Saturday, 25 August 2018

Strange Bedfellows


No doubt, gentle reader, you’re acquainted with both the media pile-on directed towards Ben Roberts-Smith, and the consequential outrage.

 Taken in isolation, this situation is patently ridiculous, and it is unfair, given that the material that is the subject of the pile-on is subject to a confidential ADF inquiry.

The pile-on is of course, unreasonable and unfair to Roberts-Smith, but it is hardly a new phenomenon.

 
 
Consider the cases of Emma Husar, and the character assasination following accusations of bullying and misuse of staff, and Yassmin Abdel Magied being abused to the point of being forced to leave the country after her Ill-considered remarks about ANZAC Day.

 
 
There is a striking similarity between these three situations, and some clear differences.

 The similarities include the publishing of a whole range of allegations that grow one upon the other, are amplified and value-added in social media, and are scurrilous in the extreme.

 There are, however, some differences, and they’re related to gender.

In the case of Husar and YAM, there is a characteristic of the pile-on that is salacious, and almost pornographic.

 In the case of Roberts-Smith, the pornography is violence.

 What this reveals is the mindset of those to whom this material appeals, and the level of gutter journalism in which many of our tabloids and shock jocks are prepared to operate.

 Sad and shameful......

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would appear that that Greek bloke Mr. Anonymous is your only reader. You should just take down your "comments" or upgrade the content of your posts. Even Anonymous cannot get past your small-minded moderator (whomever that may be).

Anonymous said...

Good morning perpetual whinger. It's me again. Just signing in to see if there are others reading your inane articles. Doesn't look like it.
Have good day pondering a method whereby you are able to block my communications reaching you.

Anonymous said...

There is another similarity between the three subjects of your post.....they all breathe air.
There is a difference here as well. One has earned the right to do so and the other two are stealing someone else's share. You guess which one has earned the right to breathe the air we share.

Rewriting history

Apart from being priceless viewing, gentle reader, this grab illustrates pretty clearly the consequences of a ham fisted attempt to rewrite ...