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February 17, 2004

Media Slant

It isn't what you say, it's the way you say it and the sequence in which you present the data. Take this example about the riots on the weekend in Redfern (an inner-city suburb of Sydney). The article presents the story in the following sequence:
- Police were injured in a riot
- A boy was killed
- Police say it wasn't them
- The government will investigate
- The residents blame the police
and finally in a footnote a brief mention of drug dealing.

What made the story "headline" news was not the injured cops but the fact that the rioters were predominately part-aborigine. In other words the sequence is white cop vs black rioter.

How about we rearrange the story a little and use the following sequence:
- Lots of drug dealing in a slum suburb
- Police are cracking down on drug dealing
- Some kid thinks the police are after him (for drug dealing?) and has an accident
- Drug dealers round up and organise a protest which turns violent, using racism as an excuse

Now is the story still so sensational?

The underlying complain from an "unidentified resident" is that "all the kids have had trouble with the police". Yup. Absolutely true. All the kids, that is, who deal in drugs, set cars on fire, harass people passing through, get drunk and misbehave. Note that the reasons they have trouble with the police have to do with their behaviour NOT their ethnicity.

Posted by Ozguru at February 17, 2004 08:02 AM

Comments

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Posted by: Peskie at February 17, 2004 08:02 AM

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Posted by: Ramblings of SilverBlue at February 17, 2004 08:02 AM