Academics save Martin Hirst from the sack after a Herald Sun column on a tweet aimed at alleged trolls got him suspended

A university journalism professor will keep his job after spending three months suspended without pay for describing his alleged Twitter trolls as “stupid as fuck”.



Martin Hirst was accused of bringing Deakin university into disrepute after right-wing press columnist, Andrew Bolt, posted a series of the tweets on his blog in the Herald Sun.

But after a letter to the university authorities signed by 150 academics and PhD students, the case was settled on Wednesday and Hirst reinstated.

The row can be traced back to 2008 when Hirst posted a photo of himself at Karl Marx’s grave at Highgate cemetery in London, which he later used as a profile picture on his personal Twitter account.

In April 2014 Daily Telegraph columnist Tim Blair posted the photo on his blog, describing the photo as “the finest leftie selfie ever taken”.

A Twitter user began mocking Hirst for the photo, and a back-and-forth between the troll and Hirst ensued, prompting other people to join in.

In his final response to his alleged Twitter trolls, Hirst adopted a tweet by US actress Kirstie Alley: “... dear stupid as fuck people who just like to be stupid, go be stupid with other stupid people. #stupidfuckcity”

Bolt then intervened, posting the comments along with a quote from university vice chancellor, Jane den Hollander, which described Deakin as: “A premier university in driving the digital frontier to enable globally connected education for the jobs of the future and research that makes a difference to the benefit of our students, our staff and the communities we serve.”

The university suspended Hirst without pay for serious misconduct, amid claims he had brought the university into disrepute.

It was not the first time Bolt had written about Hirst. Hirst has also written about Bolt, accusing him of crocodile tears after he was called a racist by academic, Marcia Langton.

Hirst appealed his suspension, with the final hearing due on Wednesday. But the case was settled after the supporting letter was sent to den Hollander on Tuesday.

“We can understand your concern at Dr Hirst’s actions and the unwelcome attention that Mr Bolt’s blog posts brought to Deakin University,” the letter said. “However, we do not believe that terminating Dr Hirst’s employment is the right decision in this matter. It is not, in our opinion, in the best interests of Dr Hirst or the University.

“We are assured that Dr Hirst has recognised his mistake in engaging with the offensive and anonymous trolls and indulging in the same vile language that they employed against him. We are also pleased to know that Dr Hirst apologised for his actions immediately that Mr Bolt’s attempt to smear him and the University was brought to his attention.”

An email also circulated among staff calling on them to sign the letter in support of Hirst, saying; “It is scandalous that Andrew Bolt and the Murdoch press should have such control over Deakin university’s hiring and firing policies.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Hirst released a statement on his website and on Twitter saying he was remorseful for the tweets and that he would be keeping his job with the university.

Hirst said: “I am pleased and relieved that the matter is resolved.”

Bolt hung up on Guardian Australia before any questions could be asked.

Den Hollander said; “We believe universities have a role to set standards of behaviour and we are delighted the matter has been resolved,” and said no further comment would be made.