Discrimination Against Aboriginal People in Australia

1500 Words3 Pages

Introduction – CAT It is without denial that aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people are treated differently in our society especially by the media. They are often represented as, trouble makers, violent and drunks. These remarks used by the media are giving bad impressions on Aboriginal people. Tonight, on Media Matters we will unmask the truth on the media’s treatment of the famous Sydney Swans footballer Adam Goodes. The media has heavily criticized this athlete making unfair statements causing them to break the journalist’s code of ethics, the very rule book they should be following. The code of ethics applies to all journalists and is designed to keep their reports fair, non-judgemental. Paragraph 1 – TEEP On the 29th of January 2014 Miranda Devin from The Daily Telegraph voiced her opinion in the article “Adam Goodes is a bad choice for Australian of the Year.” The title stating he is a terrible choice for the award. The accompanying photo shows Adam Goodes being interviewed by the media without the whole picture being shown almost implying he is looking through a keyhole. This image has nothing to do with the title or the article, but is there to make Goodes look guilty. Instead it makes him look like he is being interrogated. The article states that he was a “terrible choice as Australian of the Year” and is being accused of “victimising a powerless 13 year old girl.” This article is supporting the side of the 13 year old girl by voicing her opinion and by stating that “she didn't know "ape" was a racist term.” This is reiterated by the lexical choices used such as the “appalling treatment,” and the author also attacks the sport he plays by stating that “AFL is hardly a national sport.” The author does suppo... ... middle of paper ... ...te policy responses and provoke public sentiment, which can generate public debate on policy initiatives. These examples of framing further validate how the moral authority to intervene in the NT was potentially garnered from media coverage of child abuse and neglect (Macoun 2012, cited in Altman and Russell 2012: 1), in addition to intensifying bureaucratic and interest group support, and the resulting public support. This lends credence to how when there are sufficient credible and audible voices and seemingly self-evident facts and images, it means that what is going on is indeed big, bad and moreover urgent (Rosenthal et al. 1989, cited in Boin et al. 2009: 86). It also demonstrates how, with the backing of the public and the various interests, mass appeal supported and enabled the Australian government’s policy preference in launching the NTER.

Open Document