The more powerful you are, the more unaccountable in media

Dr. Victoria Fielding writes that media neutrality allows powerful figures to normalize racism, while ordinary people face public condemnation for similar behavior.

Remember the strange idea that the news media serves democracy by holding power to account?

The different treatment of ordinary citizens and politicians who make racist statements shows that the more powerful you are, the more opportunity you have to say what you want without the media framing it as problematic.

This inequality not only legitimizes and normalizes racism, but also means that the most powerful people in society are least responsible for racist and harmful behavior. This structural imbalance stems from the fact that journalists believe that in order to report accurately, they must be impartial and allow others to condemn bad behavior.

But at the same time, politicians are framed as having a normal discussion about differing opinions, which only serves to further the problem of racism on both sides rather than finding the perpetrators are at fault.

A comparison of the media’s and wider society’s approach to two cases of racism in the general public and the One Nation politician’s approach to racism shows that the media are more than happy to use proxy sources to characterize racist behavior perpetuated by people without power as morally wrong and reprehensible. But once you have power, these proxies are merely your political opposition, which means you are untouchable.

The first case rightly deserved all the condemnation it received. soon Kumanjayi Little Baby Adelaide ‘comedian’ disappears from Alice Springs home Posted by Alex Williamson It’s such a deeply racist and offensive online skit that I won’t write about it here.

Williamson deleted the post following the backlash and was widely condemned in the community. This included the indefinite suspension of amateur football team Willunga Football Club. Rightfully, the media coverage of this racism showed how seriously society should take such events.

But it is also notable that journalists carefully chose indirect comments intended to condemn racism rather than using their own words to condemn racism, as this would likely be biased against racists.

For example, in the Williamson case, Quote from ABC South Australia’s Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Commissioner, Dale Agiuswhen calling comments “deeply offensive” and saying that the child’s death has occurred “I have broken the hearts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this country and every conscientious Australian.”.

A similar proxy condemnation was used when reporting on a woman who was accused by the police After directing deeply offensive racist comments about Jews at children playing netball. This time, condemnation by proxy once again he spoke on behalf of the Jewish people, victims of racism. Executive Council of Australian Jews deputy general manager Alex Ryvchin. This woman suffered the consequences of being charged by the police and also being removed from her child’s netball club.

It is appropriate that such blatant racist behavior attracts the attention of the mainstream news media, and it is also reasonable that victims of racism are given space to talk about its impact. But what is missing from this equation is the news media itself clearly using its own voice, its own power, to say that racism is unacceptable.

Media neutrality allows powerful figures to normalize racism, while ordinary people face public condemnation for similar behavior

News media aim to set a moral standard for what is considered legitimate or deviant behavior in society, but norms of impartiality are used to evade this responsibility. Instead, victims of racism are left to take a stand while the journalist watches dispassionately. This gives the impression that racism is not about how it should be presented as a completely unacceptable form of behavior, but about people disagreeing with each other.

This two-pronged problem gets worse when powerful people are racist because that’s where the news media is even more hesitant to enter the fray. In fact, when powerful people like One Nation politicians are racists, they are not even called racists. This is because journalists value “impartiality” more than they actually value accountability. They fear that if they call out racism among powerful people, they will be seen as siding with the victims of racism in the political struggle.

A concerning example of this problematic phenomenon was seen last week during his maiden speech in South Australia’s upper house. Cory Bernardi He mocked the Indigenous Recognition of the Country by inviting everyone “Land of my ancestors”.

Rather than calling this cynical, highly offensive, racist behavior, the news media used a variety of sensational words out of fear that the “R” word might make it appear as if they had condemned Bernardi for his R-word behavior.

ABC, for example, called the comments, among other bigotry and aggression in the conversation: ‘quarrelsome‘. This word implies the power of belief and certainly does not mean doing anything wrong. news.com.au at least he tried to talk ‘controversial‘ but it didn’t even come close to the “R” word.

Advertiser used the words ‘polarizer’ And ‘divisive’. This means that Cory Bernardi is on one end of the political spectrum advocating a legitimate view, while those who think he is a racist are on the other end and have different views.

The same thing happened on: Guard When Cory Bernardi made a video mocking the use of the Kaurna language in universities, hospitals and municipal areas. Again, using proxies (victims of racism) to call out this behavior, this was called: ‘grossly offensive’but he wasn’t called grossly offensive because he was racist.

By not calling racist comments racist but instead taking sides on both sides, the news media gives the public the impression that racism is just a difference of opinion. This supports the idea that racism is a legitimate belief or political view, just as it is for One Nation MPs.

This normalizes racism on both sides; So much so that comedians think it’s okay to broadcast racist skits for laughs and netball moms think it’s okay to harass Jewish children playing netball.

When the most powerful people in society can be racist without being called out that way, they cannot be held accountable. The news media created this problem through their cowardly neutrality, their refusal to call out racism, or even their refusal to use the word racist when racism is committed by powerful people.

The truth is that when the news media refuses to take a stand to root out racism, it contributes to a more racist society. And for this they should be condemned.