National Press Club dodges questions on Hedges

October 7, 2025

I wrote to the National Press Club chief executive Maurice Reilly to protest his decision to cancel the address scheduled for Chris Hedges to speak on the situation in Gaza for journalists. I read the NPC media statement on the matter published in P&I on 5 October. There I noted Reilly’s assertion that the decision to withdraw the invitation was made on the basis that (when) “more details of the address were made available we decided to pursue other speakers on the matter”.

I contacted Reilly and asked him to explain what that means. He referred me back to his media statement. Hedges was going to highlight the issue of the 278 Palestinian and foreign journalists targeted and murdered by the IDF in Gaza. I understand he wanted to point to the responsibility for journalists everywhere, including Australia, to speak up and oppose this horrific attack on journalism.

The NPC needs to explain what other speakers they have scheduled to speak on this important topic – and why they would look elsewhere if Hedges were available to present to the Press Club. Are they avoiding criticism from the Zionist lobby and/or the government by voluntarily initiating this cancellation?