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ok, this is my first topic here, hopefully something good comes of it....

The Australians around here would be familiar with the recent so called Race attacks happenning across Australia, and the protests in New Delhi (sp?) regarding it. my question to you, are your thoughts on the situation, and this generation's perception of the media, and of course our dependence on it, taking it at face value and such.

for those who dont know, in Sydney in particular there have been a spade of assaults on indian tertiary students here on student visas, which the media claims as racist attacks, etc. I admittedly havent delved into that incident because quite frankly, the news services around here i beleive are completely inept. the resources i'd be looking at would probably most likely be overhyped to boost ratings etc, basic bandwagon jumping. However there is a related incident in which i do have interest, because it happened a little closer to home.

the other night, there were news reports about a racism attack on an Indian in Rundle Mall, Adelaide: my home town. The news services yet again proclaimed it to be a race attack.

The thing is, that their version of events is completely and utterly skewed. The attack was actually not that. the story reads that a 17 year old attacked this Indian, which i suspect is playing into the hype of the Sydney attacks. Later, I learned that this wasnt the case, what really happened was that the 17 year old in question, (ill call him Mr. X to be short) was walking with his girlfriend, when someone came up to them, and started getting aggressive with his girlfriend, so "Mr. X" steps up, Defends his girlfriend, and as a result, 2-3 other people come over and start to attack Mr. X, leaving him in need of medical attenion.

i was thinking over this whole incident over the last few hours, and something came to my attention. Sir Michael Parkinson (for those who dont know, a british media personality) wrote a column in which he looked at the media, this generation, and highlighting how this generation in England after some polls were conducted, how they simply do not know the difference between news, and reality television cross promoting. he commented on how Australian media is starting into the same downward trend. this got me thinking.

Im looking at one version of the incidents in Rundle Mall from both the news, and Mr. X (who happens to be a friend of my brothers), and how the people are just getting overhyped, how the media is just bandwagonning, and of course how competing news services will thrive off of ratings and a "good story".

It occurs to me that we have a serious problem in our society, how News services no longer look for the truth, but for the story that will get the most butts in their seats watching their special report on some overhyped incident, and how very VERY few people look at things beyond the surface.

i personally think (Sir.) Parkinson is right, the news here, and the attitude of the majority of the populace here who will just believe anything 'the man on the box' says, is worrying.

and before people start to say that "its been coming for years, why say something now?" or some other comment, I largely try to exclude local media coverage from what i read due to these trends.... so it isnt anything new to me, just that this incident in particular enrages me. just thought it might make for an interesting topic, though im not too much of a regular here so i dunno.

disclaimer: i in no way think of racism as being excusable or acceptable.... just to clear up any misconception.

~soul

Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed too
Pathetic how low media has sunken

The media is no different here with the blacks. If you ever do or say anything that could even remotely considered negative about even just one black, for instance calling him black, you are racist scum that is spewing hate speech.

I can only speak for the States, but media here is just so homogenized. All of the media outlets are owned by so few corporations, and their goal is to sell advertising. News becomes sensationalized as opposed to what it was in the days of Edward R Murrow.

"Radical-fundamentalist political correctness" establishment in the medias (and some political parties across the world) isn't only doing damages in your country lol. It's about almost every "minority" in most of "western" countries...
The bullcrap of hypocrit unlimited repentance by some politicians across the world (dont know for USA if it's the case too) is getting old & boring...those minorities keeping the victimisation no matter what, don't help.
It just helps to skyrocket minorities parasites' influence, which doesn't help AT ALL the modern and respectable part of them, the antithesis of parasites among said minorities.

Slavery is a bad thing from past not to do again. Europeans buyers and African sellers were BOTH guilty. Slavery in Dem Rep of Congo, Sudan and Somalia is still practiced alot. They are AS guilty as the white opportunists back to when triangle trading was being done.
Victimisation addicts forget voluntarly the second part which turns their credibility down to zero for aware and cultured people.


It's just sort of racism the other way. Like if racism against white people was ok, and others wasn't. Bunch of ignorants...NO racism is acceptable!
Not every attack act towards a colored person is racism.. However, attacks on white people from colored can be racism (even though often not considered as), and the crap of "oh but they got excuses see their painful past waah waah" is just showing how stupid those people saying this are.


Bunch of masochists I tell you!
/facepalm


I wouldn't vote for a colored person for his/her color or culture, but for his/her program.
So if there are ignorant people who would say it's because I'm racist, they can still eat my cap!

I think Obama is a good one, his skin is just one thing among many about him. Far from being the only one! I'm over this excessive political correctness. Having none is QUITE bad, but having excess/too much is QUITE bad TOO!
Those who voted for Obama JUST because he's black...tsk tsk!

Solus wrote:ok, this is my first topic here, hopefully something good comes of it....

The Australians around here would be familiar with the recent so called Race attacks happenning across Australia, and the protests in New Delhi (sp?) regarding it. my question to you, are your thoughts on the situation, and this generation's perception of the media, and of course our dependence on it, taking it at face value and such.

for those who dont know, in Sydney in particular there have been a spade of assaults on indian tertiary students here on student visas, which the media claims as racist attacks, etc. I admittedly havent delved into that incident because quite frankly, the news services around here i beleive are completely inept. the resources i'd be looking at would probably most likely be overhyped to boost ratings etc, basic bandwagon jumping. However there is a related incident in which i do have interest, because it happened a little closer to home.

the other night, there were news reports about a racism attack on an Indian in Rundle Mall, Adelaide: my home town. The news services yet again proclaimed it to be a race attack.

The thing is, that their version of events is completely and utterly skewed. The attack was actually not that. the story reads that a 17 year old attacked this Indian, which i suspect is playing into the hype of the Sydney attacks. Later, I learned that this wasnt the case, what really happened was that the 17 year old in question, (ill call him Mr. X to be short) was walking with his girlfriend, when someone came up to them, and started getting aggressive with his girlfriend, so "Mr. X" steps up, Defends his girlfriend, and as a result, 2-3 other people come over and start to attack Mr. X, leaving him in need of medical attenion.

i was thinking over this whole incident over the last few hours, and something came to my attention. Sir Michael Parkinson (for those who dont know, a british media personality) wrote a column in which he looked at the media, this generation, and highlighting how this generation in England after some polls were conducted, how they simply do not know the difference between news, and reality television cross promoting. he commented on how Australian media is starting into the same downward trend. this got me thinking.

Im looking at one version of the incidents in Rundle Mall from both the news, and Mr. X (who happens to be a friend of my brothers), and how the people are just getting overhyped, how the media is just bandwagonning, and of course how competing news services will thrive off of ratings and a "good story".

It occurs to me that we have a serious problem in our society, how News services no longer look for the truth, but for the story that will get the most butts in their seats watching their special report on some overhyped incident, and how very VERY few people look at things beyond the surface.

i personally think (Sir.) Parkinson is right, the news here, and the attitude of the majority of the populace here who will just believe anything 'the man on the box' says, is worrying.

and before people start to say that "its been coming for years, why say something now?" or some other comment, I largely try to exclude local media coverage from what i read due to these trends.... so it isnt anything new to me, just that this incident in particular enrages me. just thought it might make for an interesting topic, though im not too much of a regular here so i dunno.

disclaimer: i in no way think of racism as being excusable or acceptable.... just to clear up any misconception.

~soul

There is two sides to every story... but yes the media is mostly a run on thriller movie. They should spare the showmanship and over the top naratives.

Thriller wrote:There is two sides to every story... but yes the media is mostly a run on thriller movie. They should spare the showmanship and over the top narratives.

i wouldn't hold my breath for that:

http://www.prisonplanet.com/state-run-n ... nment.html

Solus wrote:...the other night, there were news reports about a racism attack on an Indian in Rundle Mall, Adelaide: my home town. The news services yet again proclaimed it to be a race attack.

The thing is, that their version of events is completely and utterly skewed. The attack was actually not that. the story reads that a 17 year old attacked this Indian, which i suspect is playing into the hype of the Sydney attacks. Later, I learned that this wasnt the case, what really happened was that the 17 year old in question, (ill call him Mr. X to be short) was walking with his girlfriend, when someone came up to them, and started getting aggressive with his girlfriend, so "Mr. X" steps up, Defends his girlfriend, and as a result, 2-3 other people come over and start to attack Mr. X, leaving him in need of medical attenion...

ok. There are more things that need to be looked at though:

• was mr.x 'indian' (I don't know if that's the correct term - do you mean Australian Aboriginal or East Indian).. you just said he was attacked, are you saying he was not 'indian'?
• if mr.x was either, was what was said by the youths about him and his girlfriend based on ethnicity

The news media has always been sensationalist. This is nothing new. The sell their product this way. They always have, they always will - beacause it's what people buy. It's popular culture. Preteens, teens, adults all want fame and fortune. They live vicariously thorough the stars they idolize, and want the life they lead. People pay for the scandalous pictures of Sienna Miller, Brittney Spears, and want to know who John Mayer is dating. The only way things like this would stop is if there was no money in it. We need to stop paying for and reading sensationalist media.

Really, it doesn't concern me in the slightest. It's a sign of the times and the world we live in. I don't purchase or watch shows about stars or whatever. I try to read the good stories and gather information from multiple sources. I know of stories because when I try sign out of hotmail I see garbage about it, when I watch the new I hear stuff about it, and so on.

Here is something for thought - CNN reports news like no other, they don't really follow stories like who John Mayer is dating or who slept with who last night, but do you think they would run a story that would really show the United States in negative light? Surely this can't be because the United States has done no wrong in the eyes of the world. So why then when I watch them do I not hear stories about negative things the US has done to other countries?

This is just one example. In Canada it's the same. Media don't report things that won't sell, wherever you are. Canada too.

Here's another example. According to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited children 2,185 children are reported missing EVERY DAY. Each and every day over two thousand kids go missing.

Now here's the kicker...

How many of those missing kids reports do you remember being from Harlem? South Central LA? South Bronx? Compton? North Philly? The media is also very slective on what they report, and I argue that information that even gets to them is filtered.

If you're from Canada or the US do you remember seeing 2,185 Amber alerts yesterday? Last week did you see 15,295 Amber alerts? Did you even see ONE amber alert yesterday? How about the day before?

Of ~31,960 kids that went missing so far this month in the US, only ONE has been had an amber alert issued. Lets assume that there are 1 million children 0-17 yrs in the us. Looking at probability, is is much more likely that more than just one has gone missing. Why then is only one reported?

It's terrible that anything has to happen to anyone like this but I mention cases and names to make a point.
Why do we talk for years about cases like Madaline McCain, Tori Stafford, and Jane Creba? Why is it that when my friend (Ishmael Spence) was murdered the media tried to spin the story like he was in a gang, but when someone walking down the street is shot their not part of a gang (if you know the above stories you'll know what I'm referring to)?

The media has been a open wound in society for a very long time, and when I say media I refer to everyone including the people who purchase it or watch it. I'm not talking about a big business, or faceless corporation. I'm talking about the people that work for the media. If the reporters, producers, owners, janitors, IT people, etc. all wanted change there would be change.

I digress. Everyone who works for media and the people who read it doesn't want change bad enough - or there would be change. It just like using purchasing power to change how cars are made in North America and what fuel is used to power them.

The short answer to all of my questions: stratification in society. That, I believe is the root of all of our issues. Stratification among income brackets, ethnicity, etc.

If anyone has the time take a look at the documentary "Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media". It is very, very good.

K

Mr. X wasn't Indian, it was the other guy that was Indian and making comments about Mr. X's girlfriend.

Jack wrote:The media is no different here with the blacks. If you ever do or say anything that could even remotely considered negative about even just one black, for instance calling him black, you are racist scum that is spewing hate speech.

Yep. And they can call themselves N words (and call white people "crackers") but if someone else even utters the N word, = hate crime.

I find it amusing how people whine about America having a "racism" problem when crap like this just does not happen in America, however crap like this does.

spacey, i havent read your post entirely, i will get to it soon.

i'll clarify because admittedly my first post was rather flustered, i was very tired and angry with this and a few other issues irl so my explanation may not have been up to standard.

first, Mr. X ill define as a regular Australian teenager, 17 years old.
the incident entails Mr. X walking down an otherwise peaceful shopping mall street (rundle mall) with his girlfriend, and a young indian man in his early 20's verbally assaults Mr. X and his girlfriend, the young indian man then turns to attempted physical assault, Mr X tries to defend the young woman, and then is set upon by the instigator our young indian friend along with 2 other young men of similar age or ethnicity.

in a nutshell, someone provoked an incident, the real victim is now branded as a racist, when nothing of the sort really happened. someone using their ethnicity for a bit of a media stunt, play the role of the victim when they instigated it themselves.

I hope that clears it up.

thanks everyone for your input.

~soul

I don't mean to criticize your point Spacey, but Noam Chomsky really needs to stick with linguistics and go away.

CRASSUS wrote:I don't mean to criticize your point Spacey, but Noam Chomsky really needs to stick with linguistics and go away.

If you don't like him or his work that's fine. Personally, I don't have a problem with it, but at the same time, I probably haven't looked into him as much as you have.

I think the work that I mentioned is a great 'documentary'/movie to show his (and others) perspective around an issue. I think it represents a collection of theories for one person and the basis for those theories and beliefs.

At the very least you must agree that, if you've seen the item in question, the ideas are provocative, interesting, and warrant further discussion (in society, etc.).