Introduction:
- perpetuating myths and stereotypes in the media
- 'The Colour of Money', Damien Murphy, The Bulletin, October 95
- Comment:
- Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Group, Gail Wallace, on the media's role in bridging the cultural gap
- Executive Director, Strategy & Review Branch, NSW Police, Neil Bridge, on the reality of policing in Redfern
- ABC TV Indigenous Programs Unit producer/presenter, Michelle Tuahine, on the media's stereotyping of Indigenous Australians
- 'Black is not a Colour', Letter to the Editor from HREOC's Zita Antonios and Mick Dodson, The Bulletin, 31 Oct 95
Please note that none of the reports in the case studies have been the subject of complaints or queries under the Racial Hatred Act.
Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, Gail Wallace, believes the media should think more about its role in bridging the cultural gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia:
The media should not underestimate its ability to inform and influence social opinion on race issues. It is not incorrect to state that stereotypical messages produced by media sources influence all facets of our community, including service provision in the private and public sectors.
It is important to the development of meaningful relationships between non-Aboriginals and Aboriginals that consultation with Indigenous communities becomes an integral part of social and policy development. Consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples is a reconciliatory vehicle to which all sectors of the community should be committed. For the media, that means giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people an opportunity to comment on or respond to reports about them from their point of view.
We all acknowledge that contact between Australia's majority and Aboriginal people is limited, but the media can play a major part in nurturing that contact.
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