Screencaps from ABC Comedy, Today, Storytube, and Guardian News
By Situation Theatre 29/01/2019
They urgently need an intervention.
Sparked by Prue Macsween’s call for another stolen generation in March last year on Sunrise, the Australian Press Council has conducted research into levels of education amongst white commercial TV presenters and their guests. In light of yesterday’s ignorant-offensive-racist-rich-famous-white-lady-comments by Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Tony Jones’ cringe-worthy efforts throughout the Australian Open climaxing with his interview of champion Naomi Osaka, and Jones’ recent response to Brooke Boney on the subject of January 26, these findings about the astonishingly low levels of education on race issues of those surveyed come as a shock to nobody who hasn’t yet been lobotomised by Rupert Murdoch.
Contrary to the claims of Studio 10’s Sarah Harris that “We’re all educated people here”, only panellist Yumi Stynes showed any evidence of education on the subject of race.
This impression is borne out by the new report which shows not a single white commercial TV presenter or white guest appearing on network television over the last 12 months had ever heard of Amy McQuire, Gary Foley, Celeste Liddle, or Larissa Behrendt, let alone read any of their work.
None had ever seen a play by Nakkiah Lui or bothered to watch Black Comedy, although most correctly identified Cathy Freeman as Aboriginal.
Nobody had even read other white people who write and speak eloquently on Indigenous affairs, such as John Pilger, Chris Graham, Paddy Gibson and Dr Lissa Johnson.
One white TV presenter, who shall remain nameless, had heard of Pemulwuy, but he seemed to think it was a new Drumstick x Messina flavour.
Already there are critics of the new report though. Some suggest its scope was too limited in focusing only on commercial television. They have highlighted the lack of education amongst white journalists at the ABC, such as the other Tony Jones, whose reporting played a significant part in justifying the Northern Territory Intervention and the over 10 years of profoundly racist government policy up north since then.
Given the scale of the education crisis in commercial TV exposed by this report, nothing short of a 10 year intervention to educate these afflicted white communities on Aboriginal history, culture, resistance, and the history of anti-racism campaigning in Australia, will expel this scourge of ignorance from our television screens forever.