Australian media must lift its game

 

There have been times when people usually query about the media integrity. It has happened many times that our local (Australian) media projected the migrant community in bad light. Just last month various local publications have provided names and pics of Indians charged with anything illegal from stealing a few goods to sexual assault. The language used in such cases had been one to trial them as guilty even without court appearance or judgment.

Unfortunately different standards have been applied when the criminal happen to be from white background. Now a days it has become easy to identify the identity of the criminal, if the media is silent about their identity than most likely they'll be white otherwise their identity and whole family history can be read in the story.

Yesterday, Victoria Police identified and charged the murderer in the Nitin Garg murder case. It is a welcome move that really goes to reassure the community that finally the Police are taking the matter of public safety seriously. As always the identity of the criminal was kept confidential.

BTW, I personally support equality. Either identities for all criminals should be kept confidential or should be disclosed. The selectivity in reporting smells like a rot.

This bias discouraged me to limit my contribution but Nitin Garg case is too important and can have a huge impact. So I finally decided to make a statement. I did only about 10 interviews today and could not entertain another 10 requests. Could not any morning radio shows due to prior engagements.

Guess what, The Indian media carried my statement with my intentions intact. I have not seen what Ch10 did, but I guess The Age definitely pulled another one on me. Here is the evidence.

PTI quoted "Federation of Indian Students in Australia (FISA) spokesperson Gautam Gupta lauded the role of Victorian police in charging the teenager and said the Indian students attack crisis has helped in making Victoria a safe place.

The Age quoted "Federation of Indian Students of Australia spokesman Gautam Gupta said it was too early to say whether the charge would improve relationships between the two countries and it was not about ''one crime, it's about the police attitudes''".

Now one would wonder why will The Age be selective in quoting only a tiny bit of what I said? It also changes the meaning of what I said. The Age Reporter spoke to me at length and I told him exactly what I told PTI. He asked me if this will help bring the countries closer and I explained the issue of inconsistency. But I stressed upon the whole community coming together and congratulating and encouraging the Police. The consistency in Police response, which has been missing till date, will bring the countries and communities back together.

Well, I guess we still have a bit more to go to get a fair and just media. I sincerely hope they see the big picture and really work to bring communities closer.