A TEAR IN THE BLINDS
A recent protest against NewsCorp sheds light on not only what we see, but who shows it to us.
I once saw a statistic that read something like; “in one day we will take in more information than our grandparents did in one year.”
When we consider what we know of the world; the comings and goings of politics on the other side of vast seas, conflicts over borders in remote mountains, or the ravaging of continents by an unstoppable virus. Even the political movements and rhetoric within our own nation, it’s all what we hear from others.
For most of us, that “other” is a man named Rupert Murdoch. The media magnate of Newscorp, whose grip on the media spans from Fox News in the US to most of Australia’s newspapers and Sky News.
Now this is most certainly something to pay attention to at the very least. In Australia, one corporation owns nearly two thirds of all media. The sentiments that they hold, shape, in a frightfully profound way, a fundamental understanding we have of the world around us.
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On Friday the 4th of September, Extinction Rebellion activists, over a secure line, called for the group to move. We were parked behind the lead car and watched as Eco-activists, their faces covered by masks and balaclavas fashioned from t-shirts, sprung forth.
Their goal was the gates to the Newscorp’s Murarrie printing press. As a truck pulled out of one, four activists climbed atop. At the two other gates, smaller groups of activists chained two of their own to each respective gate.
The blockade held for just over an hour. The first few minutes resulted in a volatile confrontation with the driver of the truck, atop which activists were now flying a banner decrying Newscorps “Lies.” The situation was defused by other workers, and furthermore by police as they arrived.
Before the nights end, nine activists would have been arrested and while slightly delayed, that mornings papers would still reach their destination. To echo the sentiments of one of the more confrontational of the printing-press workers “You guys achieved nothing, all these papers are still going to get delivered.”
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The Extinction Rebellion activists targeted Newscorp in particular because in the publications it releases, climate denialism/scepticism has become a staple of many of their stories.
Climate science is tricky and constantly developing, for most people the intricacies of why our planet is in such dire straits is difficult to understand. So, when 70% of our nation’s media is presenting an account of climate change that is sceptical at best, one must begin to wonder whether they’re as objective as they should be.
Dr. Heather Anderson a journalist and researcher from Griffith University, notes in an article she co-wrote with a student of hers for the Australian Journalism Review, echoes the sentiments held by the XR protestors.
Current literature has highlighted how, over the past decade, the newspaper (The Australian) has predominantly approached the global warming issue in a problematic way, with scepticism, political/ideological themes and economic considerations dominating its content.
Much of Newscorps publications generally leans towards more a conservative, right-wing consideration of how they tell their stories. So much so, that a piece within The Australian commenting on the Black Lives Matters movement, referred to the greatest threat facing the “Negro” was themselves. Dr. Anderson noted how generally this is interpreted as Murdoch acting as a single, self-styled Khan of his media empire. But it might not be as simple as that.
While Murdoch certainly leans towards the further reaches of the right, it wouldn’t be as basic as the old man passing down orders and directives to every journalist he employs. No, what Dr. Anderson went on to describe was more of a ripple effect. Murdoch passes down a sense of what stories aren’t worthy, eventually this becomes enshrined in how the editors go about their job. Then journalists, even more so today given the news medias’ dire straits, as they try to get their stories published, eventually cater towards a sentiment that editors will favour.
In this case, the sentiment is one that approaches any discussion of there being a climate crisis with scepticism and in some cases denialism.
The Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, in its second report into how Australia reports on Climate Change found that Andrew Bolt, a Newscorp Journalist. Is the most widely read commentator on climate science (while having no background in the field). Despite the fact that the majority of this is not journalism, but rather baseless rhetoric attacking anyone from scientists to journalists who comment that we’re in the midst of an anthropomorphic catastrophe. The same study also found that Newscorp papers were deliberately confusing and misleading their readers when it came to climate science.
When I spoke with Dr. Anderson, she not only highlighted the risk this posed the imminent ecological disaster we’re facing. But the risk such journalistic malpractice poses to our democracy.
“We talk about the four estates being the executive, the legislative, the judiciary and the fourth estate is the media or journalism and it’s job is to be the watchdog.” or as Dr Anderson went on to state, rather bluntly. They “Keep the bastards honest.” Media acts to keep the other three in check by relaying digestible information to the public which helps them create informed perceptions. This is why keeping an objective media is so important in the democratic process, keeping the public informed but not swaying their opinion.
It is here that Dr. Anderson would argue Newscorp has failed.
The extent at which Newscorp may be playing its political cards is core in former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull’s memoir. Where he accuses Murdoch and Newscorp for fuelling the flames from which a coup was orchestrated to reinstate Tony Abbott as prime minister. Someone, who Mr Turnbull alleges, would be seen to have a more favourable political agenda (in the eyes of Rupert Murdoch).
This claim holds validity especially given Turnbull’s attempts, during his time as Communications Minister, to defuse a monopoly of Australian media by introducing new ownership laws, something that saw heavy backlash from Newscorp outlets.
What was achieved however, was the ousting of Turnbull. If Newscorp had as much of a hand in that coup as Turnbull alleges, then what has also been achieved is a callous attack on Australian democracy, one that continues to be committed in various forms.
When we also look at the bias generally held against the labour party, Dr. Anderson gave the contrast between coverage of Labor and Liberal leadership spills. We begin to see an ugly portrait form. One that sits as a stain on Australian democracy.
As soon as our media takes on a role other than commentary on our estates of executive/legislature. We begin to see problems arise. With vested interests in politics, Newscorps publications can no longer objectively report and more importantly, responsibly inform the public. Without causing harm to the corporation. The aim of any corporation, even one in the media industries, one and only goal is to make a profit. What we have now is objective reporting coming off second best in that endeavour.
Objectivity is dead, and we have killed it.
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As I watched the last flickers of resistance wain, and the final protestor dragged from the top of the truck and thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, I didn’t find myself agreeing with the means. These protestors hadn’t done anything more than piss off some of the printing press workers and bring a few carloads of police out to Murarrie where most of them stood around enjoying the last chilly wisps of the winter cold.
It wasn’t much, but then again it didn’t need to be. All it takes is a small tear in the blinds for us to see the green grass past the white linen drapes.
