The Racial Hatred Act: Case study 5

Introduction:

• interpretation of complex research findings, surveys, and polls
  in news stories

Reports:

• 'Federal laws blamed for Sydney's
  welfare ghettos', Paul Sheehan, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1
  July 96
• 'Ethnic ghettos claim 'irresponsible',
  Illawarra Mercury, 2 July 96
• 'Urban Ghettos', Melbourne
  Yarra Leader, 8 July 96

Comment:

• The following journalists/editors comment on their coverage of Ernest
  Healy's report.
• The Sydney Morning Herald's
  Paul Sheehan
• AAP's Margaret McDonald
• The Illawarra Mercury's Peter
  Cullen
• The Melbourne Yarra Leader's Bob Osburn
• Ernest Healy, researcher
  and author of 'Welfare benefits and residential concentrations amongst
  recently arrived migrant communities' on how his report was misinterpreted
  by the media.
• The Federation of Ethnic Communities
  Councils of Australia comments on the harm done to communities
  through the use of loaded language and offensive terminology in the media.

Please note that none of the reports in the case studies have been the
subject of complaints or queries under the Racial Hatred Act.

Bob Osburn, Editor, Melbourne Yarra
Leader, comments:

The university researcher's comments on urban ghettos were seen as highly relevant to the Melbourne Yarra Leader as our inner city distribution area contains several major public housing high-rise estates. The Leader was interested in the issue as a local story and whether the researcher's findings accurately reflected life in the city's high rise estates. The issue was first raised in a small way in a column in one of the metropolitan dailies. The Leader immediately took it up and pursued its own angles by speaking to those who live and work in the estates. Our reporter spoke to Mr Ernest Healy. Those (others) interviewed did not see his report. Generally race issues are of interest because of the great ethnic mix of Melbourne's inner-city suburbs. The Leader reports race issues as it does any other news issue, seeking to localise as much as possible.

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