colleague Lisa Millar also quitting the platform due to constant abuse. Hamish Macdonald had also departed the platform earlier.

“Anyone who can stomach wading into mentions of @leighsales will find that virtually hourly, I am abused for doing my job, with a stream of tweets goading me to quit, demanding the ABC sack me, telling me I’m useless, stupid, biased and incompetent. Annabel Crabb and Patricia Karvelas are targeted in a similar manner,” she wrote.

She continued, “I will never be bullied into giving one side of politics a free ride and nor will my ABC colleagues. I encourage all of them, and our friends in other media organisations, to do what first-rate journalists have always done in the face of bullying: Continue to report fairly and accurately what you observe and uncover, and do so without fear or favour.”

It also comes at a time when ABC staff have been reminded not to post tweets which draw the broadcaster into disrepute -although to be clear, Sales has not been accused of such.

Sales will depart 7:30 in June but remain with ABC in a role yet to be announced.

7:30 still has its @abc730 account.

13 Responses

  1. I can’t leave Twitter. How could I possibly know what Nicola Walker is doing next?
    Which is the perfect segue into ….
    Hey David, when and where will we get Season 3 of The Split? Any info please?

  3. Bullying in any form is not ok but I can understand people are on edge after the last two years particularly in NSW & Victoria. The media including ABC programs like 7.30 have been so out of touch with general population particular during the lockdowns and the hardships people have endured.

  4. I think the main problem is the pile on. Once someone makes a criticism, then every man, woman and dog with a similar opinion has to tweet as well, and some of these pile on tweets seem to get nastier and nastier as people are trying to get noticed. “Look at me!”

    Although I do think some of the criticism on her was warranted, but some people just get too carried away and take it too far.

  5. Leigh gets criticism from both sides of politics for being too soft on Liberals or claims of being too biased towards Labor. Though I find that Twitter is very biased and one-sided like an echo chamber. She is one of the more neutral journalists on ABC. What did strike me was her claim that The 7.30 Report is the main prime-time current affairs program in country when it could be said that A Current Affair is, based on their higher ratings. Though it could be a case of quality over quantity. The other issue with the claim that ‘You will be the first Prime Minister in 27 years to not do two interviews on the main prime-time current affairs program in country,’ is that the media and channel line-up landscape has changed considerably in 27 years. All I can say to the trolls is to get a life.

  6. I’m in two minds about this, of course bullying and harassment are never ok. She did deserve criticism of her anti-Victoria bias and inconsistency over 2021 lockdowns. Heckling Dan Andrews with Murdoch media talking points, and criticising other state leaders for short snap lockdowns. Then giving Gladys Berejiklian a free ride when her own failures lead to a long lockdown that spread to the rest of the country. Then she defended the pork-barreling of 2nd dose vaccines into Sydney while Melbourne was in lockdown and couldn’t get enough to do first doses.

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