Dogs Breakfast

Judy Satish 'Meet a Local' profile. The Townsville Sun Newspaper 24/9/09

2009-12-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

It’s Wednesday morning in Pune, India; a city located approximately 120km from Mumbai. As the sun rises, the streets of Pune begin to breath with the muffled sounds of people shouting and kids screaming, waking Judy Satish to the coming day. She shakes off the last remnants of a dream, looks at her watch and takes a deep breath and sighs.

``I would wake up and I would think, ‘oh no,’ I have to go and see all those terrible feet.’’

As Judy makes her way through the streets of Pune, her senses come alive to the ancient modern city with the smell of coconut and garlic mixed with exhaust fumes invading her consciousness. People are moving past her in a blur, a mixture a white and red dress clash unceremoniously with the ancient architecture causing Judy to stop to clean her glasses.

In the distance, Judy can see her destination through the flowering Jacaranda trees that line the street. People have already started to arrive with many making themselves comfortable on the lawns outside. As she enters the mission hospital, she notices that the bench outside her clinic is bursting at the seams with people waiting. Waiting for hope, waiting to be healed, and waiting for her.

``The hospital only accommodated 80 patients but we had over a hundred staying there so a lot of them would sleep on the floor,’’ Judy said.

`` To be admitted there you had to have a complicated wound on your foot, so it’s down to veins and tendons and it’s not very nice.’’

`` I would have patients lined up on a bench seat and I’d go from one to another and basically clean up their feet,’’ she said.

At 23, Townville podiatrist Judy Satish went to a country that she couldn’t even find on the map to work with people who had leprosy. The first hospital Judy arrived at had no nurses and only a handful of staff that couldn’t speak English.

``I was the only foreigner at the hospital,’’ Judy said while adjusting her glasses.

``The hospital was more like a colony with a lot of the patients doing the work. The surgery was done under a local anaesthetic rather than a general anaesthetic.’’

``I would get there and you would have just the best day. These people were poor and had leprosy and infected feet, but they were happy. Even though they had all the problems that they did, they were still content with their lives and they made the day really enjoyable for me,’’ she said smiling.

Now 49, Judy runs a pediatry clinic out of an old converted minors shack on Bundock Street in Townsville. Judy grew up in Ingham and said the reason why she got into feet/podiatry was to keep her mum happy.

``Mum worked in a nursing home where they paid for a podiatrist,’’ she said.

``Mum had to work so she wanted her daughters to have the option of working part time if they wanted to.’’

``Once I started working I really started loving the profession. When I was studying, I was in the library wasting time and I saw this article on sensitive feet and I wondered what it was about. It eventually led me to work with leprosy patients in India,’’ Judy said.

Leprosy is a bacterial disease that affects about 4% of any population. It is a bacteria that damages the nerves close to the skins’ surface. The loss of sensation in fingers, hand/toes and feet is a major cause of deformity in India. Women burn their fingers while cooking, as they cannot feel the heat. Men develop blisters while doing labour work and don't feel the pain.

``I would go to the clinic and the different wards in the morning and someone would ask for a tooth brush, and you would ask why,’’ she said.

``Normally most people just used their fingers to clean their teeth, however, rats were chewing their fingers off during the night.’’

``Normally if you had a rat chew you finger you would wake up. But because of the leprosy it didn’t hurt and you used to see some horrific stuff sometimes. We think of pain as a bad thing, but it’s there to keep us alive,’’ Judy said.

Judy stayed in India for a number of years and while in India she fell in love with four things. She fell in love with the country and its culture, the people and her husband.

``My husband is Indian and I met him, as you do, at a leprosy hospital where he was working as a doctor,’’ she said laughing.

``In 1992, I was invited to speak at the Australian Pediatry Conference in Townsville and we found out the week before I left that I was pregnant.’’

``I managed to find work in Townsville and nine months later our sone was born,’’ she said.

``I grew up in Ipswich and I have family there, but Townsville feels more like home to me than Ipswich does. When I was growing up we lived two hours from the Gold Coast. Now we live at Pallarenda and we walk down to the sea every day. Even though Townsville is a city, it’s such a family orientated town and has a great community feeling to it. I really love living here. It feels like home.’’

Carla Keith: Meet a Local profile: The Townsville Sun Newspaper 29/10/09

2009-10-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Carla Keith is taller and bigger than everyone else around her. As she makes her way to work past the endless rows of bikes and neon signs screaming from the sides of skyscrapers, she tries to ignore the way people look and stare at her as if she’s from another planet. ‘At least they get out of my way,’ she thought as she turned the corner towards the subway.

On seeing the subway entrance, the rich odour of soy and the intoxicating fumes of highly refined gasoline envelopes her senses. She stops for a second to catch her breath as two young women brush past her with surgical masks over their mouths. They look back at Carla, laugh and move on like the world has always been their oyster.

As Carla enters the subway, down the aluminium elevators and onto the stations platform, tires, viscous pork and ramen noodles replace the smells of soy mixed with gasoline. When she gets on the bright silver train, people look at her and stop as if in shock, reminding Carla of the old American Westerns. Two men are so confronted that they get up and leave their seats, in which Carla kindly accepts their offer and sits down. She looks past the people, the steel poles and the triangles hanging from the ceiling and eyes a sign; ‘Welcome to Tokyo,’ it said, ‘The Place to Be.’

``Before I got a job in radio I went travelling and ended up teaching English in Japan,’’ Carla said.

``It was hard because I was taller and bigger than everyone else. All the Japanese men were scared of me. I would get on a train and they would get up and move away.

`` It had is challenges as it’s such a different place to what Australia is. The culture here is to have friends around and give and go to BBQs. You go out and do the pubs and clubs and things like that, which I really missed in Tokyo,’’

At 19, Radio 4TO news director and presenter Carla Keith went over to Japan to teach English. Living in a small apartment surrounded by other apartments with two other foreigners, Carla spent eighteen months being the odd one out in a city of twelve million people.

``It was really difficult at first but I eventually began to enjoy it. The experience really taught me a lot about myself,’’ she said while patting her dog Zander.

``The best part is that I met my husband Ryan there. He’s Canadian and was one of my housemates. He was teaching English the same as me.

``Six weeks after meeting we were engaged,’’ Carla said laughing.

Born in Brisbane and educated on the Gold Coast, when Carla returned from Japan she applied for a postgraduate course at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney where she realised that she had a face for radio.

``I always knew that I would be in journalism. I think my dream was to be like a television anchorperson. I think everyone holds television up as being glamorous when it’s just a job,’’ Carla said.

``I did it for eight weeks on Pricey TV and by the end I was over it big time. I had to get up half an hour earlier than what I get up know, just to put on makeup.

`` It’s not that I didn’t like it. It grew on me. It’s just really confronting if you are not used to being in front of the camera,’’ Carla said reassuringly.

In 2005 while living in Sydney, Carla was offered a job in Townsville at 4TO. Without considering the consequences, Carla and her new husband Ryan jam-packed their belongings into a small blue Toyota hatchback and drove from Sydney to Townsville in thirty-six hours. Within the week Carla had introduced herself to Townsville and was on the air.

``Doing radio journalism really inspires me,’’ Carla said.

``As a Journalist you get to speak to a lot of people like politicians. I find it interesting cause you know a lot of what they are saying is just spin.

``But when you can get a politician away from all of that and really talk to them one on one, you find out the real issues and that’s the part I enjoy,’’ Carla said smiling.

Carla 26, is now one of the regular faces and voices of Townsville. Every weekday morning you can hear Carla waking up the neighbours across the Garrison city. Carla and her husband Ryan liked Townsville so much that they bought a house, got a dog, and had a son.

``Townsville is a place that surprises. When we moved up from Sydney, everyone was saying, what are you going to Townsville for, it’s so backward. No one had anything good to say about Townsville,’’ Carla said.

``Having lived in Tokyo, Brisbane, Sydney and the Gold Coast, we love it.

``We genuinely enjoy being up here, we love the weather, we love the people and the friends that we have made. I mean five minutes away we are at the beach, you can drive twenty minutes and you’re in the rainforest, Townsville is great.’’

Ross Benson: 'Meet a Local' profile - The Townsville Sun Newspaper 22/10/09

2009-10-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

It’s an early quiet Saturday morning in Townsville, the orange sun’s ray’s escape between the thighs of the old gums and fig trees of Magnetic Island, piercing Townsville out of its slumber. The blood red earth glow of Castle Hill shines at the sun’s arrival stirring the tails of kangaroo grass into what looked like a collective Mexican wave.

At its peak, a small mob of red-tailed black cockatoos squawk and fight for space from the branches of a yellow oleander tree as a peregrine falcon circles for its morning feed. While above, the air collides with insects riding the breeze suspended in the warm slipstream of the ocean below.

Amongst the blue and the imposing silence of the morning, an approaching hum startles the complaining cockatoos into the flight path of the falcon, interrupting its bird’s eye view and its breakfast. The disgruntled hum grows louder until it envelops Castle Hill with its loud roar.

``Isn’t it stunning, just look at those colours bouncing of the water into that sky,’’ Ross said turning back to look at his family.

``Don’t you just love it,’’ he said to his wife, who smiles and nods her head.

Ross Benson is behind the stick of a small white Cessna airplane. It’s his day off and today he is taking his wife, daughter and a couple of mates on a joy flight. Suddenly and without warning, the six-seater plane flips upside down onto its back and plunges towards the ground.

``When I looked back my family looked really bored so I thought it was time to wake them up,’’ Ross said grinning.

``They screamed the whole time down, it was priceless.’’

Townsville local and Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader and Caribou Pilot Ross Benson lives life in the fast lane. Serving in parts of South East Asia, the South Pacific, East Timor and PNG, the Caribou pilot coordinates flare-dropping missions, medical evacuation, search and rescue and paratroop training exercises, but the main task is the airlift of troops, civilians, supplies, ammunition, mail and food. Ross said it’s the job of a lifetime and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

``I’ve been fascinated with flying since the age of six,’’ Ross said.

``I was out at a RAAF open day with my grandfather where I saw my first Mirage and F111 and I said that I want to fly those things.’’

``I remember where I was standing is where we park the Caribous now,’’ Ross said smiling.

Life provides many distractions over the years and Ross forgot about his dream. After high school he attended university studying civil engineering and at 21 he was working as a design draftsman in Brisbane.

``I thought it was a pipe-dream and I forgot about it,’’ Ross said.

``I didn’t think I was good enough until I met a Townsville guy that was flying Hornets. He said that he used to be an electrician, so I thought I would give it a go.’’

Ross Benson 38, has now been serving and flying with the RAAF for the last 16 years. He has flown Skyhawks, Mirages, F111s and has travelled faster than sound in a Hornet. From Cessna’s to Hercules, Caribou’s and the PC-9 Pilatus jets, he has flown them all. However, Ross’s personal favourite assignment was being the pilot on the Prime Ministers jet.

``It was a cushy job and it was brilliant. The flying itself isn’t much, because it’s just like Qantas flying - don’t actually print that,’’ Ross said leaning over the table.

``The politicians come up to the cockpit and have a chat with you. The Prime Minister or the Governor General, not now, this was back when the Coalition was in power.’’

``Peter Costello was my favourite by far. He was quite witty, he’s a smart arse like me, and he’s really good to banter with. We were going somewhere and I was sitting with my feet raised on the dash and Costello walks in and goes, ‘what are you doing,’ and I responded, ‘working hard Peter that’s what you pay me for,’ he was a great guy’’ Ross said laughing.

In 2007, Ross was finally assigned back home and brought his wife, daughter and twin boys to Townsville. For the past two years, Ross has been stationed in Townsville as Squadron Leader of two of the last four remaining RAAF Caribous in Australia.

``It was great to come back to Townsville, especially for my family, believe it or not, but I actually get a kick out of taking the kids to school’ Ross said.

``I’ve lived in Brisbane, New Castle, Perth and Canberra, but Townsville has all the facilities without the big feel of a city where you have to think logistically about how to get out.’’

``Here I have kids that do five different lots of sports and it’s all ten minutes away whereas in Sydney or Brisbane it would take an hour. I love living here; the kids are happy, we’ve made lots of friends. I love Townsville, it’s perfect.’’

Jenny Denning: 'Meet a Local' feature. The Townsville Sun Newsaper 15/10/09

2009-10-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

The wind carries the sweet smell of decaying earth and dried wattle across the surface of the Fitzroy River, causing ripples of small waves to race each other across the surface to the grass covered banks on the other side. The little screaming sounds of sparrows erupt from an old fig making the tree look as if it were alive amongst the majestic gums standing to attention like soldiers at the rivers side.

Jenny watches and listens to the sparrows chattering and scolding each other for the rude awakening. The lights from the city street illuminate simultaneously across the river, creating long shadows reflecting lazily on its surface. Jenny hears something break the surface of the water, a fish, a turtle, a bird, she doesn’t know.

``Are you okay,’’ her boyfriend John asks.

``You’ve been very quiet, that movie didn’t scare you did it?’’

It’s 1963, and for John and Jenny it is their summer of love. They have just come from watching a double feature of ‘The Pink Panther’ and Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ at the Rockhampton cinema. Jenny, dressed in a delicate yellow summer skirt, holds John’s hand as they sit on the rivers banks and watch the moon rise.

``It’s getting late and I think it’s passed my curfew, you better take me home,’’ Jenny said.

Jenny is 18 and is in her second year of training to be a nurse. Born and bred in Rockhampton, Jenny grew up on a cattle station and had dreams of becoming a nurse from a very young age.

``I don’t know why,’’ Jenny said smiling.

``My grandmother was the first registered nurse in Queensland, but I don’t think that was the reason. I just wanted to be a nurse,’’ she said.

In bye-gone days, training to be a nurse did not require a university degree, an internship or the sitting of exams. In 1963 to become a nurse required four years of hard training from the ground up. The Rockhampton hospital and its staff were governed by a strict and patriarchal regime of Matrons’ and Sisters’ and Jenny had just broken a golden rule. Home for trainee nurses was the hospital and Jenny has just stayed out an hour after curfew.

``The movies started around 7 o’clock and there were two movies,’’ Jenny explained.

``You just didn’t see one. You had a movie, an interval and then another movie. So even just a movie night was a late night, longer than the curfew anyway.’’

``You could get passes to go out, but some times you didn’t realise that you would be late coming back. The things we used to do to get out of curfew, you know, we would sneak in late and get passed who ever was on the door,’’ Jenny said.

Jenny said that her boyfriend John led her astray at the time, which she said, got her into trouble on a number of occasions with the Matron of the hospital.

``She was rather abusive, but I think that went with the era basically’’

``The serious things were staying out late and having a boyfriend, she would call you a slut and all sorts of things, which wasn’t deserved,’’ she says laughing.

``We used to get a lot of phone calls from boys wanting to ask out the trainee nurses. One night it was John and a couple of weeks later we got together at a dance``

``Three years later I married him,’’ Jenny said.

John and Jenny Denning are still together today. They live in Belgium Gardens on a quiet leafy suburban street. Moving to Townsville with their two children in 1973, Jenny left nursing and worked as a teacher’s aid at Heatley Primary School. Once the children were older, Jenny returned to nursing and worked in a doctor’s surgery before going on to work for the last twenty years with the Red Cross Blood Service here in Townsville.

``I’ve found it a really rewarding job and it’s been really good fun,’’ Jenny said.

``I’ve made a lot of good friends both with the staff and with the donors. When you see them so regularly you become friends.’’

``When I first started we had only five staff - three nurses and 2 assistants and a lot of volunteers. We used a lot of volunteers to do the job, which we don’t do now. Now the Red Cross Blood Service in Townsville has over forty staff and work out of three sites,’’ she said.

At 64, Jenny’s favourite pastime is getting out in the garden and getting her hands dirty. She loves to cook and enjoys spending time with in the outdoors with her grandchildren.

``I really like the outdoors life in Townsville,’’ she says.

``It wasn’t a city that we wanted to come too and we used to pass through it many times without taking a glance, but once we did we realised it was a great place.’’

``It was great for our kids growing up with excellent educational facilities. Townsville’s a great place and I cant think of anywhere better to be,’’ Jenny said.

Helen Rowe: 'Meet a Local' feature. The Townsville Sun Newspaper 8/10/09

2009-10-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

It’s Tuesday morning in Townsville. The wind carries the coming heat of the day through the awakening streets creating constant chatter amongst the trees leaves. Long shadows resembling stick men stretch lazily across the road with their outer edges slipping under closed doors, silently invading homes anonymously.

Real estate agent Helen Rowe sits and waits patiently in her car quietly watching the incoming shadows creep across the street. She checks her watch and sighs. It’s 8.37am and the perspective buyers have not arrived. She looks up and eyes the house that she hopes to sell, an old white weatherboard Queenslander covered in what looks like liver spots stands tall and ominously over the street.

The sun begins to scream across the road infecting Helen’s car with heat. Helen looks in the rear view mirror and behind her, still no clients. She decides to wait on the front porch of the old Queenslander where the veranda is still slumbering out of the warmth of the day. As Helen walks over the pavement and across the front lawn, she feels confident in her abilities and uncannily believes that the house will definitely sell today.

As she walks up the front steps, the weather beaten old boards creak and grown at her arrival. Dead plants in dark pots line the handrail of the front porch reminding Helen of ancient Greek columns. She sees an old battered but comfortable looking cane chair in the corner and decides to take a breather and wait. As she walks towards the chair her footing becomes unstable on the floorboards, lifting one of them straight into her face and knocking her onto the ground.

``It was like being the movies,’’ Helen said.

``It knocked me flying off the porch and into the mud and I couldn’t even get up and walk.’’

``I crawled to my car in the mud and got on the two-way radio, as in those days that’s all we had. I was in pain, to me it was very painful, but I have to admit, it was very funny as well,’’ Helen said laughing.

For the past ten years Helen Rowe has been serving pies to Townsville. Former secretary, army wife, baker and real estate agent, Helen chased a man from Victoria to Townsville in 1971.

``I did have an invitation,’’ Helen says reassuringly.

``I met him through his sister and I followed him up. He was in the 1st battalion here in Townsville.’’

``I married him six weeks later, we thought why wait,’’ she said.

Compared to her hometown of East Brighton in Victoria, Townsville was an outback-dusty garrison town, where the desert met the sea. At first the lifestyle, the heat and the laid back attitude made it difficult for Helen to settle in.
``It was a bit hard because I didn’t have any relatives and trying to get work in those days in Townsville was difficult because of being a so-called army wife,’’ she said.

``In those days they (soldiers) used to move every two years so employers were reluctant to hire you.’’

``But then I started having a family with a boy in 73’ and a girl in 75’. So eventually I became a stay at home mum,’’ Helen said.

Once the children were a little bit older, Helen began working in real estate were she fell in love with the chase of the game. For the next fifteen years Helen brought up her family while selling houses in and around Townsville, however, behind the scenes her marriage of seventeen years was falling apart.

``When I separated I got out of real estate because I didn’t want to work with people at that stage. Even though we’re not still together we’re still good mates, he comes into the shop all the time’’ she said.

``I went into housecleaning and then I freelanced with an art gallery and a photographer selling their works. Later on I got a job at the bakery on Magnetic Island, where I now live.’’

At 60, you can now find Helen working her own business behind the ovens and the counter at Chunky Pies on Ross River road in Aitkenvale. To keep herself sane, Helen paints and writes poetry and is in the process of building a scale model replica of the old English ships that founded Australia.

``It will take about two and a half years to build as it’s made out of thousands of little timber bits,’’ she said.

``I love the challenge of it. I like painting in oils and I suppose I’m a challenge fanatic. Building these ships challenges me because there is so many ropes and its so involved that I try to get it right.’’

Helen is currently in the process of handing over her bakery/pie business to her son. Now living on Magnetic Island, Helen is returning to what she describes as ‘in her blood,’ real estate, and has just obtained her real estate license. Even though the mainland and Townsville is across the sea, Helen says that she will never leave.

``It’s paradise. I’ve been down to Melbourne a couple of times over the years and everything is grey and droll and the people seem sad,’’ she said.

``Everything is gorgeous and green up here. People talk to each other, the sun is always shinning, everyone is reasonably always happy, it’s just a different world and it’s beautiful.''

Gary Whitchurch: 'Meet a Local' feature. The Townsville Sun Newspaper 1/10/09

2009-10-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Gary Whitchurch smiles and looks in the mirror. He looks at the reflexion of his client and tries to reassure her that it’s going to be okay. ‘I’ve done this plenty of times’ he reassures, though the strained and anxious look on the woman’s face tells him that she would rather be anywhere but here.

Gary leans forward and dips his hands into a small beige plastic tub and moves out of the vision of the mirror to face her. The woman’s hazy blond hair is tightly bound and wrapped in a red towel, reminding Gary of the old Hollywood ‘Ali Baba’ films he used to watch as a kid.

``You ready’’ he said, as he raised his hands. ``Remember, I’ve done this plenty of times.’’

The women nods silently and closes her eyes as Gary’s hands descend upon her face.

``Now, we are just going to go through the three basic steps,’’ he says.

``First we’re going to cleanse, then tone and finaly moisturize. Depending on how everything goes, we may include a little bit of steaming, exfoliating and if needed a mask.’’

Townsville local Gary Whitchurch is an enigma. From playing AFL and NRL, joining the navy at 16 and becoming a quarter master gunner, to applying makeup as a cosmetics consultant, Gary Whitchurch lives life symbiotically.

``My wife was involved in a cosmetics company and I started selling cosmetics,’’ Gary said.

`` I actually worked…God this is going to get me nailed,’’ he says pausing as if unsure.

``I actually worked as a cosmetics consultant and did all the diplomas. I would do facials and everything to putting makeup on women. I did beauty consultancy training and amongst that I got into the personal development side of motivating people.’’

For the last twenty years Gary Whitchurch has been a personal motivator and trainer and is the Business Manager for Break Thru People Solutions in Townsville. With a welcoming handshake and a big smile, Gary works with the disadvantaged and unemployed with a personal motto of, ‘Don’t look down on anyone unless you’re giving them a hand up.’

``I believe that I can uplift, encourage and inspire people from all walks of life,’’ he said.

``I have lived by that philosophy and that statement all my life’’

`` I like to get off on the success of other people. There is so much joy and excitement in seeing the growth and development with disadvantaged people. When they find sustainable employment, life starts to turn for the better,’’ Gary said.

In the early nineties, some shopkeepers and shoppers in the mall may remember a visit every week from a large man who used to meet and greet everyone with a jovial laugh and wave and the customary hail, ‘Have a great day.’

``They would look at me as if I was a loony,’’ laughed Gary.

``What I was doing was publicising myself and letting people know I was out there and that I was genuine. Out of that I became a senior training consultant. I’ve trained the disadvantaged, the unemployed and conducted staff training.’’

After a short stint playing the old VFL (Victorian Football League) for Campbelltown and Burwood in Melbourne, Gary’s love for inspiring and motivating people began when he returned to Townsville in 1986 and worked as a grounds man and janitor for a local primary school.

``I noticed that I was motivating the kids as a groundsman,’’ Gary said smiling.

``I was always out there kicking the footy around at lunchtime, really helping the kids to make them feel good about themselves and their self worth.’’

``I put gardens in and around the school to try and get the kids involved and it really worked. However, the grounds committee and school council put a stop to it as they believed I was making the kids work. I got the kids involved and instead of them breaking into the school, they were looking after the school,’’ he said.

At 49, married with three children and grandfather to two boys, Gary relaxes either with a fishing rod in his hand or a remote. Every weekend, while the AFL is on, you will fine Gary on the couch with his wife Wendy watching his beloved Carlton on Austar.

``It took a few years, but once the kids left the nest Wendy seemed to fall in love with the game,’’ Gary says grinning.

``I travel to Melbourne and Brisbane once a year to catch a game. It doesn’t worry me that I only get to see a couple of games because I live in Townsville.’’

``I love Townsville. I love the climate, the people and the fishing. Townsville is becoming a bigger city, it’s growing and getting faster and more demanding, but this is my hometown. Every time I leave it’s magnetic. I don’t know why, but it brings me back every time. It’s my hometown.’’

Mathew Carrington: 'Meet a Local' feature - The Townsville Sun Newpaper 17/9/09

2009-09-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

It’s a bright crisp Saturday morning, the dew on the grass glimmers in the reflective sunlight forming a kaleidoscope of colours, turning every front yard into what looked like a river of rainbows. A slight breeze wafts through the gum trees enveloping the entire street, cooling the sweat on Mathew Carrington’s face.

It’s Saturday morning and there is no school. Mathew woke just as the sun was waking and to the sound of Curlews complaining about its rude arrival. He got dressed, had breakfast, brushed his teeth and went out the door within a minute. Five minutes later, Mathew is riding his bike through the streets with three of his friends to the local park

To Mathew it seemed as if the blur of passing Townsville streets and houses was moving at a million miles an hour. His friends were trying to catch him as he jumped the gutters and flicked stones with his back wheel into letterboxes. In that moment, a young Mathew Carrington smelled breakfasts being prepared and heard the laughter of his friends as he raced them to the park. The next moment, there was nothing, only darkness and the faint sounds of paramedics asking him if he was okay.

``I can’t remember a thing,’’ Mathew said.

``One minute I was riding my bike down the street; the next I was flat out on the road and an ambulance was there.’’

From the age of five, Mathew Carrington’s parents realised that something was wrong. At first it was just small things; headaches to blurred vision. Then one day when Mathew was watching television, he fell to the ground and began have a seizure.

``Since about the age of five they knew, but they didn’t know what,’’ he said.

``It really sucks; you’re doing or learning something and then all of a sudden everything gets wiped out – like an eraser.’’

Over the next few years, Mathew would battle constant seizures and blackouts. After many visits to doctors and hospitals and many tests, the doctors had no clear diagnosis. Then one day in hospital when Mathew was having an ECG (Electrocardiogram), an anomaly appeared in the form of an electrical current that was running around his brain.

``They didn’t know what it was so they ended up doing an exploratory operation,’’ Mathew said touching the right side of his head.

``They found a tumour attached to the side of my brain the size of a tennis ball.’’

``After a lot of treatment and medication they were able to operate and successfully removed the tumour,’’ he said.

Due to complications and surgical techniques, Mathew’s tumour wasn’t removed until he was a teenager. His recovery and subsequent rehabilitation took a number of months and a section of his skull is now permanently removed.

``They removed a section of my skull to get to the tumour, but when they went to return it, my body rejected it as a foreign body,’’ he smiled.

``They tried an acrylic plate but there was no bore skin to attach it to, so they just let the skin grow over it. Unfortunately I am now missing a quarter of my skull.’’

Due to his condition, Mathew had to relearn basic motor skills and communication skills. After many months of rehab, he eventually returned to school and started to rebuild his life. However, Mathew says that he considers himself lucky as there are a lot more people worse off than he is.

``At the special school I went to before the operation there was a number of people having seizures,’’ he said.

There was this one kid that would fall over a number of times a day and convulse on the ground.’’

``As a result, he constantly had to wear a black stack-hat. When I saw things like that I realised just how lucky I really was,’’ he said laughing.

Now 42, Mathew is an avid bowler and skilled wood-turner with a number of pieces displayed in his small Kirwan flat. Due to on-going care and medical assistance, he has only recently just moved out of his parent’s home.

``Dad said that it was about time I moved out as I am going to need to look after myself when they’re gone,’’ he said.

``Mum’s in her seventies and Dad’s in his eighties and they aren’t going to be around for ever.’’

``I really like it. I can watch the shows I want; I can have the meals I want, and I can go to bed when I want. Dad would watch every news program every night; it’s not necessary to watch so much news,’’ he said.

Mathew says that all through his illness his family and himself were assisted and helped by many people in Townsville. This inspired Mathew to help others and for the last 16 years he has been volunteering his time with Lifeline Townsville and received an Australia Day Award in 2003 in recognition of his dedication to his work.

``When I first started I was on a disability pension and I really looked forward to going. I was working with people and I had a job to go to,’’ he said.

``For the first time I really felt like I was doing something.’’

``I wasn’t just collecting a pension anymore; I was finally putting something back into the community instead of just taking from it. I was finally returning the help that people gave me. I was finally assisting and helping the Townsville community in much the same way as the Townsville community helped me,’’ he said.

Rex the Cat: 'Meet a Local' feature - The Townsville Sun Newspaper 10/9/09

2009-09-11T00:45:00.000-07:00

According to an old ancient proverb, you will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats. According to an old Townsville proverb, you will always get a drink at the Australian Hotel as long as you’re friends with the cat.

You wont find the name ‘Rex the cat’ above the door at the Australian Hotel, however, according to the Australian Hotel’s cleaner of 33 years Fay Connor, Rex the resident tabby is unofficially the hotel publican.

``He wondered into the hotel 21 years ago as a stray,’’ Ms Connor said.

``The hotel Maitre De started to feed him which was quickly followed by other staff with some people even bringing in cat food.’’

``He’s just like a tabby cat. He’s never been a fat cat, he gets fed fairly well, with everyone feeding him constantly,’’ she said.

Fay said that once the manager Steve Miller arrives, Rex constantly follows him around the hotel and keeps an eye on his work ethics. It is believed by some staff that Rex is the reincarnation of a hotel publican.

``He follows Steve around checking to see if he’s done his job properly,’’ Fay says with a grin.

``From the office to the bar and to the pokies, Rex’s cats eye (he has only one eye) watches Steve and studies his every move. It’s got to the point that Steve is quite paranoid about stuffing up.’’

``Once Rex managed to slip unnoticed into the safe. Steve found him purring proudly on top of all the money with a look on his face as if to say ‘this is mine and I’m looking after it, please leave,’’’ Fay said.

In the first year of Rex’s arrival at the Australian Hotel, the cold cruel hands of human interference invaded his utopian paradise.

``One of the girls working behind the bar took him to the vet and had him spaded,’’ Fay laughed.

``The girl paid for it herself. She worked part time as a vet nurse and probably got a discount. Since then he has generally got a check-up every couple of years.’’

The old wives tale says that a cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays. So if true, this means that Rex is currently either living the life of a stray, where somebody somewhere is still waiting for him to come home or he’s in the latter, comfortably spending his days in a ‘beggars heaven’ amongst the Australian Hotel’s inhabitants.

``Rex is free to come and go as he pleases,’’ Fay says.

``He’s got real character you can see it in his face. He’s like a human or a loyal dog, you know how you can like or dislike someone just by looking at them.’’

``Rex has got a likeable quality about him, he’s his own cat, he may live at the hotel sometimes, but no one really owns him. We’re not keeping him at the hotel and it’s not as if we are tying him up like a dog or anything, technically, he’s still a stray,’’ she said.

Fay said that Rex is the best ambassador for the Australian Hotel, as he knows how to pick his mark or patrons, which predominately and coincidently most of the time turns out to be the ‘old girls.’

``They fall in love with him and constantly return for his company,’’ Fay says.

``Once a month the restaurant has two ladies that come in and bye an entrée size garlic prawns with their main meal.’’

``Rex sits at the bottom of their chairs and they hand feed him the prawns. He’s really got some of the patrons in his paws, if he drank I’m sure some would offer him whisky,’’ she said.

In the evening when the band is pumping and the people come out to play, the night manager slips Rex into an air-conditioned room, with a pillow, out of harms way. As the night begins to fade, Rex is released from his safe haven to watch the last remaining remnants leave.

Fay said that as the final tables get wiped and the last glasses cleaned, the night manager says goodbye to the staff, counts the night’s takings, turns out the lights and locks the door. However, there is still one member of the Australian Hotel that remains, just to make sure that everyone has gone and that everything has been done properly.

``He’s always there, you can feel his presence; waiting, watching,’’ Fay said.

``And he’s always the last to leave.’’

Lowell Bamber: "Meet a Local" feature - The Sun Newspaper 3/9/09

2009-09-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

For Townsville local Lowell Bamber, life under apartheid in South Africa looked bleak.

Poverty and unemployment was destroying the country with every aspect of day-to-day life segregated. People were being arrested for walking in the wrong district, while others were being tortured and interrogated for speaking out.

Racial discrimination was institutionalized in every aspect of social life, including the prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of ``white-only'' jobs and political rights, including voting, were restricted.

Born in Durban South Africa, Lowell Bamber immigrated to Australia with her husband and three children in 1997, five years after the fall of apartheid.

``It was a wonderful life growing up in South Africa. We had lots of privileges which I don’t think we really appreciated at the time,’’ she said.

`` It was only as we got older that we realised that other people were suffering because we were privileged; as kids you’re not really aware of it.’’

Before the fall of apartheid in 1992, Lowell and her husband were involved with a non-political organization that broke down the racial barriers through basic human interaction and communication.

``In the early days we didn’t have the opportunity to meet socially. We became involved with an organisation that was giving people the opportunity to make friends across the racial barriers,’’ she says.

``There was one instance were we had meals together. There would be four couples, whites and black, Indian and mixed race or coloured, which was classed as another separate race by apartheid at the time.’’

``Many black people had never sat down at a table with white people and many white people had never been into a black persons home as it was a ‘no-go’ area,’’ Lowell said.

Cupping a mug of tea, Lowell said that when the children were a little bit older they became involved with a number of projects including children’s camps connecting mixed people.

``It was a real eye opener,’’ she said.

``No one was in a minority and we learnt a lot about our cultural differences and that was before the change of government and the toppling of apartheid in 1992.

``We thought that we really needed to be doing something. We weren’t political activists, we just wanted to do something at grass roots by allowing people to meet socially and make friends in the hope of slowly breaking down the political and racial system,’’ Lowell said.

In 1996, Lowell’s husband and research scientist Geoff was offered a position in Townsville working in sugar cane research. After much soul searching, angst and debating over the next year, the couple with their three children moved to Australia.

``Whenever people left South Africa we felt that they were leaving a sinking ship,’ she says.

``So there was a lot of guilt attached in leaving the country and we were really resisting it; we didn’t want to let our friends and family down.

Smiling, Lowell said South Africa is a really beautiful country and it took the family nearly a year to completely settle down in Townsville. However, sadly in 2003 tragedy struck the Bamber family with the suicide of their 21yr old son, David.

``We feel that it’s important to acknowledge as it’s a problem within society today,’’ she said.

``I think suicide is pushed under the carpet with people not wanting to admit that it is even happening.’’

`` It happened nearly six years ago and its been very difficult. He was runner up ‘Ducks’ at Kirwan High and he was a lovely boy. He had so much to give, but for reasons unbeknown to us he just wasn’t copping with life,’’ Lowell said, staring at her cup of tea.

After such a tragedy, many families and marriages become enclosed and isolated from society and each other. Lowell decided that that was not going to happen to her family and began researching what grieving and healing processes were available.

``I read that after the suicide of a child, 84 per cent of all marriages fall apart. I thought that I don’t want that to happen to me as this is the time that we need each other most,’’ she said.

``I decided that we were really going to work on our relationship.’’

``It had a really positive spin off; we had a lot of fulfilment and we really enjoyed it. Since 2004 my husband and myself have been running marriage courses ever since,’’ she laughs.

At 62, Lowell relaxes by leaving the world behind with her husband as often as they can via the great outdoors. As habitually as clockwork, they travel by foot through the mountains; however, there are no mountains in Townsville.

``We made a pact with ourselves that we would take every opportunity that we could to walk,’’ she says.

``I believe physical exercise is really good for that, especially for any emotional trauma.’’

``We went to New Zealand; we went to the NSW coast, the Blue Mountains and Hinchinbrook. We did a lot of backpacking and three or five days camping out. We really love to be outdoors,’’ she said.

``Its opened up a whole new world; we love Townsville, you can be anything you want here, the size allows you. My husband loves the beach and we love the lifestyle and we have made good friends, it’s our home.’’

Wayne Simonson: 'Meet a local' feature - The Sun Newspaper 27/08/09

2009-08-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

It’s a crisp clear beautiful day. The horizon is to the east and the sun is high, its bright rays penetrating the white clouds below, forming an aura of colours around the edges.

At 8000ft, Wayne Simonsen signals to his only passenger that its time to jump. As the skydiver leaps out into the blue, Wayne checks his instruments and starts his descent.

At 3000ft a slight jolt alerts Wayne to a problem. A second later the cabin begins to fill with smoke.

``The oil pump failed. With no oil getting pumped around the engine it snapped a cam-rod which went through the head of the motor causing the plane to fill up with smoke,'' Wayne said.

``The plane was vibrating that badly that I thought the wings were going to fall off. I was halfway through the mayday call when I realised that the radio wasn’t on, and I thought stuff it, lets just get this bloody thing on the ground.''

Townsville Plumbing contractor and Rotarian Wayne Simonsen is a person who knows how to get out of a jam. He says that this incident is only one of several close shaves that he had while flying.

``My reactions in that type of situation have always been good,'' he says.

``There was no conscious decision; there was no thinking about it. It was just, okay; put the nose down, keep the air speed up and let’s fly this thing.''

``My main worry at that time was getting back to the air strip. I was close enough, and so I just focused on getting the plane back on the runway,'' Wayne said.

In days gone by, Wayne flew for a skydiving company around the outskirts of Toowoomba. While looking to get more flight hours, he secured himself a position mustering cattle with a plane in Mt Isa.

``That’s where I met my wife Elizabeth. She was a teacher at the School of Air,'' he said.

``Id just finished a game of rugby when one of the boys said they were going to the annual Teachers Ball.''

``I didn’t have any tickets so I ended up throwing on a suit and gatecrashing the Ball. I jumped a back fence and snuck in around the side and half an hour later I met Elizabeth on the dance floor,'' Wayne said.

After a short stint at the beginning of the mining boom in Cloncurry and two children later, Wayne and his family moved to Townsville not long after Tropical Cyclone Sid in 1998.

``The Strand was just getting finished and we were looking around and I was really impressed with it,'' he said.

``Townsville had a real positive feel and vibe about it''.

Wayne is currently working on the new extensions under construction at the Willows Shopping Centre. He is an employer, a plumber, a pilot, a rugby coach, and a member of the Masons and Rotary in Townsville.

Wayne was recently awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship by Rotary in recognition of his service to the club and the community.

The Paul Harris Fellowship is awarded by Rotary in appreciation for contributions and services made to the Rotary Foundations humanitarian and educational programs. These programs provide education, food, water, healthcare, immunizations and disaster relief for millions around the world.

Wayne’s humanitarian work in conjunction with Rotary has seen him construct gazeboes on the foreshore at Rowes Bay, build house extensions for kidney dialysis patients, and cross the Indian Ocean to help children in Kenya.

``A friend with a nursing background went to Kenya as a teacher and while she was there she identified a basic need for health care,'' Wayne said.

``One of the issues is a little grub that gets into the heel of children’s feet because the floor of the school is dirt. It can get that bad that it gets ulcerated with some of the kids losing a foot or a leg because of it.''

With assistance from Rotary International and within the year, Wayne with the help of some dedicated volunteers had attached three clinics to three schools with another nine clinics including three full time staff by the following year.

``It lasted up until the recent unrest in Kenya and then it died a natural death,'' he said.

``A flow on from that was this young lad that was at the first clinic who was really enthusiastic.''

`` I got Rotary to sponsor him and he’s just finished a nursing degree. Now he's pushing to become a doctor. However, we told him that we would like to see him go back to the community and do some work first,'' he laughs.

With his hair covered in dust and wearing stained blue overalls, Wayne's release valve from the daily grind of life is music. Whenever possible, Wayne with his mates get together to play music in a band called 'Block of Flats'.

``The missus is away this week so we’re going to turn it up loud. It’s just good to let go and get into the music, I really enjoy it,’’ he said.

At 48, Wayne says that the future for him and his family is a focused one.

``The kids are starting high school in the near future and we want to make sure their well balanced and ready to cope with whatever is thrown at them,'' Wayne said.

``Before the kids leave home it would be nice to see my wife’s hometown in Spain. I want the kids to see what is out there so they can appreciate what they have got.''

``We live in one of the best parts of the world. I love the city; I love the people I've met and its one of the few areas that I have lived in where the people don't have a bad word to say about it. I just fell in love with the place,'' he said.

Vince Bray - Meet a Local feature; The Sun Newspaper 20/8/09

2009-08-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

Artist and painter Vince Bray silently watches and listens to the wind. The westerly savannah breeze awakens his senses; its cool touch bringing slight relief on a sultry hot afternoon. He feels the air beginning to cool as the sun drifts into unconsciousness, while in front of him, the tips of blue grass dance in time with the stillness of the treeless plains.

``The space for me is really good; I just like open spaces, far away wherever it is,’’ Vince said.

``In the rainforest I feel claustrophobic and closed in; my vision doesn’t go far enough to enjoy what I want to see.’’

Vince has been painting the dusty cracked clay outback of North Western Queensland for over 30 years. His heart follows the barren hills and shrubs of the savannah lands to the far-reaching sands of the Simpson Desert, creating a kaleidoscope of landscapes that capture and inspire the imagination.

``Growing up in Mt Isa gave me a love of the land,’’ he said smiling.

``Wherever I go it will always be my home; I know the hills and the grasslands, it was my playground.’’

Vince grew up within a harsh landscape that’s characterised by the lack of tree and shrub cover, rough hard red soil and short dry grasses. Locally born and bred in Mt Isa, he spent his childhood at Bushy Park Station 20 km south west of the mining town.

``My mother managed the station before Mt Isa ever existed,’’ he said.

``I grew up and went to school there, however it didn’t last long. By the time I got to fifth grade they told me that I would be better off at work.’’

Vince has lived a pious life within religious orders; he has worked as a truck driver and on a dairy farm, raised cattle, and has lived in Papua New Guinea working as a welder and a handyman.

``While I was in New Guinea I caught Malaria and had to come home. I was off work with sickies and that’s what started my art. I had never done anything up until then,’’ he said.

Vince’s paintings reflect the arid outback and nature of Western Queensland through asymmetrical shapes and colours of one of the most distinctive environments in northern Australia.

``It’s sort of impressionism but not entirely like impressionism,’’ he said.

``I wanted something that is representational in a sense, but I mainly wanted the essence of what’s out there.’’

Vince’s life is characterised through his paintings of North West Queensland. Wearing paint stained shorts and a ruffled white T-shirt, he said his first painting was of the red and white-stripped smoke stacks of the Mt Isa mine. In fact, even his T-shirt has an etching of the mines.

``I worked in the mines as a shaft operator for 25 years,’’ he said,

``I got involved in my art at night in my room. I would do a lot of work out in the bush and then I would refine it when I got back to my room at the barracks.’’

``Many of my paintings are interpretations of working underground in the mines. I was interested in photography for a long time in the mines, however you could only go black and white in those days as the water wasn’t cold enough to get colour. I grew tired of that and after awhile I moved onto painting,’’ Vince said.

Eventually in 1993, Vince was drawn like a Bogan moth to the starry skies of Townsville and its cultural and vibrant art scene.

``I went looking at a lot of places and I came to Townsville and looked in its backyard and saw this big open space,’’ he said.

``The art scene was more vibrant. There was a lot going on in Townsville when I came here and since then it has just broadened out.’’

When Vince was 65 and living in Townsville, something happened that had never happened to him before, he fell in love.

``I met my wife Helen at the ‘House of Prayer’ in Townsville. She came to Townsville and got stuck here during the big wet in 98. I invited her to dinner and within a year we were married,’’ Vince said.

``She is the only women that I have ever met that loves to camp. I used to always roll a swag out, but now I sleep off the ground on stretches.’’

At 75, Vince says that he has been long since retired even though he is still working and shows no signs of slowing down. He has only just finished work on a collaborative installation of sculpture and media work inspired by Townsville’s Rose River called ‘Crossings.’

`` The concept was to paint the wind,’’ he said.

``I had long piece of silk that waved in the breeze with images of the river to the sea.’’

``I took up art to fill in time, however eventually it started to take over my life; it really gave me a reason to live and to go on and it has given me an interesting life,’’ he said.

Duncan Forster: Meet a Local Feature; The Sun Newspaper 13/8/09

2009-08-13T00:55:00.000-07:00

Scientists say the human body is anywhere from 55 per cent to 78 per cent water depending on the body size. If that is true, then Reef HQ Aquarium Education Officer Duncan Forster would have to have an extra ten per cent than the rest of us, as he literally has the ocean swimming through his veins.

``My parents worked for the United Nations travelling the world and I subsequently spent time as a kid growing up in the Solomon Islands.’’

``When I was about nine or ten, I was swimming next to the beach near Rabaul in Papua New Guinea when I saw this guy come out of the water in his wetsuit and dive gear,’’ Duncan says.

``He took me down below and there was this amazing world I had never seen before.’’

What Duncan discovered was an underwater paradise that has captivated his imagination ever since.

``It’s overwhelmingly beautiful with the most glorious colours and shapes and methods of living through adaptation,’’ he said.

``Everywhere you look there is something unique from everything else and it’s just amazing to sit and watch and explore.’’

With the muffled sounds of laughing children drifting up under his office door, Duncan said when he came to Australia, an education officer much like himself visited his school, noticed his enthusiasm, and asked him if he would be interested in working underwater with animals.

``From then on I got a real passion for diving and exploring the ocean and learning about new life,’’ Duncan said.

``The Great Barrier Reef is the perfect place to do that because every single year we find thousands of new creatures that have never been seen before.’’

Duncan teaches and facilitates face-to-face education programs at Townsville Reef HQ to over 14,000 students a year including an additional five to six thousand from around the world via video conferencing.

``I started about 16 years ago as a volunteer and moved through the different areas working in biology and education teams through to my current position,’’ he says.

``I’ve worked as a senior tank-ist (keeper of the aquarium tanks and their inhabitants) and have helped set up turtle rehabilitation centres as well as working with threatened species like dugongs and dolphins.’’

Wearing the signature ocean blue Reef HQ shorts and T-shirt, Duncan says that his main role at Reef HQ is to inspire people to care for the Great Barrier Reef.

``In my role I get to see children in particular. ``I teach kindergarten to University and the general public as well.’’

``I have seen students move from kindergarten to primary school through to high school and you can really see them develop an understanding of the ocean and its creatures,’’ he said.

At 31, Duncan Forster has worked all around the world including both of the planet’s polar regions. He works at Reef HQ, is an Army officer, and facilitates an education exchange program for national and international students.

``In the future I want to do United Nations work and maybe environmental programs or development projects.’’

Duncan said that for the moment he is quite happy as every year is a different year and he can see things changing and growing.

``Every day is different; there is no same day at the aquarium. ``That’s a rush because you have to be flexible to meet the environment.’’

``At the same time you get a kick out of people coming to Reef HQ and understanding what you’re talking about. ``I find it a challenge and really enjoy that,’’ he said.

``If I can change people’s habits and minds about the environment then I have done my job.’’

Bouncers Behaving Badly: Townsville Bulletin Front Page 1/4/09

2009-08-11T05:41:00.000-07:00

Townsville security guards take bribes.

TOWNSVILLE bouncers are taking bribes from under-age nightclubbers and patrons who have been refused entry, two industry insiders claim.

Grant Kraaymaat (above) and Christopher Tanner, who have both worked on Flinders St, said some bouncers were receiving up to $500 in bribes a night.

"The average is $50 depending on the night and what is going on, but I have seen some guards (bouncers) take a few hundred at times," Mr Kraaymaat said.

Mr Tanner said it was `common practice' for bouncers to take bribes while working on Flinders St.

"A fair few guards are doing it, due to the amount of people offering bribes, but not everyone is taking them," he said.

Mr Kraaymaat said the people offering crowd controllers bribes had usually been banned or refused entry to the nightclub either because of drunkenness, fighting or the 3am lockout.

"People get put out for fighting or for being too drunk at various nightclubs down Flinders St which is well known by other guards due to radio communication, but many (bouncers) will take money and let them in," he said.

"Generally it is $100 to each guard at the door. "It happens anytime, but mostly after the 3am lockout."

Mr Kraaymaat said underage teenagers were also offering bribes to gain entry into the nightclubs.

"There are always 16 to 17-year-olds trying to get in," he said.

"When asked for identification some will try to slip you money with it, which some guards do accept."

A bouncer currently employed on Flinders St, who asked to remain anonymous, admitted to taking bribes.

The bouncer said bribery was rife at the weekends due to the number of people being kicked out of or refused entry into nightclubs.

"They will rock up, we will look at them, and if we think that they're not that bad and if we're short of cash, we'll go `listen mate, we will let you in for $100, but if you screw up we will put you out', he said.

Townsville CBD Late Night Traders Association spokesman Greg Pellegrini said bouncers caught taking bribes would face stiff consequences.

"That sort of behaviour is not condoned by any of the members of the association," he said.

"If these people are doing it on their own regard, if they are caught they will be turned into the police."

G-Group Security Services director Tom Goldsworthy, a security service provider of bouncers along Flinders St, said bouncers taking bribes were isolated incidents.

"I have not heard of it myself, but if it is happening it is instant dismissal within G-Group Security," he said.

Turnell Security Services, operations manager, Ian Miller said it was company policy for bouncers not to take bribes of any form.

"It is instant dismissal for any crowd controller (bouncer) who takes bribes," he said.

Liquor Licensing executive director Chris Watters said the department had not received any information relating to bouncers taking bribes.

Kieran Moran

Jumping for Joyce - The Sun Newspaper version.

2009-08-07T18:18:00.001-07:00

THE phone rings. It’s 6.30pm on a Monday night. Joyce Scorey turns the TV down and anxiously answers the phone. Her face shows her husband that it’s not good. She listens in silence. She hangs up and turns to her husband, ‘I’ve got to go,’ she says. ``A boy has gone missing near Mt Low.’’ She grabs her bag and quickly rushes out the door and into her car. Phone calls need to be made and people need to be organised. As Joyce drives towards Mt Low she looks out into the night. It’s early June, it’s getting cold and a five-year-old boy is missing in the bush.

Townsville State Emergency Services Deputy Controller, Joyce Scorey, arrives with a SES rescue team at approximately 7pm. The police conduct a short briefing and ask Joyce to send out a team until the rescue helicopter with thermal sensors arrives.

``Once the helicopter arrived police wanted the SES to stay on site,’’ Joyce says.

``We started to set up headquarters and call in the troops, so we were ready at first light.’’

The temperature dropped to 10 degrees as 40 volunteers and police, including police dogs, searched throughout the night. At 9am a call came through that the boy had been found cuddled up under a tree near a local school.

``I wasn’t in the team that found him, but I certainly played a coordination roll in finding him,’’ she says.

``It’s one of the reasons why I’m here, it’s my passion.’’

Born and bred in Townsville, Joyce Scorey has been a volunteer with the State Emergency Services (SES) for over 30 years. Her interest in volunteer work with the SES was sparked when two friends failed to show-up at work.

``When I asked them where they were the next day, they explained that they were emergency volunteers and were called out to help with the clean-up of a car accident,’’ she said.

``It sounded interesting and exciting and my friends really enjoyed it. I attended the next meeting and the rest is history.’’

Joyce is currently employed as the Townsville City Council’s SES Staff Officer. She’s an unassuming woman and in her own words ‘a bit tomboyish,’ with her rugged complexion the only clue that hints to her outdoor life style.

``In my element I would say that you would want to be around me, but overall I’m the sort of person you can lock in a cupboard and it wouldn’t worry me,’’ she said.

Joyce is responsible for overseeing and coordinating emergency responses to such disasters as the so-called ‘Night of Noah’ floods; the Castle Hill landslides, Cyclone Larry and the recent floods in Ingham. She is the first Queensland volunteer to become a senior instructor and was awarded Australia Day Honours in 2008, acknowledging her contribution and distinguished service for best practice in her field.

``I’m not in it for the accolades,’’ Joyce says.

``The main thing that keeps me here is the operation and training side of the SES, particularly the high skilled areas of which I’m an instructor. To train people with limited or no knowledge and to take them through to completion is what keeps me here.’’

Joyce is the manager and coach of the SES unit team that has competed in state and national rescue competitions for the past 16 years. The SES rescue competitions stage mass casualty scenarios that range from bus, car and plane crashes, to backyard chainsaw accidents and earthquakes.

`` They really make it full on and it sounds like a lot work, but it can really be a lot of fun.’’ she says with a grin.

``You could say it’s my hobby, it’s what I do in my spare time. I used to relax by getting out and working in the garden, but the garden grew and eventually became a chore.’’

After 30 years and at the age of 51, Joyce Scorey’s passion to help others shows no signs of slowing down. On every weekend and every Wednesday, she can be found at the SES headquarters on Green Street training the next generation of volunteers.

``I now play a coordination and management role as the days of being part of the team are over as I’m not that fit and healthy anymore’’ she says.

``I love it when you see people really gelling and thinking together as a team and I particularly love the rescue side of the SES, for me there is no better feeling. It’s probably why I get out of bed in the morning and I don’t think I’ll be giving it away anytime soon.’’

Jumping for Joyce.

2009-07-28T01:25:00.000-07:00

The phone rings. It’s 6.30pm on a Monday night. Joyce Scorey turns the TV down and anxiously answers the phone. Her face shows her husband that it’s not good. She listens in silence. She hangs up and turns to her husband, ‘I’ve got to go,’ she says. ‘A boy has gone missing near Mt Low.’ She grabs her bag and quickly rushes out the door and into her car. Phone calls need to be made, people need to be organised. As Joyce drives towards Mt Low she looks out into the night. It’s early June, it’s getting cold and a five-year-old boy is missing in the bush.

Townsville State Emergency Services Deputy Controller, Joyce Scorey, arrives with a SES rescue team at approximately 7pm. The police conduct a short briefing and ask Joyce to send out a team until the rescue helicopter with thermal sensors arrives.

‘Once the helicopter arrived police wanted the SES to stay on site,’ Joyce says. ‘We started to set up headquarters and call in the troops, so we were ready at first light.’

The temperature dropped to 10 degrees as 40 volunteers and police, including police dogs, searched throughout the night. At 9am a call came through that the boy had been found cuddled up under a tree near a local school. ‘I wasn’t in the team that found him, but I certainly played a coordination roll in finding him,’ she says.

‘It’s one of the reasons why I’m here, it’s my passion.’

Joyce has been a volunteer with the State Emergency Services (SES) for over 30 years and is the Townsville City Council SES Staff Officer. She’s an unassuming woman and in her own words ‘a bit tomboyish,’ with her rugged complexion the only clue that hints to her outdoor life style. ‘In my element I would say that you would want to be around me, but overall I’m the sort of person you can lock in a cupboard and it wouldn’t worry me.’

Joyce was responsible for overseeing and coordinating emergency responses such as the so-called ‘Night of Noah’ floods; the Castle Hill landslides, Cyclone Larry and the recent floods in Ingham. She is the first Queensland volunteer to become a senior instructor and was awarded Australia Day Honours in 2008, acknowledging her contribution and distinguished service for best practice in her field.

‘I’m not in it for the accolades,’ Joyce says.

‘The main thing that keeps me here is the operation and training side of the SES, particularly the high skilled areas of which I’m an instructor. To train people with limited or no knowledge and to take them through to completion is what keeps me here.’

Joyce is the manager and coach of the SES unit team that has competed in state and national rescue competitions for the past 16 years. The SES rescue competitions stage mass casualty scenarios that range from bus, car and plane crashes, to backyard chainsaw accidents and earthquakes.

‘They really make it full on’ she says with a grin. ‘You think you’re prepared, but then they throw in a scenario that can really put you on your back foot.’

One such emergency scenario is the simulated affects of an earthquake. The area is full of rubble and broken concrete with smashed cars and busses, including a series of collapsed tunnels rigged with microphones.

‘You can end up speaking to a rock because you’re pretending that someone is buried under the rubble’ she laughs.

In the scenario, people simulate injuries and play the role of causalities where they are trapped in a vehicle or buried under the rubble.

‘They’ve got an amputee thats got no hands playing the role of causality’ she says.

‘A member pulls off some iron sheets to find hands lying beside the casualty. All of a sudden you got this guy screaming with no hands and blood spurting everywhere.’

After 30 years, Joyce Scorey’s passion to help others shows no signs of slowing down. On every weekend and every Wednesday, she can be found at the SES headquarters on Green Street training the next generation of volunteers.
‘I now play a coordination and management role as the days of being part of the team are over as I’m not that fit and healthy anymore’ she says.
‘I love it when you see people really gelling and thinking together as a team and I particularly love the rescue side of the SES, for me there is no better feeling. It’s probably why I get out of bed in the morning and I don’t think I’ll be giving it away anytime soon.’

Turtle Rodeo-ing

2009-07-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

Gitte Kragh anxiously looks east to the horizon. It’s 5.30am, she’s in a small dinghy and the sun has just kissed the ocean, creating a kaleidoscope of broken colours across the waters surface.

“There’s one,” John excitedly screamed, pointing towards the coast.

“We better be quick or she’ll go under,” he said, turning the dingy towards the fingered destination.

As the speed of the dinghy picks-up, Gitte’s blonde ponytail coils and flails in the wind. She strains her green eyes against the oceans shimmer trying to catch a glimpse, but sees nothing.

“You ready,” John said smiling, looking down at Gitte.

“Remember, once you’re on, don’t let go. Unless you think you’re going to drown.”

Gitte nervously puts on her protective gloves and helmet. She touches the water with her fingers and washes her face. In front of her is Ingram Island, a small island off the far northern coast that lies like a marine animal, its edges soft and flat.

She cautiously stands and takes a moment to gain her sea legs. A northwesterly wind creates wisps of escaping spray from the seas surface. To Gitte, it feels cool and bitterly fresh. She steadies herself hoping desperately that this mornings breakfast doesn’t become today’s berley, as that would be embarrassing.

The dingy lolls with the rolling swell. As it begins to slow, Gitte sees a giant phantom shadow moving swiftly below the tip of the ocean. John quickly steers the dinghy alongside the moving shadow. Gitte steadies herself, takes a deep breath…

“Ready, wait for it…GO, GO, GO” John yells at the top of his lungs.

Like a hungry Sugar Glider, Gitte leaps through the crisp morning air into the ocean and onto the back of a giant turtle.

“I jumped on a 370kg Green sea turtle,” she says, stretching her arms out wide.

“She dragged me around and went under for little while, but I got really stubborn and didn’t let go,” she said.

“I was kind of drowned and came up sputtering. The guys were laughing their heads off when I finally got her,” she laughs.

Welcome to the hard, dangerous and fast life of ‘Turtle Rodeo-ing.’

Turtle rodeo-ing is not a tourist attraction or an extreme sport. It’s a technique developed by Queensland researchers to catch and study the health, breeding status and growth rates of sea turtles and to understand why their disappearing at the rate of four per cent a year.

Wearing a blue T-shirt that loosely hangs over her faded jeans, Rainforest Biologist Gitte Kragh said that she became familiar with turtle-rodeo-ing when she became project manager for the Sea Turtle Foundation in Townsville.

“The intro to the job was to go out for a week up north on Ingram Island to look for and research Hawksbill and Green turtles,” she says.

“You go out with three or four people in a boat and try to catch the turtles, which can be quite a lot of fun. It was my first time and the guys got me to jump on the biggest turtle they could find,” Gitte said grinning.

The Green and Hawksbill turtle is endangered due to a multitude of human threats including habitat destruction, global warming, poaching, discarded long-line fishing nets and rubbish. For the past 12 years, scientists, researchers and volunteers have been working with Queensland Parks and Wildlife on Ingram Island studying the endangered turtles.

The tag and release techniques for turtle rodeo-ing involves diving from a moving dinghy, grabbing the turtle at either end of its carapace (shell), and riding it to the surface. The turtle is lifted into the dinghy, its sex, age, weight and length is recorded and DNA samples taken.

Sitting in a Townsville café cupping a mug of coffee, Gitte says that the Green turtle is studied on the dinghy and then released back into the water, while Hawksbill turtles are brought back to the island for further study. They are then released into the ocean about an hour later.

“It’s extremely important that we protect these turtles,” she says slowly sipping her coffee

“In Australia we have fairly good protection measures. We’re definitely not perfect and there’s a lot of room for improvement, but there is other places were the turtles are far worse off.”

“The problem is that turtles are a migratory species, they have got no idea where borders are or what country their in. They just swim from their foraging grounds to their nesting habitats. We have to make sure their protected, not only at the nesting beaches, but at the foraging grounds as well,” she said.

Townsville is home to six species of marine turtle, all of which are threatened globally. The Leatherback, Hawksbill and the Kemp’s Ridley turtle all forage on the Great Barrier Reef. At Cleveland Bay, Green Turtles forage on seagrass and Loggerhead and Flatback turtles hunt for their food supply. Townsville beaches’ including the Strand and Magnetic Island, are major nesting sites, and is regularly used by nesting Flatback and Green turtles.

Twiddling a jagged piece of amber she found on a beach in Costa Rica, Gitte stresses that all of them are on the endangered list and are vulnerable especially after the recent heavy rains in January and February.

“All the rain we had in the wet season destroyed the seagrass. Green turtles eat the seagrass and have now been starving for a while. We anticipate more and more turtles and dugongs will be found floating in the coming months,” she says despairingly.

The Leatherback turtle is the largest, deepest diving, and most migratory and wide ranging of all sea turtles. The adult leatherback can reach 2.5 metres in length and 900kg in weight. Gitte says it’s a misconception that all turtles are slow and docile and warns people not to interfere with them, as they can be quite dangerous.

“I was working in Costa Rica with Leatherback turtles,” recalls Gitte.

“They are massive animals with some weighting up to almost a ton,” she says.

“This guy walked in front of the turtle for whatever stupid reason. We told him not to but he didn’t listen and it broke his leg with its front flipper. She (the turtle) was just moving, it wasn’t trying to bite him or hit him or anything, it was just moving,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Turtles have been here for along long time and we just need to protect them because they are quite an iconic species out on the reef. There not dangerous, well most aren’t, and they don’t do any harm but unfortunately we cause them a lot of harm,” she said.

The Sea Turtle Foundation can be contacted on 47 212 699 or go to www.seatutlefoundation.org

The uninvited guest. (full image bottom of page)

2009-07-28T01:21:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 15th of September 2007, Robert Vidler and Emi Kamiyama were married in the presence of family and friends at Lake Morris, 22km west of Cairns.

The small ceremony was conducted under the shade of an old gumtree overlooking the lake and surrounding rainforest. During the signing of the register an unexpected guest arrived. At the time no one noticed the uninvited guest as the intruder made no sound and was practically invisible. The stranger didn’t say hello to anybody and didn’t drink or eat any food, however, the wedding photos later revealed that the stranger seemed to have hanged around for up to five minutes.

“When the photos were taken I didn’t actually see the visitor,” Robert says.

“Its not as if anybody in the wedding party saw anything. It only turned up in the photographs afterwards. I didn’t see anything on the day; nobody actually saw anything on the day.”

When Robert and Emi received the photos of their wedding from family and friends, Robert noticed an anomaly in the sky above the rainforest canopy. When he enlarged the image Robert realised that what he was looking at was not a big bird or a small plane; but what he seemed to be looking at was a UFO.

“The unidentified flying object made an appearance when Emi was signing the registry,” Robert says.

“There’s one particularly clear shot of the UFO with a second shot that’s not quite as clear that was taken from a different camera.”

Since their wedding, Robert, 41, and Emi 36, have been on an extended honeymoon travelling around Australia. One day recently, when we meet, Robert is preparing his Ford Econovan for a trip into the Northern Territory.

“You have to make sure you’re prepared,” he says cautiously. “If you ain’t got a spare you’re stuffed.”

His curly hair is all fuzzed out and he’s looking tired. He’s barefooted and wearing an old paisley shirt with no buttons that hangs loosely over his faded jeans. When he sits down and shows the photos and talks about the UFO however, his weary demeanour changes into one of an exited child, full of wonder and amazement.

“I’m not going to try and convince someone what he or she is looking at,” Robert says, wanting to reassure me.

“I just like to show people and ask what they think it is. If they think it’s a bird or a plane, then for me to have a conversation with them to make them think otherwise makes me feel foolish. I just let them have their own impression of what they think it is,” he said.

Robert is just one of the hundreds of Queenslanders that report sightings of UFOs every year. In fact, Queenslanders are the leading reporters of unidentified flying objects in Australia, with more than half of the reports coming from the North.

According to North Queensland UFO investigator Clare Noble, while many sightings were ruled out as stars, planets, meteors and planes, a "significant number" remain unexplained.

“It started in Tully in 1966 with the sighting of a UFO by a farmer; although I’ve been out to the aboriginal people who reported sightings going back many years” she said.

The now famous sighting in Tully is known as ‘The Tully Saucer Nest’ investigation.

On January 19, 1966, George Pedley, 28, was driving a tractor near Horseshoe Lagoon on a property near Tully. He claimed that he saw a large, grey, saucer-shaped object measuring some 25 feet across and 9 feet high that rose into the air and took off at a tremendous speed.

“While I watched, it rose another 30 feet, spinning very fast,” he said.

“Then it made a shallow dive and took off at an angle of 45 degrees and disappeared within seconds.”

Clare is a long-term local of Tully and has investigated the UFO phenomenon in North Queensland for over 40-years with over a thousand reported sightings since 1966. Now in her sixties, the number of sightings has become overwhelming.

“I’ve just had information and information coming in all the time,” she sighs.

“Farmers in the North Queensland have reported strange lights and activity for many years. One fellow reported that he was on his way out to his place and a big torpedo shaped craft passed low over his land. Its been big crafts as well as the ordinary type like the one in Mr Vidler’s photo,” she said.

Queensland UFO Research Centre investigator Martin Gottschall said that it is a situation where ordinary honest and sincere people experience something that is totally extraordinary.

“People don’t have to make up anything to make the story weirder because it’s already as weird as it can get,” he said.

“They say they know it’s weird but they can’t deny what they saw. Their very conscious of the fact that it’s a weird thing and that most people who open up get ridiculed.”

As Robert prepares the van for the long trip into the Northern Territory, Emi arrives with two shopping bags full of supplies. Their dusty converted Econovan looks like its done the miles, which is subtly confirmed by the number of ‘I’ve been there’ stickers covering the side window.

“We’ve done the east coast of Australia, now it’s time to head into the centre,” he muses.

Robert says that during their travels, he has shown a number of people the photographs of the wedding. On one such occasion, an Italian man looked at the photo of the UFO; walked away, waved his arms in the air and said, “tell me when I’m eighty, I don’t want to know.”

“I’m not embarrassed to talk about it openly,” Robert says audaciously, while filling up the esky with ice.

“I find it more interesting or intriguing to find people who refuse to talk about it or call you a fool for talking about it. I think that most people have an opinion on UFOs; if you’ve never had an experience in seeing something it’s very difficult to believe. But if you have had an experience of seeing something that you can’t describe, then all doubt disappears,” he said.

If you’ve seen a UFO, contact the Queensland UFO Research Centre on 3376 1780 or go to http://www.uforq.asn.au/

Human Security

2009-07-28T01:01:00.001-07:00

A nine-year-old boy living near Liberia walks twenty kilometres to collect his family’s daily water consumption, one day he did not return as he was abducted and conscripted by government guerilla forces. The reality and hardships of daily life for many people around the world attests to the extent to which fundamental human rights and security is not being met. The political, social and economic relationship between environment degradation, human security and international security is mutually reinforcing under the guidance of the International Political Economy (IPE). The effects of political regimes, armed conflicts, violence, poverty, globalization, environmental devastation and global warming continue with over two billion people’s human security worldwide currently under threat. Democratization is sweeping the world with many states becoming or trying to become, a civil society. The creation of democratized states is commonly promoted through the liberalization of the economy by opening up financial and domestic markets to free trade. The Global North consumes the world’s goods at the expense of the Global South creating inequalities and poverty within many countries. It is claimed that the wealth will eventually “trickle down” to the Global South due to the liberalization of the economy, however this form of liberalism promotes self-interests rather than interests for all. The Declaration of Human Rights predominately refers to equal rights and basic freedoms, except the definition of freedom can be quite obscure within many states. Even though the ideology of liberalism promotes equality with an emphasis on human and international security, when it comes to the IPE, economic liberalism contradicts itself by promoting the self-interests of governments and multinational corporations (MNC) where the economic emphasis is on individuals competing for wealth and power. As a result, the liberal ideologies of the IPE work in symbiosis with realist ideology, consequently devaluing human development and human security were survival of the fittest is the status quo.

Last week, Amnesty International called on the government of Sudan to end the obstruction of the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur as in the absence of an effective international peacekeeping force, human rights violations continue to be perpetrated against civilians with impunity.[1] According to World Bank figures, over 2.7 million people today in some way faced human insecurity in the form of armed conflict, disease, poverty, political victimization, terrorism, violence and/or starvation.[2] The death toll of armed conflicts is only one measure of warfare and human insecurity. The destruction of infrastructure and trade triggers economic crises and conflicts, causing people to flee their homes increasing their vulnerability to disease, starvation and malnutrition, which kills far more people than bombs or bullets. In many states, citizens are subjected to political victimization and the loss of political freedoms due to the government’s failure to recognise human rights, subsequently denying human security and development. People’s fear of violence has major political and social ramifications. More people are affected by violent crime than war, while terrorism is more feared than would seem justified.[3] Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, said that the primary goal of human security is the protection of communities and individuals from internal violence, however all the worlds national security challenges come from regimes that are also human rights violators,[4] making it difficult (as it was in the Kosovo Conflict 1998-99), for intergovernmental organisations such as the UN to protect human security. When states experience warfare, violence and poverty, the environmental impacts effecting sustainable development and human security, are generally ignored. A great deal of environmental change is directly or indirectly affected by human activities and conflicts. The relationship between the environment and human and international security is closely related as people’s access to natural resources is subject to the vulnerabilities of the environment and climate change.

Environmental change and degradation can have direct and immediate effects on human and international security. For example, water scarcity causes insecurity by contributing to dehydration-related deaths, reducing food production, and undermining livelihood opportunities. The negative affects to the environment that occur as a result of violent conflict and militarisations are abundant. In the War on Terror, Iraq’s infrastructure was decimated virtually overnight, leaving millions of people with no access to safe drinking water. In this case, military violence generated water-related human insecurities, with many Iraqi citizens fleeing to neighbouring states, triggering international mass migration with many becoming refugees. While many environmental issues are localized, many are wide spread due to climate change across the globe. Over two billion people live in water stressed river basins and that figure is likely to rise to 3.5 billion, or one half of the worlds population, by 2025.[5] The affects are wide ranging, from families without drinking water, limited production of agriculture and industry, as well as contributing to desertification in vast ecological areas. The major concern today is global warming. Co2 emissions from global development is affecting the entire planet, effectively crossing boundaries and states with no immunity, making it a global concern requiring a global response. At the opening of the UN General Assembly in 2004, the then Secretary General Koffi Annan linked development goals to the three key principles: International peace and security, development, human rights and democracy. In his speech, he talked about the crucial need to address “soft threats” to security in a more systematic way.[6] Environmental degradation, resource scarcity and resource abundance are all accepted as contributing to conflict and human insecurity and are currently classed as “soft threats.” It is now realized that environmental services and resource accessibility are necessary conditions for human security in communities, countries, regions and the world. With many states experiencing internal conflict, environment degradation and human insecurity, the political, social and economic possibilities of establishing a liberal civil society, without revolution or humanitarian intervention, remain practically non-existent. Democratization has become extremely popular over the last half century with many countries becoming or trying to become, a civil society. The creation of democratized states is commonly promoted through the liberalization of the economy by opening up state markets to free trade.

Democracy over the last half century has been sweeping across the world, with many people now living under some form of democracy more than any another time in history. Generally most of today’s democracies are liberal democracies limited by constitutional protection of individual rights, including freedom of assembly, property, religion and speech. This ideology gave rise to liberalism after the Second World War, which is based on universal morals and ethics regarding that international relations can lead to a more orderly, just and cooperative world, and that international anarchy and war can be policed by institutional reforms that empower international organization and law.[7] The same principles were applied to economics in regard to Commercial Liberalism and the “Liberal International Economic Order,” which is designed to promote capitalist monetary stability and reduce barriers to the free flow of capital. A number of countries have made relative gains and prospered by liberalizing their economies, however many states fear the possible costs of free trade as well as their ability to protect local industry and employment, while still remaining independent. A more global economy increases inequality in some countries, particularly in the marginalized periphery of the Global South.[8] It is argued that through the liberalizing of the world economy that nothing is more certain than the inequality and exploitation generated by a totally free market, and that the inequalities that global capitalism generates are inequities because they violate the principles of egalitarian individualism.[9] The Global North consumes the world’s goods at the expense of the Global South creating inequalities, poverty and human insecurity within many countries. It is claimed that the wealth will eventually “trickle down” to the Global South due to the liberalization of the economy, however this form of liberalism promotes self-interests rather than interests for all.

The world is currently experiencing an economic boom with unprecedented economic growth never seen before. In reality, powerful states are the only ones’ experiencing the economic boom with many just trying to survive. The economic relationship between human and international security is constantly under threat due to the over consumption of the world’s resources. The Global North consumes up to two-thirds of the world’s resources while being only ten percent of the population, producing inequalities and poverty within the Global South. Despite all the promises that liberal policies have made, polarization and the economic gap between rich and poor states continue to widen, highlighting the importance of policies that translate wealth into human development and security. Even though it has been claimed that the wealth will eventually “trickle down” to the Global South, the reality is that the powerful states are setting the rules of the new globalized international economy[10], with little or no regard for smaller states. Hegemonic Stability Theory is the realist proposition that free trade and interstate peace depend on the existence of a predominant great power willing and able to use economic and military strength to promote global stability. Currently the single greatest hegemon is the United States, who uses its supremacy to enforce free trade rules to gain comparatively greater control of technology, capital and raw materials giving them more opportunities to profit from a system free of constraints.[11] Essentially, the new globalized international economy is just another form of colonization and Cold War imperialism, where states compete for economic gains by carving up the world’s resources. This form of economic liberalism dictates and coerces states to the will of great powers and basically promotes self-interest and state interdependence. This interdependence slowly erodes state freedoms within the international market as well as at home. The Declaration of Human Rights predominately refers to equal rights and basic freedoms, except the definition of freedom can be quite obscure within many states. Even though the ideology of liberalism promotes equality, when it comes to the IPE, liberalism contradicts itself by promoting the self-interests of governments and MNCs.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.[12] The reality is that we are not born equal and we are not born free. People are born with birth defects, drug addictions, HIV Aids and mentally disabled with many being born into poverty, but very few are really born free. The definition of freedom is to be able to act at will, not to be compelled or restrained, not subject to, and to have independence.[13] As the saying goes, “one mans freedom fighter is another mans terrorist,” thus, freedom is up for interpretation, depending on who is doing the interpreting. George Orwell used this technique of contradicting wordplay in his novel Nineteen Eighty Four. He lamented how governments manipulate the truth for their own self-interests. The slogan in Nineteen Eighty Four is “Freedom is Slavery” while on the flip side, it also means “Slavery is Freedom.” George Orwell observed that for one section of society or class to prosper, it needs to exploit another. The ideology of liberalism champion’s freedom and equality with an emphasis on human security, however economic liberalism contradicts itself by promoting the self-interests of governments and MNCs. The world’s monetary system is for the most part, controlled and designed by MNCs. Ten of the world’s largest MNCs have an income greater than that of the 100 poorest countries with two thirds of the world’s trade conducted by 500 companies.[14] If governments do not pursue liberalizing policies, MNCs take their business elsewhere, ultimately dictating policies with governments permitting investors themselves to set the rules.[15] The IPE and globalization diminishes the power of the state and therefore, diminishes the power of the citizen and human security. As a result, governments and states are loosing their capacity to control economic situations with MNCs consequently eroding the sovereignty and power of the state. These MNCs are not elected or voted for by the state’s citizens, yet through the power and influence that they wield within states and the global community, it would seem that MNCs dictate the economic policies of state and world politics.

The reality and hardships of daily life for many people around the world attests to the extent to which fundamental human rights and security is not being met. The political, social and economic relationship between environment degradation, human security and international security is mutually connected to the performance of the International Political Economy. Despite the wealth of the world, many people today in some way faced human insecurity in the form of armed conflict, disease, poverty, political victimization, terrorism, violence and/or starvation. With many states experiencing internal conflict, environment degradation and human insecurity, the political, social and economic possibilities of establishing a liberal civil society, remain practically non-existent. A number of countries have made relative gains and prospered by democratizing and liberalizing their economies, however many of these states are at the mercy of multination corporations consequently eroding state sovereignty. The definition of freedom is to be able to act at will, not to be compelled or restrained, not subject to, and to have independence. However, the current form of economic liberalism dictates and coerces states to the will of great powers and basically promotes state interdependence and the self-interests of governments and multinational corporations competing for wealth and power. The liberal ideology of the International Political Economy has become pragmatic and self-interested, and is controlled by a hierarchy where survival of the fittest is the status quo. Liberal values within the International Political Economy are contradicting towards environmental degradation and human and international security. To use George Orwell’s technique “Liberalism is Realism” and “Realism is Liberalism” with both contending ideologies twisted and manipulated for the benefit of the top hegemonies. The uncertainty regarding human and international security continues to grow with many contradictions, tensions and inequalities inherent in the system. There are basically two possibilities that may come out of the situation. Either, the current system will enable the existing hegemony to prosper while carrying the world with it, or there will be a division or split that could manifest itself into a period of systematic chaos, the outcome of which would be uncertain. Either way, the world is currently at the crossroads, where we are heading into a very uncertain future.

References/Bibliography.

Amnesty International. Government obstructs UN/AU peacekeeping force for Darfur. London, 2007. web.amnesty.org/library/Index

Babones, Jonathon and Turner, Jonathon. Global Inequality. Handbook of Social Problems. London Sage. 2006 101-20

Balis, John. & Smith, Steve. The Globalisation of World Politics 3rd ed. Oxford University Press. New York, 2006. 339.

Boli, John, Elliot, Michael & Bieri, Franzisca. Globalisation. Handbook of Social Problems. London Sage 2004, 389-415.

Clark, C William & Dana Firas Raad. From the Enviroment and Human Security to Sustainable Security and Development. Journal of Human Development, 2003. 289-213. www.ksg.harvard.edu/

Collins English Dictionary. England: Harper Collins, 1996.

Conscientization and Solidarity Program (CSP). Cubao, 1989. 13

Holton J, Robert. Economy and Society. Routledge. New York, 1992. 146-78

Ignnatieff, Michael. Hard Choices on Human Rights. The Economist, the World in 2004. UN University Press. London, 2004. .54-55

Kegley, Charles W. World Politics – Trend and Transformation. University of South Carolina Thomas Learning, 2007. 309.

Lonergan, Stephen. Mapping the Environment to Improve Security. The Environmental Times, 2004. www.environmenttimes.net/

Task Force Detainees of the Philippines. International Human Rights Laws and Principles.

The Human Security Report. The Changing Face of Global Violence. Oxford University Press, 2005. www.humansecurityreport.info/

Van Krieken, Robert. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins, 2006. 44.

World Bank . World development Index, 2006. www.worldbank.org/

[1] Amnesty International. Government obstructs UN/AU peacekeeping force for Darfur. London, 2007. web.amnesty.org/library/Index
[2] World Bank . World development Index, 2006. www.worldbank.org/
[3] The Human Security Report. The Changing Face of Global Violence. Oxford University Press, 2005. www.humansecurityreport.info/HSR2005
[4] Ignnatieff, Michael. Hard Choices on Human Rights. The Economist, the World in 2004. UN Univeristy Press. London, 2004. .54-55
[5] Clark, C William & Dana Firas Raad. From the Enviroment and Human Security to Sustainable Security and Development. Journal of Human Development, 2003. 289-213. www.ksg.harvard.edu/
[6] Lonergan, Stephen. Mapping the Environment to Improve Security. The Environmental Times, 2004. www.environmenttimes.net/
[7] Kegley, Charles W. World Politics – Trend and Transformation. University of South Carolina. Thomas Learning, 2007. 25
[8] Jonathon Babones and Jonathon Turner, Global Inequality. Handbook of Social Problems. London Sage. P 101-20
[9] John Boli, Michael Elliot and Franzisca Bieri. Globalisation. Handbook of Social Problems. London Sage 2004 p 389-415.
[10] John Balis, Steve Smith. The Globalisation of World Politics 3rd ed. Oxford University Press. New York. 2006 p 339.
[11] Kegley, Charles W. World Politics – Trend and Transformation. University of South Carolina Thomas Learning, 2007. 309.
[12] Task Force Detainees of the Philippines. International Human Rights Laws and Principles. Conscientization and Solidarity Program (CSP). Cubao 1989, 13
[13] Collins English Dictionary. England: Harper Collins, 1996.
[14] Robert, Van Krieken. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins. 2006, 44.
[15] Balis, John. & Smith, Steve. The Globalization of World Politics 3rd ed. Oxford University Press. New York. 2006, 339.

Chinese foreign policy

2009-07-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

For many years China has been known as the “sleeping giant”. Now, China is known as nation state that will surpass U.S domination and reach world hegemony by 2050. The twentieth century introduced liberal ideology onto the political stage promoting that democratization and capitalism brings prosperity and economic security to nations. Yet China is a communist state that presides over an authoritarian political system that is opposed to democratic values,[1] and unlike Russia, is managing to succeed and grow wealthy within the international community. From the Sino-Japanese war, the Chinese civil war and Chairman Mao, China isolated themselves behind its forbidden walls and remained an enigma to the international community. In the 1970’s, China began to open its doors to modernization going beyond the Chairman Mao era by changing their foreign policy platform into a more collective decision-making process. Chinese foreign policy decisions have fundamentally changed the world political climate, but through closer inspection, Chinese foreign policy hasn’t changed and has predominantly remained the same when is comes to territorial security and political independence. This essay will look at the entangled Chinese foreign policy relationship with Taiwan and the United States, concluding that the decision-making processes that created those policies have essentially remained stagnant and controlled by the same political elite for over fifty years.

To understand China and the motivations behind their foreign policy decisions regarding Taiwan and the U.S, one must realize the history that has shaped those decisions. Even though China is the most populated in the world, they remained relatively quite on the foreign policy stage up until the late twentieth century. Much of China’s reluctance stems from the “hundred-year humiliation” where China experienced invasions from Japan, Russia, France, Germany, Portugal and Great Britain, which led to the handover of Hong Kong, the independence of Korea and the loss of Taiwan, challenging China’s territorial security. After the Chinese civil war (1946-49), the victorious Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the 1st of October 1949, and took control of the country, with the defeated authoritarian Nationalist government being evacuated to Taiwan in December 1949. Their leader, Chiang Kai-shek maintained a Guomindang (KMT) government waiting to return to China.

China was decimated by the conflicts that left the PRC in a vulnerable state. The new Chinese leadership needed to establish its international legitimacy, which was complicated by the rival regime in Taiwan as it involved issues of representation in the United Nations and regime recognition in the international community. The legitimate representative of China was being claimed by both Beijing and Taipei[2] (Taiwan’s capital) with many nations around the world, including the U.S., recognizing Taipei as the sole representative of China. In 1971, China was granted a permanent seat on the UN Security Council after the United Nations acknowledged Beijing as representative of China. With the death of Mao in 1976, Deng Xiaoping achieved the status of permanent leader, marking a new beginning with the death of the radical revolutionary period and the birth of “a new situation in all fields of socialist modernization”.

Deng realized that if China’s economy failed to catch up with the developed world, they would loose their global citizenship. China underwent reforms of modernization primarily in the economic realm with their foreign policy becoming more open to the international community. China’s stance on Taiwan deviated to a more liberal approach introducing a “reunification” policy with the notion of “one-country, two systems”.[3] National interests began to overshadow ideology with Deng adopting an independent foreign policy creating relationships with both the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. Although the Chinese government underwent economic and political reforms following the Cultural Revolution, the decision-making process remained ideological and authoritarian in nature that was controlled by a small group of top leaders. In 1989, the Tiananman Square crackdown provoked economic sanctions from the U.S. This accumulated to further changes in Chinese foreign policy by formulating a rational approach through avoiding any controversy and to go beyond ideological considerations. In the same year, Jiang Zemin was named general secretary and later became president of the country. Jiang sought to develop new policies and enhance their position on the international stage with Taiwan and the U.S. on the top of the agenda,

Taiwan has remained a high priority in Beijing’s foreign policy reflecting deep-seated nationalism amongst the Chinese people and its politicians. The concerns are tied to China’s national sovereignty and regime legitimacy. In the 1950’s and 60’s, the West isolated Beijing by regarding Taiwan as representative of China granting them membership in international organizations such as the UN.[4] During this time, the U.S. Seventh Fleet was stationed in the Taiwan Straits with Beijing understandably viewing the United States as a major threat. Beijing’s foreign policy towards Taiwan left no room for concessions where the issues of sovereignty and legitimacy were involved. Due to the social and cultural differences, Beijing realized that it would be impossible to incorporate Taiwan into socialism. China proposed that an integrated Taiwan could maintain its foreign, economic and social ties, as well as its own political, economic and social system. The Taiwanese did not accept the proposal as their desires remained split between independence and unification with China.

With the shift from revolution to modernization, the PRC gained diplomatic leverage with Taiwan. Over 180 countries established relations with China, where as Taiwan has less than thirty countries officially maintaining relations, strengthening Beijing’s resolve not to make any concessions. Beijing has consistently refused to pledge not to use force against Taiwan. Jiang stated that the PRC would adopt “resolute measures”[5] if Taiwan declared independence, a positioned he maintained until his death. Still, China and Taiwan remain locked in negotiations as no Chinese leader can afford to take action that could lead to a split within the nation,[6] but as time moves on, Beijing believes that the longer the separation, the stronger Taiwan’s tendency towards independence will become. China’s inflexible policies and diplomatic relations will most likely remain top priority for Beijing and Taipei as well as a considerable source of regional and international tension including potential conflict with the U.S.

Relations between China and the U.S. have always been strained but generally tensions began when America supported Chiang Kai-shek’s regime during the final stages of China’s civil war. The recognition the U.S. gave to Chiang’s forces created tensions that remain today. For the next two decades, China remained in a confrontational relationship with the U.S. supporting North Korea and North Vietnam in the wars against the U.S. labeling Japan, South Korea and South Vietnam as “running dogs of American imperialism”[7]. The devastating consequences that the Vietnam war had on the U.S. prompted President Richard Nixon to soften U.S. policy towards Beijing, which started a “rapprochement policy” between the two states leading to Nixon’s visit to China in 1972. After Mao’s death, Deng Xiaoping’s foreign policy towards the U.S. sought a more rational and friendly relationship. Deng realized that for China to prosper, economic trade, political concessions and negotiations would have to take place. Deng identified several principles to guide Chinese-American relations that included an increase of mutual trust, reduce trouble, enhance cooperation and avoid confrontation.[8] These liberal principles have guided Beijing, with considerable success by maintaining friendly relations with Washington.

In 1994, the U.S. began an engagement policy, which used closer economic ties as an incentive for Chinese leaders to respect human rights. In the mid 1990’s, relations were strained due to the Republican party’s victory in U.S. Congressional elections. This produced a more pro-Taiwan stance in Washington with a call to reestablish diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which included a visit to the United States by the then Taiwanese President, Lee Tung-hui. The PRC retaliated by conducting missile tests around Taiwan in the summer of 1995 and 96. Washington reacted by sending two aircraft carrier groups to the waters of Taiwan creating further tension between the two states. However, economic issues seem to be the most influential between the two nations, especially in regard to China’s domestic market, as it would seem that Western countries have put economics ahead of politics when dealing with China. This was never more telling than in April 2001 when a U.S. plane engaged in routine surveillance collided with a Chinese military jet and was forced to land in Chinese territory. The Chinese refused to let the Americans return home for several days and prohibited them from retrieving the damaged plane. Bitter statements were exchanged, but in its aftermath, both states would not allow the incident to jeopardize economic relations.[9] Such strains are likely to continue, however it would seem that the two countries’ national interests are not fundamentally in conflict as long as economic prosperity continues.

China faced fundamental changes during the twentieth century with policies dominated by ideology and geopolitics while China’s sovereignty, political independence and territorial security was continuously being challenged by aggressive and imperialistic states. The occupation of Taiwan by Japanese forces and the subsequent takeover by the former Chinese Nationalist government created a Chinese foreign policy platform that essentially hasn’t altered for over fifty years. Taiwan seeks its independence through international organizations challenging China’s national sovereignty and regime legitimacy. Taiwan and the U.S. are deeply intertwined within Chinese foreign policy. Due to U.S support of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government in Taiwan and their participation in the Korean and Vietnam War, China regard the U.S. as a major threat to national sovereignty and still do. Since the 1970’s, from the perspective of Beijing, it is clearly in the interest of China to play a balanced role in order to maintain economic and domestic stability. However, Beijing’s interpretation of the current environment plays an important role in Chinese policy agenda. In this respect, perceived threats to China’s national security and regime survival will continue to override economic opportunities.[10] Chinese foreign policy ideology generates a mixed bag of theoretical perspectives with a combination of realism and liberalism structured around rational and organizational models of foreign policy. However, it would seem that the CCP and its leaders remain in complete control of the state with decisions behind foreign policy continuing to be highly centralized and personalized. To this day, Chinese foreign policy is directed by, and highly reflective of a small group of individuals’ perceptions, tendencies, and political preferences.

References/Bibliography

Brown, Michael E. The Rise of China, MIT Press, 2000.

Hill, Christopher. The Changing Politics of Foreign Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Hook, Steven W. Comparative Foreign Policy. Pearson Education, 2002.

Kegley, Charles W. World Politics – Trend and Transformation. Thomas Learning, 2007.

Monk, Paul. Thunder from the Silent Zone. Scribe Publications, 2005.
Zhang, Yongjin & Austin, Greg. Power and responsibility in Chinese Policy. Asis Pacific Press, 2001.
[1] Zhang, Yongjin & Austin, Greg. Power and responsibility in Chinese Policy. Asis Pacific Press, 2001, 2.
[2] Hook, Steven W. Comparative Foreign Policy. Pearson Education, 2002, 69.
[3] Hook, Steven W. Comparative Foreign Policy. Pearson Education, 2002, 71.
[4] Zhang, Yongjin & Austin, Greg. Power and responsibility in Chinese Policy. Asis Pacific Press, 2001, 26.
[5] Hook, Steven W. Comparative Foreign Policy. Pearson Education, 2002, 74.
[6] Brown, Michael E. The Rise of China, MIT Press, 2000, 17.
[7] Hook, Steven W. Comparative Foreign Policy. Pearson Education, 2002, 69.
[8] Monk, Paul. Thunder from the Silent Zone. Scribe Publications, 2005, 110.
[9] Zhang, Yongjin & Austin, Greg. Power and responsibility in Chinese Policy. Asis Pacific Press, 2001, 204.
[10] Hook, Steven W. Comparative Foreign Policy. Pearson Education, 2002, 78.

Capitalist China

2009-07-28T00:56:00.000-07:00

There are many opinions, myths and legends about Mao Zedong, the former leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of China. For many around the world, he was a deranged psychopath, mass murderer and dictator, while to others he was known as a hero and a god, a revolutionary leader that pulled China out of the ashes and onto the world stage. Mao Zedong survived through a period of Chinese history that produced civil wars, regime change, invasions and revolutions. Profoundly influenced by Marxist and Leninist doctrine, Mao and the Chinese Communist Party’s principal political goal was to construct a socialist society through socialist revolution. For Mao Zedong however, there was another fundamental reason – the desire for complete control and power. To achieve his goals, Mao would change the ideals of a country into a nation through ideology, propaganda and force. “The people that won the revolution should not run the revolution,” is a way of describing Mao’s inability and failure to implement policies for the benefit of the Chinese people, rather than for himself and the Communist Party. From the absurd ideological policies of the “Great Leap Forward” to the disastrous “Cultural Revolution,” Mao Zedong’s desperation, lust for power and cunning spirit of survival, saw him through as leader of the People’s Democratic Republic of China up until his death in 1976, leaving an enduring legacy that will last for many years to come.

To understand Mao Zedong’s principle political goals, one must look at the history that has shaped those goals. Mao survived through a period of Chinese history that produced civil wars, regime change and invasion from other states. Mao joined the army at the age of sixteen where he came across a left-wing publication called the Xiang River Daily News where he first read about “socialism” describing new ways of reorganizing society. During this time, China experienced a flood of nationalism, not nationalism in a sense of a valued national past, but a nationalism that had a predisposition to disregard traditional values and culture as unsuitable for China’s national survival.[1] Ch’en Tu-hsiu who founded the periodical Hsin ch’ing-nien (New Youth) influenced the call for cultural revolution and consequently molded the beliefs and attitudes of a whole generation of young students and intellectuals. Among the avid readers was a young Mao Zedong who was profoundly influenced by the views expressed within its pages, which formed the basis of Mao’s principle political beliefs and goals. Even though New Youth was not a Marxist periodical, it eventually became so, ultimately producing Marxists and consequently socialism and communist ideology.

The young revolutionaries realized that to change the Chinese social political landscape that national sentiments alone would not be effective until it was organized for political use. They found that Russian communist ideals appealed to the people of China and with encouragement from the Soviet Union,[2] in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded. Interest in Marxist and Leninist ideas spread among the CCP with the communists trying to organize the proletariat and industrial workers as the main basis of the revolution. The socialist ideology derived from Karl Marx, a German philosopher, who theorized that there are two main classes: the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, which owns the means of production, and the proletariat, or working class whose members own only their labour power, which they hire out in return for wages.[3] The communists soon realized that in a country ruled and plundered by warlord armies,[4] it would take military power to change the social landscape and until that could be achieved, their socialist revolution will have to be abandoned. Over the next two decades, Mao and the CCP with peasant support slowly built their resources and base within the hills and mountains of Northern China eventually defeating the Chinese National Government of Chiang Kai-shek in 1949. The aspirations and principal political goals of Mao and the CCP were finally realized on 1st October 1949 when Mao Zedong proclaimed the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.

Mao Zedong and the CCP’s long-term political goal was to fundamentally change the Chinese people’s way of life by constructing a socialist society[5]. After twelve years of war with Japan, China was in a state of shock and the first years of Communist rule were a period of constant chaos and change. Mao realized that for the country to become a socialist one, the first step was to consolidate the communist party’s power base and heal the wounds of war.[6] To achieve their principle political goals, the CCP decided to continue on its current strength declaring that the traditional ruling order of the countryside will have to be destroyed. Mao proclaimed that the new state was not to be a bourgeois republic but a “people’s republic” centrally controlled by the state:

“Without the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party, without the Chinese Communists as the mainstay of the Chinese people, China can never achieve independence and liberation, or industrialization and the modernization of her agriculture”. – Mao Zedong.[7]

The new regime followed Soviet precedent in adopting a moderate program of political and economic recovery known as “New Democracy”.[8] To create a socialist society and to achieve their political goals, Mao and the CCP aimed at two main objectives. First was to destroy the ruling elite, its status and predominately its wealth, and secondly was to build up a new power structure that would gain continual and loyal support from the peasants.

The CCP was predominately built through peasant support in the countryside of Northern China. For the CCP to achieve its principle political goals, the first step was to strip the ruling elite of its wealth and prestige with the redistribution of land by which the CCP could make substantial improvements in the lives of the poor peasants.[9] The only way to get rid of the landlords as the CCP saw it was to destroy the ruling elite as a class. The plan was to politicize the poor and unite the peasants against the landlords and convince them of the benefits of Communist Marxist ideals. In the first three years of Communist rule in China, the CCP had gained wide spread support especially with their land reform program. Spurred by official tolerance for capital activities and the end of the civil war, the national economy began to rebound. With the first social goals achieved, in 1953 Mao and the CCP launched the nation’s first economic and cultural five-year plan promoting large-scale modernization and industrial projects largely through the collectivization of the rural agricultural sector.

To achieve their principle goal of large-scale modernization, the CCP saw land reform as necessary in a process that would lead to the collectivization of agriculture.[10] Mao sought to establish cooperatives were families would amalgamate land establishing large-scale agricultural production. By 1954, massive communes had been established and with the countryside now socially reformed, collectivizing sectors of the economy began to take place. Mao began to nationalize the factories and take state control over the industrial sector. The five-year plan was to establish goals for investment and production increases in each sector of the economy,[11]. However, the CCP were extracting goods from the countryside for investment in the city, creating hardships amongst the peasants. China made relative gains as the production of grain began to increase with some collectives by 1957 incorporating over 1,000,000 individuals. The distribution of wealth however left many peasants feeling resentment, as many still remained in poverty. By the end of 1957, the agricultural sector failed to supply the industrial sector of the required surplus needed to achieve the CCP’s principle goals of modernization. This resulted in a second five-year plan promoting massive agricultural cooperativization and collectivization, which eventually became known as the “Great Leap Forward.

To achieve modernization, the Great Leap Forward was promoted as an intensive drive for increased productivity. Mao decided to take advantage of the economy by liberating the masses instead of working through a bureaucratic planning structure.[12] The organizing of the “peoples communes” swept up over 500 million peasants into a collective that combined over 26,000 communes. The aim of the Great Leap Forward was to build a structure that would support economic development in industry and agriculture. The Leap was indeed a concept of development, not a clear, agreed, detailed plan for development.[13] At first, the Great Leap Forward was relatively successful, but instead of consolidating those gains, Mao lost all sense of reality and began demanding even higher rates of economic growth.[14] It was at this stage that Maoist ideology started to become illogical rather than logical. This was nowhere more evident than with the development of the “backyard steel mill” where peasants were encouraged to produce steel for the industrial sector. The backyard furnace produced unusable steel and was soon abandoned. In his push for modernization, reality of the situation was ignored and began to deteriorate by the end of 1958. Overblown figures became common resulting in the over consumption of food stocks and over the next two years the weather was disastrous resulting in mass starvation. The disaster of Great Leap Forward split the party[15] with Mao losing his position as Chairman of the People’s Republic of China to Lui Shaoque in 1959, who abandoned the policies of the Great Leap Forward by late 1960. Mao felt that the principle political and social goals of the revolution were being abandoned and over the next six years he initiated one of the most bizarre power grabs in history, leading to the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.”

During the early sixties, Mao believed that the principle political goals achieved during the Chinese Revolution had been lost. To gain power, Mao began to look at the younger generation as a vehicle towards change with university students being the first to respond to the Maoist call to rebel against established society.[16] Mao encouraged the university students to organize themselves as “Red Guards” ordering them to assault capitalist society and the Party, by assuring them that “to rebel is justified.”[17] For the next eighteen months, the Red Guards systematically attacked any individual that supported capitalist ideas resulting in the brutality, beating and torturing of the Chinese people with many thousands dying during the campaign. Mao eventually called for students to return to school ordering the army to use force against the Red Guards if necessary. Mao had managed to regain control by fundamentally changing the nation through violence and death to achieve his principle political goals. At the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1968, Mao had seemed to lose touch with reality in his blind pursuit of Utopian dreams and personal power.[18] Over the next six years, part of the period later described as the “Ten-Year Catastrophe,” the Cultural Revolution moderated, but continued up until Mao’s death in 1976. Mao had managed to influence and dominate Chinese politics for nearly five generations. The fundamental effects and consequences have left an enduring legacy that still lasts to this day.

Mao is an international figure around the world and legendary within his own country. The memories of history fade, but within China, Mao is remembered for many accomplishments, both good and bad. Depending on which generation of Chinese people is doing the remembering, from the 1920s through to the 1970s, Mao’s deeds have left an enduring legacy that will last for many years to come. After Mao’s death, the right-wing factions won control and began reforming the country, undoing much of the legacy of Mao.[19] In 1978, Deng Xiaoping established control and began by dismantling much of Mao’s policies. The new leadership was known for the “Four Modernizations” – modernization of agriculture, industry, science and technology, and national defense. Deng’s push towards modernization, in some ways grew directly from the ashes of Mao’s China.[20] It was Mao in the early seventies who began to introduce more open policies and dialogue, which began when Richard Nixon visited China in 1972. Even though China has moved into a capitalist society, they still remain communists with socialist beliefs, benefiting from a commercial economy. The enduring legacy that Mao has left China is the position that they are now placed within the world. Mao changed the face of a nation that was subordinate and inconsequential, into a proud fighting nation that made the world stand up and take notice.

Mao Zedong may be known as a deranged psychopath, mass murderer, hero and god, but ultimately Mao Zedong will be known for his power. To achieve his principle political goals, Mao changed the ideals of the most populous country on earth into a communist nation through flawed socialist ideology, contradicting propaganda, brute force and sheer will. Mao’s failure to implement policies for the benefit of the Chinese people clearly illustrated the inability within his leadership to govern China. Even after the deaths of millions due to the policies of the “Great Leap Forward” and the disastrous “Cultural Revolution”, Mao remained ignorant to the reality of the situation. In his blind pursuit of utopian socialist dreams and power, if there were any deviations from the goal, Mao would direct them. If there were any discontent, Mao would squash them. And if there were any challenges to his power, Mao would kill them. Despite the many opinions, myths and legends, Mao Zedong’s desperation, lust for power and cunning spirit of survival, saw him create and survive through a period of Chinese history, that will leave an enduring legacy for many years to come.

References/Bibliography

Edwin E Moise, Modern China: A History. New York: Longman, 1986.

Jean Chesneaux, Peasant revolts in China. London: Thames and Hudson, 1973.

Maurice Meiser, Mao’s China. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1977.

.Palmowski, Jan. Oxford Dictionary of Contemporary World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. 2nd edn.

Paul Monk. Thunder from the Silent Zone. Scribe Publications, 2005

Robert, Van Krieken. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins. 2006.

Ross Terrill, Mao: a biography. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1995.

William J. Duiker, Twentieth-Century World History. 4th ed. USA: Thomas Wadsworth, 2007.

Stuart R. Schram, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. New York: Bantam Books, 1967.

[1] Maurice Meiser, Mao’s China. (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1977), 12.
[2] Edwin E Moise, Modern China: A History. (New York: Longman, 1986), 51.
[3] Robert, Van Krieken.. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. (England: Harper Collins. 2006) 218 - 219.
[4] Maurice Meiser, 21.
[5] William J. Duiker, Twentieth-Century World History. 4th ed. (USA: Thomas Wadsworth, 2007), 217.
[6] William J. Duiker, 217.
[7] Stuart R. Schram, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. (New York: Bantam Books, 1967), 1.
[8] William J. Duiker, 217.
[9] Edwin E Moise, 126.
[10] Maurice Meiser, 140.
[11] Edwin E Moise, 139.
[12] Edwin E Moise, 151.
[13] Ross Terrill, Mao: a biography. (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1995), 37.
[14] Edwin E Moise, 154.
[15] Ross Terrill, 297
[16] Maurice Meiser, 312.
[17] Ross Terrill, 336.
[18] Edwin E Moise, 173.
[19] Edwin E Moise, 212.
[20] Ross Terrill, 455.

Maintaining the symbolic order.

2009-07-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

Society’s consciousness has been transformed by the technological developments that have given rise to mass media and communication technologies by altering the ways in which people have communicated across time and space. These developments have provided the structural capacity for communications media to connect distant parts of the globe at an unprecedented scale with its beginnings tracing back to the 19th century. The impact of the telegraph was to compress both time and space in which the capacity to transmit messages was clearly separated from the time-consuming process of transportation. The telegraph was a key technology in the development of the global system of imperial capitalism and mass consumption. The introduction of the wireless telegraph made it eventually possible to transmit information over vast distances almost simultaneously. Wireless technology assisted the rapid expansion of modern imperialism by facilitating commercial transactions over great distances creating the global infrastructure needed to build the emerging system of mass development, consumerism and globalisation. The introduction of television however, intensified the entire information revolution. Nowhere is the impact on the new media on the old media more visible than in television broadcasting with television still the most powerful and pervasive mass medium today. Television shapes us both as consumers and as citizens in a clear demonstration of mutual constitution. Television informs and reflects the wider social world and has shaped critical events. However, television has also become a formidable instrument in mass consumerism and conformity by maintaining the symbolic order of economic life and popular culture.

Telegraphy was developed commercially by Samuel Morse in 1835 with the first long-distance electric telegraph line being build between Washington D.C and Baltimore in 1843. The laying of submarine cables in the 1850s throughout the world constituted ‘the first global system of communication in which the capacity to transmit messages was clearly separated from the time-consuming process of transportation’ (Thompson 1995, p. 154). The world no longer held their breath for a ‘message in a bottle’ to cross the Atlantic with Europe and North America connected via cable by 1866, followed by Australia via Darwin in 1872. The installation of cables between coutries allowed the telegraphing of messages for business, political and military purposes, subsequently consummating the birth of a new communication revolution. By 1900, 306,000 kilometres of submarine cable had been laid connecting most of the globe. Before the telegraph, news took two months to travel from England to Australia. However by 1872, ‘the impact of the telegraph was to compress both time and space’ (Krieken, Habibis, Smith, Hutchins, Haralambos, Holborn 2006, p. 433), with the time span reduced between 24 and 48 hours, allowing a more effective integration of Australian business into international markets. A convergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) divided up the world into mutually exclusive geopolitical spheres of operation after a period of regulation and competition. News agencies around the world capitalized on the telegraph system and disseminated news throughout the globe by supplying information to newspapers, changing the way in which people experienced the world. The telegraph was a key technology in the development of the global system of national-states based on what Peter McMahon calls the ‘industro-military’ tendencies of 19th century capitalism where he describes it as the ‘golden age’ of ‘imperial capitalism’ (McMahon 2002, p. 383). Eventually the telegraph system dispensed with the use of copper wires by becoming wireless; ultimately evolving into the wireless transceiver we have today – otherwise known as the radio.

German Heinrich Hertz proved that radio waves exist, but it was Italian Guglielmo Marconi, who in 1896 filed an application for his first wireless patent in London that put the radio waves to use. In 1898, Marconi’s newly founded wireless company broadcast coverage of the Kingston Regatta. This was wireless telegraphy. Even though it was broadcast in dots and dashes to news agencies, ‘it was the birth of broadcast journalism’ (Bliss 1991, p. 2). Reginald Fessendsen, in 1902 ‘first used wireless waves to carry the human voice over the distance of one mile’ (Briggs 1961, p. 27). Electromagnetic waves avoided the expense of laying submarine cables and made it possible to transmit information over vast distances almost simultaneously. The First World War enhanced wireless dramatically as countries were able to broadcast military and navel communications. The long association between radio, government propaganda and commercialism had begun. ‘Wireless technology assisted in the rapid expansion of modern imperialism by facilitating commercial transactions over great distances creating the global infrastructure needed to build the emerging system of mass development’ (Hurst & Harrison 2007, p. 135). The forming of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1919 was closely followed by the first commercial radio station on air in the USA in 1920. Attempts to regulate radio came in 1927 with the allocation of commercial licenses that favoured the big companies, consequently making radio big business with advertising dollars moving from newspapers to radio. The British government however retained control of wireless broadcasting and instituted the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a ‘public service’ network in 1922. The impact of radio technology in Australia was immense. The golden age of radio began in 1932 with the inception of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). By 1934, ‘over one million wireless receivers were licensed and audiences were growing at almost 8000 listeners a month’ (Hutchins 2002, p. 22). However, it was before and during the Second World War that radio came the forefront in techniques in influencing public perception. Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill both used the medium of radio to gather support to fight the war. For the first time people could hear up to date reports of the war including the London Blitz and Pearl Harbor. It wasn’t until the 1960s that a revolution began to rock radio across the globe with the introduction of Rock ‘n’ Roll and Pop music that transformed radio into a truly commercial product and tool for big business. Radio broadcasting was the first distribution system of information, education and entertainment to a mass audience and is ‘representative of a collective compulsion to transcend space and time via communication technologies during the 20th century’ (Krieken 2006, p. 433). However, it was not until the introduction of television that intensified the entire information revolution process.

The communications revolution has changed the way in which information is delivered in many ways. Nowhere is the impact on the new media on the old media more visible than in television broadcasting. From its earliest days, radio satirist Fred Allen saw it creating a race of people ‘with eyes as big as grapefruits and no brains’ (Dizard 1994, p. 81). Nevertheless, television is still the most powerful and pervasive mass medium today. The first television image was beamed from England to the USA and was followed by the first television broadcast in 1928. In 1932, the BBC began broadcasting television four days a week with its first major broadcast the coronation of King George in 1937. Colour television was demonstrated by CBS in New York in 1940, however it was not until after the Second World War, in 1951 when colour television was introduced into the USA. When television was introduced into Australia to coincide with the Melbourne Olympic Games, it intensified the entire information revolution process. In the 1960s the first international communication satellite made its first transmission. Cable television emerged, the first pictures from the moon were broadcast, and an Asian war was televised with the world amassing over two hundred million television sets by the end of the decade. ‘Television shapes us both as consumers and as citizens in a clear demonstration of mutual constitution’ (Hirst & Harrison 2007, p. 145). It informs and reflects the wider social world and has shaped critical events such as the civil rights movement, the Kennedy assassination, the Persian Gulf wars, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the fall of the twin towers. Television is dominated by corporations that project their own dominant view, consequently making television ‘a formidable instrument in maintaining the symbolic order’ (Bourdieu 1998, p. 16). Traditionally, the media and information mediums were distinct; stations received and broadcast television programs, and telecommunications enabled phone calls. These functions have now come together and the boundaries between media, telecommunications and computing have blurred where the future of broadcasting and communication is surrounded by a world of uncertainty.
With the introduction of the telegraph the world no longer held its breath for a ‘message in a bottle’ to cross the Atlantic. The installation of cables between coutries in 1850 constituted the first global system of communication, subsequently consummating the birth of a new communication revolution. The telegraph was a key technology in the development of the global system creating a new wave of imperial capitalism. The introduction of wireless telegraphy in 1898 avoided the expense of laying cables and made it possible to transmit information over vast distances almost simultaneously. The radio was first used for naval and military applications. However, the allocation of commercial licenses favoured big companies consequently making radio big business, beginning the long association between radio, government propaganda and commercialism. The radio facilitates commercial transactions over great distances creating the global infrastructure needed to build the emerging system of mass development. Radio broadcasting was the first distribution system to a mass audience that transcended both time and space. The introduction of television however, intensified the entire information revolution. Television is still the most powerful and pervasive mass medium today that has both shaped us as consumers and as citizens in a clear demonstration of mutual constitution. Corporations that project their own dominant view control television, ultimately making society increasingly vulnerable to commercial and political manipulation. Television now has become a formidable instrument in mass consumerism and conformity by maintaining the symbolic order of economic life and popular culture. Traditionally, the media and information mediums were distinct. These functions have now come together and the boundaries between media, telecommunications and computing have blurred, where the future of broadcasting has become uncertain. However, in a capitalist world controlled by Information and Communication Technologies, one thing in for certain, a few people stand to make a lot of money.

Works Cited:

Bourdieu, Pierre. (1998) On Television and Journalism. London: Pluto Press.

Bliss, Edward. (1991) Now The News: The Story of Broadcast Journalism. New York: Columbia University Press.

Briggs, Asa. (1961) The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: The Birth of British Broadcasting. London: Oxford University Press.

Dizard, Wilson. (1994) Old Media, New Media; Mass Communication in the Information Age. New York: Longman.

Hurst, Martin. Harrison, John. (2007) Communication and New Media – From Broadcast to Narrowcast. Victoria: Oxford University Press.

Hutchins, B. (2002). Don Bradman: Challenging the Myth. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

McMahon, Peter. (2000) Early electrical communications technology and structural change in the international political economy: The cases of telegraphy and radio. Prometheus 20(4): 379-90

Thompson, John. (1995) The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Van Krieken, Robert. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. (2006) Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins.

The Public Sphere

2009-07-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

The voice of the people can be hard to hear. When someone screams within a crowd nobody listens, but when a crowd screams, the walls can come tumbling down. The evolving nature of public discourse and democratic politics dictates societies own freedoms and values. The public sphere was born out of public opinion creating a social space where matters of public importance could be discussed to determine the public interest. Jurgen Habermas introduced the concept of the public sphere in his book, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere – An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society (1962). Habermas believed that the public sphere was born out of the feudal system that denied the principle of open public debate on matters of public interest. Although there had existed a public sphere in classical Greece, Habermas argues that in eighteenth century Britain, ‘the spread of capitalism allowed the emergence of a public sphere’ (Webster 2002, p. 163). The emergence of the public sphere enlightened and educated citizens within political and social culture, creating cultural and social movements. Habermas believes that the fight for independence from the state was an essential constituent of the bourgeois public sphere and that the growth of capitalism and the social forces that brought the public sphere into being, eventually lead to its decline. However, Habermas fails to recognise the evolving nature and structure of the public sphere, and of its readers within it. It is arguable that, as capitalism consolidated its hold on society and the state itself in the twentieth century, the basic key functions of an open public sphere consolidated, ensuring its own future survival, inadvertently creating an information and cultural revolution, where the control of information is largely becoming the domain of the public sphere and of its readers.

The evolution of the public sphere in modern times can be traced back to Italy in the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries during the Renaissance. Public and political debate and constant reference to ‘the people,’ was commonplace within the city of Florence. The population participated in political life with many citizens performing civic duties with the goal of creating a more civil society. The city squares, ‘were a kind of public sphere in which speeches were given and politics discussed’ (Briggs and Burke 2005, p. 61). People demonstrated and actively participated in political debate creating political posters and slogans. The precursor for these developments was created due to the ‘Dark Ages.’ War, famine, rebellions and the Black Death amounted to an ecological catastrophe that destroyed productivity and decimated the population, which led to fundamental changes throughout Europe. Prior to the emergence of the public sphere, the state was controlled and conducted under a feudal system that was represented by the elite who denied the principle of open public discussion and served as the absolute centre of political power. The enlightenment ideals in Florence challenged the hegemony of the elite through social comment and reasoned debate. These fundamental values and memes eventually spread on a smaller scale to cities in the Neverlands, Germany and Switzerland with all developing a similar civic culture. The emergence of the public sphere enhanced the Renaissance and enlightened and educated citizens within political and social culture, creating cultural and social movements that eventually, with the assistance of the printing press, led to the Reformation.

The Renaissance was expressed through freedom of thought and creativity through reason and the pursuit of truth, reigniting the cultural movement of Humanism. Humanists believed that to obtain truth, education through the unity of knowledge was the key, where the orthodox ideals of the Church and state were irrelevant. The dialectic relationship between the Church and Humanism eventually came to a head in the eighteenth century. However it was two hundred years earlier, in the fifteenth and sixteenth century that the Church faced a major ideological conflict via the public sphere, which eventually led to the Reformation. The invention of the printing press had a number of immediate social and cultural effects. Mass distribution of printed material, ‘encouraged literacy, it disseminated ideas more rapidly, and it fostered greater standardisation of texts’ (Hirst & Harrison 2007, p. 82), creating a profound effect on the intellectual and political order of the day. The Reformation was a social movement, with the aim of reforming a corrupted Church. Martin Luther challenged the Church calling for debate on a number of religious and social issues. These arguments were taken to the German people using millions of printed copies of religious pamphlets and tracts creating social intercourse and religious and political critique, ‘opening up a social space where the authority of the better arguments could be asserted against the established status quo’ (Stevenson 1999, p. 14). Luther encouraged the reading of the bible in the vernacular and believed that everyone should have access to God without interference from the Church. The invention of the printing press undermined the information monopoly of the medieval Church. Public opinion was not part of the state in the early sixteenth century. However, ‘the involvement of the people in the Reformation was a cause and a consequence of the involvement of the media’ (Briggs and Burke 2005, p. 63), where the mass dissemination of information, created mass opinion The newly created public sphere of the printed word was the beginning of a communication revolution that quickly spread throughout European society. The establishment of a printing industry in the early sixteenth century created books, newspapers, pamphlets and posters, simultaneously forming a open ‘public sphere,’ creating vectors across Europe, igniting religious and political debate, fuelled by the newly inspired medium of the media.

The purpose of the public sphere is to enable the people to reflect critically upon themselves and the practices of the state. Habermas states that the ‘areas of social debate that had been sealed off under feudalism, once they had lost the ‘aura’ that had been provided by the Church and the court, became increasingly problematised through conversation that disregarded the status of the participants’ (Stevenson 1999, p. 14). Public debate on religion and politics flourished across Europe without the stigma of the Church and the state to inhibit common ideas and beliefs, making it impossible to stifle ideas. However, the emergence of modern propaganda and censorship techniques were an inevitable consequence of the printing revolution, ‘hence the capability to manage opinion in a manufactured public sphere’ (Habermas, 217). Propaganda and censorship were religious before they became political. The rapid adoption of printing brought the rapid expansion of the media industry across Europe inevitably creating conflicts between states. The media played a major role in fuelling these conflicts due of the ‘mixture of religious and political debates that they encouraged’ (Briggs and Burke 2005, p. 70). The religious wars in France from the early 1560s to the mid-1590s and the Revolt of the Neverlands from the 1560s to 1609 was in many ways, the first modern media wars, where ‘pamphleteering, image-making, image breaking and oral communication were all important’ (Briggs and Burke 2005, p. 70). The French Protestants turned to the press to publicize their ideas conducting strategic attacks against the Catholic mass in what we would call today, a media campaign. The English Civil War was conducted in the media in speeches, sermons, images and text. Just as historian Donald Kelly’s conclusion that in 1572, ‘modern political propaganda came of age’ (Kelly, 1981), so too did the media and the development of public sphere. The evolution of the public sphere expanded enormously during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was not until the eighteenth century however, with the development of capitalism that it assumed a more distinctive form.

With the emergence of the industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism across the Continent of Europe, the development of trade and communication brought about the decentralization of power stimulating the emergence of the public sphere. The French Enlightenment urged reform rather that revolution with French intellectuals or, the ‘men of letters,’ viewing their role as educational, using the media as their indispensable instruments. They wrote within a system where censorship was still in place and the subject of politics was prohibited. The state in this period ‘became the sphere of public authority that had a legitimate claim to the use of violence’ (Stevenson 1999, p. 13), applying restrictions and censorship to the media. These restrictions stimulated the oral culture and intellectual conversations of the coffee houses and salons inspired by literary journals and periodicals. Much the same was occurring in England where Habermas argues that the ‘bourgeois public sphere’ ‘emerged due to key features of the expanding capitalist society in eighteenth century Britain’ (Webster 2002, p. 163). In the beginning, these intellectual conversations were itself restrictive to the wider public with Habermas claiming that this activity constituted a mouthpiece for the public. Habermas believes that ‘while the ‘public’ remained small, the principle of universality was beginning to be accepted’ (Stevenson 1999, p. 14). Crucially, capitalists began to struggle for and achieve independence from the Church and the state. As capitalism consolidated, so did independence from the state through increased support for ‘free speech,’ parliamentary reform and free press. Habermas emphasises that ‘the fight for independence from the state was an essential constituent of the bourgeois public sphere’ (Habermas, 31). However, the growth of capitalism and the social forces that brought the public sphere into being, eventually lead to its decline. Communication became increasingly the domain of large commercial concerns with calls for reform of the state. Habermas (1962) believes that the precarious balance was tilted towards capitalists during the closing decades of the nineteenth century systematically reducing the autonomy of the public sphere (p. 141). Habermas may have been right. However, the emergence of the mass media through the medium of newspapers and telegraphy at the beginning of the twentieth century brought technological changes along with an emerging information revolution that would eventually change the fundamental structure of the public sphere.

The invention of the Telegraph constituted ‘the first global system of communication’ (Thompson 1995, p. 154). News agencies capitalised on the telegraph and disseminated news throughout the globe by supplying information to newspapers, changing the way in which people access information and experience the public sphere. These developments enhanced the public sphere by the end of the nineteenth century with the characteristic functions of open debate, critical scrutiny, full reportage, increased accessibility, and independence from actors from economic interest as well as from state control. Theorist Manuel Castells argues that the telegraph established a ‘new global information code that facilitated the circulation of capital (in the form of money) and economic control (in the form of imperialism)’ (McMahon 2002, p. 380). Habermas would agree with this assessment, as he believed that it was these contradictory features of the bourgeois public sphere that led to what he calls its ‘refeudalisation.’ This involves a re-emerging of the state and civil society, and the public and the private spheres that resembles the conditions of feudal society due to the manipulation of the mass media. Habermas believed that this was due to the rise of the ‘capitalist state’, where its ‘adherents increasingly turned their backs on an agitational and argumentative role and used the state – now dominated by capital – to further their own ends’ (Webster 2002, p. 165). Habermas also believed that with the introduction of new technologies in the first half of the twentieth century, the mass media developed into a monopoly of capitalist organisations, diminishing the concept of the public sphere by shifting towards a role of commercialised public opinion and away from that of information provider. Furthermore, Habermas assumes that as commercialisation of the press and the media proceeds, readers are transformed from active political subjects into passive consumers. However, Habermas fails to recognise the evolving nature and structure of the public sphere, and of its readers within it. Individuals have the capacity to receive, resist and respond critically to the media. It is arguable that, as capitalism consolidated its hold on society and the state itself, the basic key functions of an open public sphere consolidated, ensuring its own future survival within a capitalist state.

The twentieth century was the beginning of a communication and information revolution. From radio to new digital media, the public sphere faced many challenges over the last century. Radio broadcasting was the first distribution system of information, education and entertainment to a mass audience. This technique of mass distribution was followed with film, television, music, the internet and new media that is ‘representative of a collective compulsion to transcend space and time via communication technologies during the 20th century’ (Krieken, Habibis, Smith, Hutchins, Haralambos & Holborn 2006, p. 433). It is claimed that mass media can create ‘cultural imperialism’ (McChesney 2005, p. 96), meaning that the affluent culture dominates the production of information, consequently diminishing the public sphere. However, the public sphere, with the assistance of its readers and the state, resisted capital’s domination during the twentieth century, by consolidating access to a free press, through the formation of associations, literary, cultural and community groups, unions, and public service institutions such as public broadcasting, libraries, higher education, museum’s and art galleries, as well as government informational services. Even though the media has developed into a monopoly of capitalist organisations and most of these institutions and services are now ‘pay as you go’ or have been privatised, up until the mid 1980s, they were the foundations of a stable and effectively functioning public sphere. Habermas (1962) subscribes to the view that ‘there is no real space for a public sphere in an era of transnational media conglomerates’ (p. 192). However, Habermas fails to realise the power of the public sphere as an evolving entity. Information technologies have developed exponentially largely dominated by the rise of the internet and multi-media. The boundaries between media, telecommunications and computing have converged creating a communication and information revolution via digitalised multi-media. Communication and information goes both ways, with the revolution consequently injecting life into a diminishing public sphere. In the face of its ultimate demise, the public sphere not only survived, but is now evolving into its strongest form ever.

The development of Information Communication Technology’s (ICT’s) in the twentieth century has created a communication and information revolution that is being paralleled by a cultural revolution. With the growth of the personal computer during the 1980’s, information ‘technologies developed exponentially during the last part of the twentieth century, and became dominated by the rise of the Internet and of multi-media’ (Calhoun 2005, p. 226). In the mid nineties, the communications industry; media, information technology and telecommunications companies began to merge with media moguls symbolising a centralised and demagogic form of power.
Habermas (1962) believes that the precarious balance was tilted towards capitalists during the closing decades of the nineteenth century systematically reducing the autonomy of the public sphere (p. 141). A century later much the same has occurred, except for one major difference. The invention of telegraphy and the radio saw media conglomerates scramble for rights and control creating a one-way flow of communication where ‘the few speak to the many’ (Holmes, Hughes & Julian 2003, p. 457). Even though the information was controlled by the few, the public sphere evolved and predominately benefited from the experience. Again, the invention of the Internet and the World Wide Web has not diluted the dominance of media conglomerates, although it has diminished their control, and ultimately transformed the public sphere creating wide ranging implications. A general concern from theorists today is the commodification of information. However, the Internet and the World Wide Web has created a ‘decentralised model of communication in which the grip of ‘the few’ on media power is loosened by ‘the many’ who assume greater control over what they watch, listen to and read, as well as the range of people with whom they interact’ (Krieken, et al, 2006.p. 429). The traditional forms of media capital are being eroded with the democratization of information giving readers choice in the way they access information. Instead of individuals serving as objects of passive consumption, media communication technologies offer a range of interactive possibilities, subsequently creating an information cultural revolution, where for the first time, the control of information is largely becoming the domain of the public sphere and its readers.

History dictates that the hegemony of state and capitalists will always influence public opinion. However, history also dictates that with the dialectic relationship between them, the public sphere expands and contracts, with its very nature constantly evolving in how it is being utilised by its readers. Habermas believes that due to capitalist enterprise, informational quality is negligible and subjects its audiences ‘to the soft compulsion of constant consumption training’ (Habermas, 1962. p. 192), transforming them from active political subjects into passive consumers. However, Habermas underestimates the capacity of readers to receive, resist and respond critically to media messages and the power of the public sphere as an evolving entity. When nature is challenged, it reacts with defences that have naturally evolved over its lifetime. The concept of the dialectic expresses itself as a process of contradiction and resolution that is originally found in nature (Hirst & Harrison 2007, p. 19). Hence, when the public sphere is challenged, people can die, wars can be made and Kings and politicians can fall. It is arguable that, as capitalism and ICT’s consolidated its hold on society and the state itself, the basic key functions of an open public sphere reacted by consolidating and ensuring its own future survival. At the beginning of the twentieth century, telegraphy and the radio saw media conglomerates scramble for rights and control creating a one-way flow of communication where the few speak to the many. This dialectic relationship between ICT’s, the media, the state, capitalists, the public sphere and its readers, has been a natural process of contradiction and resolution, that has systematically created one of the most intellectual and informative times in world history. The traditional forms of media capital are being eroded with the democratization of information giving readers choice in the way they access information, creating an information cultural revolution. In later years, Habermas imagined that the Internet would ‘breath life into the public sphere, creating a genuinely open and democratic public discourse’ (Krieken, et al, 2006.p. 442). The Internet has not only breathed life into the public sphere, but is systematically changing the fundamental structure of the public sphere where the distribution of mass information has become the domain of its citizens.

Works Cited:

Briggs, Asa & Burke, Peter. (2005) A Social History of the Media – From Gutenburg to the Internet 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Calhoun, Craig. Rojek, Chris. Turner, Brian. The Sage Handbook of Sociology London., Sage. 2005. p. 223-226.

Habermas, Jurgen. (1962). The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere – An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Translated by Thomas Burger and Frederick Lawrence. Cambridge: Polity, 1989.

Holmes, D., Hughs, K. $ Julian, R. (2003). Australian Sociology: A Changing Society. Sydney: Pearson Education Australia.

Hurst, Martin. Harrison, John. (2007) Communication and New Media – From Broadcast to Narrowcast. Victoria: Oxford University Press.

Kelly, Donald. (1981) The Beginning of Ideology: Consciousness and Society in the French Revolution. Cambridge: Polity.

McChesney, Robert W. Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism. United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) conference on the future of the media. 2000. p. 1-17.

McMahon, Peter. (2002) Early electrical communications technology and structural change in the international political economy: The cases of telegraphy and radio. Prometheus 20(4): 379-90

Stevenson, Nick. (2002). The Transformation of the Media – globalisation, morality and ethics. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Thompson, John. (1995) The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Van Krieken, Robert. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin (2006). Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England. Harper Collins.

Webster, Frank. (2002) Theories of the Information Society 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Youth Crime

2009-07-28T00:50:00.000-07:00

“An 11-year-old NSW boy showed ‘no regard for human life’ as he brutally battered an off-duty policeman and his girlfriend, a court was told today” (Daily Telegraph, 2007). The representations of juveniles by the media has become common place within society creating ‘moral panics’ with the perception that juveniles are a threat and need to be socially controlled. There are many existing criminological theories discussing the factors that may lead a young person to become involved in crime. To determine why young people commit crime combines an array of individual, situational and key social characteristics that can influence their possible future directions. The institutions of family, education and the justice system have been politically and socially constructed creating a philosophical view of society via a conservative, liberal and or radical approach. Society is constantly assaulted with messages and images fulfilling stereotypes about juveniles, law enforcement, and the juvenile justice system. The nature of juvenile crime is always questioned, with many questions currently being asked regarding an 11 year old boy who allegedly bashed an off duty police officer and his girlfriend. The perceptions that society, police and the justice system have of the 11-year old boy will most likely decide his possible future directions. There are many criminological theories and social factors as to why a young persons life may lead up to this point, however, these theories are heavily debated with a wide variety of multifactorial explanations. Age, gender, ethnicity, social class, family, mental illness and drug abuse are all common social factors that can have an impact on juvenile crime. This essay will briefly cover, on ‘face value,’ the 11-year-old boy and the individual, situational and social factors that may have led him to become involved in crime. Images, actions and words convey many messages, with the television coverage of the accused 11-year-old boy being of no exception. Dressed in baggy pants, oversized t-shirt and carrying a backpack, the news coverage showed the boy leaving the court nonchalant and defiant against authority, it also showed him leaving the court – alone.

Young people have been committing crimes since the first laws were enacted. The speculation as to what causes young people to commit crime can range from individual and family, to social environmental factors. The laws that govern juveniles have been socially constructed creating a perceived standard of ‘what is normal’ behaviour. The perception that people have about youth has been defined by the media, which has created a negative and stereotypical image of juveniles. Stories about youth crime, robbery and bashings are more likely to be newsworthy as “readers relish news of conflict and violence (Conley 2006, p. 87). The prominent juvenile offences involve theft and other forms of property crime, “often the goods have little value, especially when compared with other categories of crime, such as fraud (Mayhew, 2003). Juvenile offences tend to be seen, as they often occur within a public space, which is generally associated with their age. “Their inexperience means they are more likely to be arrested than adults” (Wundersitz 1996, p. 130), as “police tend to pay closer attention to young people than to older people” (Tait 1994, p. 539). It is argued that the reaction to a particular crime has to do more with society’s fears than with the actual behaviour of youth, thus creating ‘moral panics’ where the so-called problem is actually amplified. “Mass media and law enforcement agencies have become inextricably related in constituting the ‘realities’ of crime, justice and order” (Brown, 2003), which has lead to more laws being implemented regarding the social control of juveniles. These social control approaches only “extends control over the working class, particularly young people [where] state institutions are a form of regulation by one class over another” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 22). Criminological theories have been developed to understand the social factors as to how and why young people become involved in crime with some concentrating on the individual or the criminal act, while others concentrate on the social processes leading up to the deviant behaviour. An example of a young person becoming involved in crime is the 11-year-old boy who allegedly bashed an off duty police officer and his girlfriend. This could be a turning point within the boy’s life, as his experience within the juvenile justice system may determine his ‘possible future directions’ within society. These possible future directions can either be good or bad, but generally the overall experience depends on the politics of the day.

Criminological theories put forward many explanations to explain juvenile crime. The conclusions and solutions in terms of punishment and rehabilitation is constructed around political beliefs, that is “tied to a wider social and philosophical view of society” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 27), based on conservative, liberal and or radical policies. The political climate dictates social reaction towards the offender as to what sanctions will be applied. It is believed that the crime problem is dominated by young males from lower economic backgrounds with the popular belief that “the truant of today, [like the 11-year-old boy] will eventually be the criminal of tomorrow” (Muncie 1999, p. 24). Studies have shown that once a young person has committed a crime that the “probability of re-offending increases after each offence” (Farrington 1997, p. 361). However, eventually most young people grow out of crime with only a small amount becoming repeat offenders. The criminal justice system is designed to discourage criminal activities through sanctions, but in some cases, those who become involved with the criminal justice system “continue their illegal behaviour as a result of [their] involvement” (Johnson, Simons & Conger 2004, p. 4). The 11-year-old boy is now within the juvenile justice system, how he is dealt with by that system will determine his possible future directions. The media with sensationalist headlines produced the first impression that people received of the ‘bashing incident’. The subsequent news reports and footage of the bashing, has placed the 11-year-old boy at a crossroads within his life course. Society determines deviance through the rule of law by applying those rules to people and labelling them as criminals or deviant. Therefore, based on labelling theory, the boy’s behaviour and crimes have created multiple impressions and “from this point of view deviance is always produced by a process of interaction between the potential deviant and the agents of social control” (Van Krieken 2006, p. 522). The boy’s possible future directions may now be affected by denying him entry within social institutions such as school, employment, and the legal system, thus “increasing the likelihood of future crime” (Schur, 1971). Based on classical theory, many people within society would believe that the 11-year-old had individual choice and is responsible for his actions, instead of considering a situational perspective regarding the ‘past possibilities’ as to the reasons why the boy committed the crime. They would want the boy dealt with harshly and for the law to hold him responsible for his actions arguing that, “if you ‘do the crime’, then you must ‘do the time’” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 29). This negative labelling and perception of the boy is then perpetuated by the police and the juvenile justice system, which can “lead to more deviant behaviour” (Sampson & Laub, 1997). Consequently, the social inequality and control can stigmatise the boy enabling him to ‘self label’ himself as deviant, which “may serve as a transitional event that initiates, or sustains, a trajectory of criminal behaviour” (Johnson, Simons & Conger 2004, p. 5). The individual, situational and structural factors within the boy’s life have somehow led him to become involved in crime. This raises the question as to why he bashed the off duty police officer and his girlfriend? Is the boy naturally violent, is he on drugs, or was he just going along with his peers?

The perception that society may now have regarding young boys is that they are naturally aggressive and violent with the need to be socially controlled before they become juvenile delinquents. Positivists would agree with this assessment as they see behavioural problems in terms of an individual pathology or deficiency. Positivism proponents would examine the biological and psychological makeup of the boy assuming that he is naturally violent and ignore that “not only are young men the perpetrators of a disproportionate amount of violent crime, they are also the victims of it” (Buckingham 2000, p. 5). The boy may have been subjected to individual factors of abuse and violence throughout his life, where “aggressive masculinity is not only tolerated, but is positively sanctioned as an important source of meaning, status and pleasurable emotional arousal” (Dunning 1988, p. 210). A study conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology in 2005 showed that substance use and offending are associated. “Eighty-six percent of juvenile violent offenders reported using at least one substance regularly in the six months prior to their arrest” (Prichard & Payne 2005, p. 47). The situation surrounding the 11-year-old boy’s social-environmental factors may have led him to commit the crime. The use of drugs among young people has “escalated in recent years and the age of initiation has decreased” (Buckingham 2000, p. 25). At 11-years-old, a boy is impressionable and eager to make friends. The off duty police officer and his girlfriend were bashed by up to 20 juveniles aged from 17 to 11-years of age, raising questions regarding the relationship between deviant peer association and crime. Control theory is more likely to explain the peer-deviance correlation by arguing, “antisocial youth with poor bonds with conforming individuals develop a preference to associate with other antisocial youth” (Johnson, Simons & Conger 2004, p. 20). It is thought that all people need a sense of belonging and emotional security. Positivists theorise that if “such needs are unmet during childhood, then particular patterns form later in life” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 32), thus the social family environment is seen as a determining factor within the social behaviour and possible future directions of a juvenile.

“The State Government is beefing up laws to ensure all children in NSW are enrolled in school and punish the parents of habitual truants”(The Australian, 2008). The ‘blame game’ between parents, police, social commentators and politicians creates a wide variety of multifactorial explanations as to why young people become involved in crime. Politicians generally focus on the individual and situational factors of the juvenile, which puts the focus and the blame on the parents. The political social environment in Australia regards ‘problem youth’ as a family problem relating to issues of discipline and order with both major political parties ignoring the “structural factors (housing, health, employment, education) that condition criminality” (Johnston 1997, p. 14). Coming from a social structural perspective in the case of the 11-year-old boy, “the issue might be seen in terms of the relationship between poverty and crime” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 46), his education, or in some form of discrimination or social exclusion. It is considered that a strong affectionate family that is involved in the young persons life is more likely to create a ‘respectable’ individual that is less likely to fall into delinquency and juvenile crime. Positivists would treat the crime by focusing on the situation and may conclude that the 11-year-old boy’s parents have poor parenting skills resulting in a lack of supervision and even neglect. However, social inequality proponents would argue that this is “directly associated with a lack of economic and social resources, and with family poverty”(Cunneen & White 2007, p. 74), making the 11-year-old boy more vulnerable to the processes of criminalisation, marginalisation and social exclusion. Criminologists have attempted to explain a wide range of family factors as to why juveniles commit crime, including parental neglect and abuse, divorce, separation, and bereavement, lack of love, and even family size with little agreement as to which, or if any, specific family factors lead young people to commit crime.

There is much speculation as to what causes young people (like the 11-year-old boy) to commit crime, ranging from individual and family, to social environmental factors. Society’s institutions have been politically and socially structured influencing social processes and perceptions that impact on youth behaviour. The perception that people have about youth has been defined by the media, which has created a negative and stereotypical image of young people. Unfortunately, society perpetuates these negative and stereotypical images with the offending juvenile subsequently labelling him or herself by assuming a deviant identity. The prominent juvenile offences generally involve theft and property crime, which has been associated with a young persons age and inexperience. The criminal justice system is designed to discourage criminal activities through sanctions, but in some cases, those who become involved in the juvenile justice system, continue to offend. The situation surrounding the 11-year-old boy’s social-environmental factors may have led him to commit the crime as he may have been subjected to abuse, domestic violence, drugs and poverty throughout his life course. The political social environment regards problem youth as a family problem, consequently ignoring individual, situational and key social characteristics that can condition criminality. There are many criminological theories discussing the social factors that may lead a young person to become involved in crime. Even though these theories are heavily debated with a wide variety of multifactorial explanations, the consensus amongst criminologists is that young people who have a sense of belonging, emotional security and a stable environment, are less likely to engage in crime. A friend, a teacher or a family member can provide emotional security, which can make all the difference when it comes to a young person and their future possible directions. The case of the 11-year-old boy and the individual, situational and social structural factors that led him to be involved in the bashing of an off duty police officer and his girlfriend have been based on assumptions. However, it is reasonable to assume that if he had had a sense of belonging, emotional security and a stable environment, he would not have left the courtroom - alone.

Works Cited:

The Australian, 2008. Parents Face Jail over Truent Kids. 1st April. News Limited. Brown, S. 2003, Crime and Law in Media Culture, Buckingham: Open University Press. Bull, R. and Green, J. 1980. ‘The relationship between physical appearance and criminality -’Medicine, Science and the Law, vol. 20. no. 2, pp.79-83.

Buckingham, J. 2000. Boy Troubles, Understanding Rising Suicide, Rising Crime and Education Failure. NSW: The Centre for Independent Studies.
Conley, D & Lamble, S. 2006, The Daily Miracle – An Introduction to Journalism. Melbourne, Oxford Community Press.
Cunneen, C & White, R. 2007, Juvenile Justice – Youth and Crime in Australia 3rd ed. Melbourne: Oxford Community Press.

The Daily Telegraph, 2007. Boy 11, bashed Cop and Girl. 20th November. News Limited.

Dunning, E. Murphy, P. & Williams, J. 1988. The Roots of Football Hooliganism. London: Routledge.Farrington, D.P. 1997. Human development and criminal careers. In Maguire, M. Morgan, R & Riener, R. The Oxford handbook of criminology (pp. 361-408) New York: Oxford Community Press.
Johnson, L. Simons, R. & Conger, R. 2004, Criminal Justice Systen Involvment and Continuity of Youth Crime. Youth & Society vol. 36 USA: Sage Publications.

Johnston, L. 1997. New Labour and the usual suspects, Chartist, March-April: 14-15, in Brown, S. 2005. Understanding Youth and Crime – Listening to youth? 2nd Ed. England: Open University Press.Mayhew, P. 2003, Counting the Costs of Crime in Australia, Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No. 247, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. In Van Krieken, R. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins. p 538. Muncie, J. 1999, Youth and Crime - A Critical Introduction. London: Sage Publications.

Prichard, J. & Payne, J. 2005. Alcohol, drugs and crime: a study of juveniles in detention. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. Sampson, J. & Laub, J. 1997. A lifecourse theory of cumulative disadvantage and the stability of delinquency. In Thornbury, T. Development theories of crime and delinquency (pp. 133-161) New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishing. Schur, E.A. 1971. Labeling deviant behavior: Its sociological implications. New York: Harper & Row.
Tait, D. 1994, ‘Cautions and appearances: statistics about youth and police’ in The Police and Young People in Australia, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne. In Van Krieken, R. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins. p 539. Van Krieken, Robert. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. 2006. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins, Wundersitz, J. 1996, ‘Juvenile Justice’ in Crime and Justice. Law Book Company, Sydney. . In Van Krieken, R. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins. p 539.

Works Consulted:

Brown, S. 2005. Understanding Youth and Crime – Listening to youth? 2nd Ed. England: Open University Press.

Garret, D. Roche, J. & Tucker, S. 1997. Changing Experiences of Youth. London: Sage Publications.

Hawkins, J. 1996. Delinquency and Crime - Current Theories. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Hil, R. & McMahon, A. 2001. Families, Crime and Juvenile Justice. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Mortimer, J. & Larson, R. 2002. The Changing Adolescent Experience. Societal trends and the transformation to adulthood. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Difficulties faced by courts in sentencing children

2009-07-28T00:48:00.000-07:00

The Children’s Court follows special principles and procedures that have been developed specifically to deal with young people. Magistrates and judges make decisions as to the penalty appropriate to a young person that has been convicted of an offence through sentencing options available to the court. These sanctions vary depending on the jurisdiction and the legislation that governs juvenile justice in a particular state or territory. Hierarchy sentencing has been introduced in juvenile justice legislation, “to guide the court in selecting an appropriate penalty and to provide a greater degree of consistency in sentencing” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 252). The sanctions available to the court range from, detention in a juvenile detention centre, panel referral and conferencing, to community based orders. The Children’s Court have major jurisdiction over offences committed by young people, which include all summary offences that generally presides before a magistrate without a jury. But how do magistrates make decisions as to the penalty appropriate to the offence? Do magistrates understand the individual, environmental and social factors that can influence a young person to commit crime? Chris McRoberts, a Children's Magistrate in NSW, presented a paper at the Australian Institute of Criminology Conference held in Adelaide in June 1997, entitled, the ‘Difficulties faced by courts in sentencing children.’ The paper looked at Chris McRoberts own personal deliberations regarding sanctions that are imposed on juveniles, where he suggests that the primary object in sentencing juvenile offenders is to make the punishment fit the offender, rather than the crime.

Whilst Parliament classifies crimes by setting maximum penalties by defining a range of seriousness, Magistrate McRoberts believes that sentencing in the children's courts is directed mostly to the criminality of the individual. The nature of allegations and facts that must be established to prove guilt should be explained to the child. The reality is that most children plead guilty where the “courts function is simply to decide what to do with offenders” (Naffine 1990, p. 196). Magistrate McRoberts states that a solicitor appearing for a child is to assure the court that the child understands the nature of the allegations. He admits however, that the court assumes compliance when a duty solicitor represents a child. Young people have a right to legal representation in court, however, “this right is limited by the ability to access services, and the quality and availability of those services” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 272). Young people tend to plead guilty as per recommendation of their duty solicitor, when generally the first contact is on the morning of the hearing (ALRC & HREOC 1997, p. 520). According to the Australian Law Reform Commission, there appears to be alienation and a poor understanding of what is occurring. A Marxist structural perspective would conclude that young offenders experience social and institutional inequality within the juvenile justice system, where the life course of many, is governed by a few.

Even though Children's Magistrates meet to discuss problems of concern to the court, Magistrate McRoberts admits that sentencing is rarely discussed other than in an anecdotal way. The concept of sentencing, and the primary ingredients of promoting rehabilitation and deterring re-offending, is left to the individual magistrate. Each magistrate knows which of their colleagues are thought to be lenient and which are harsh, but they do not know which one is actually achieving results, creating inconsistencies within sentencing procedures. Magistrate McRoberts recognizes that this is something that cannot be ignored, as the factor missing from the lives of most young offenders is a degree of consistency. The concept of ‘hierarchy sentencing’ has been introduced to provide a greater degree of consistency. Sociologists have argued that deterrence requires consistency in the detention of the offender and the sentenced imposed, in order to have an effect on behaviour (Rutter & Giller 1983). Magistate McRoberts would support this theory, as he believes that young offenders learn that there is little effective response to their antics, giving the message that the courts are as inconsistent as their parents

Magistate McRoberts believes that events in early childhood leave a permanent stamp on adult personality, concluding that the damage was done long before the courts had the chance to impose any remedial sentencing. Positivism theorists would agree, as they believe that individual behaviour is shaped by factors like social upbringing. Family experiences are seen to determine later behaviour when “dealing with personal traits such as aggressiveness, emotional security, or feelings of inadequacy” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 254). Magistate McRoberts experience is the numbers of well-adjusted offenders who come from financially secure, stable homes are so few as to be statistically irrelevant. Hirschi’s theory of delinquency causation concludes that young people are deterred not so much by the threat of sanctions, but more by “their attachments to traditional figures [such as] parents, relatives, friends and teachers (Borowski & O’Conner 1997, p. 139). The offender who is unruly, defiant and apparently bored with the proceedings is more likely to shrug off a display of leniency than is the truly remorseful young person, who is accompanied by both parents. Thus making it important, before sentencing, for magistrates to discover the character and attitude of the offender.

Magistate McRoberts stresses the importance of a pre-sentence or background report from the Department of Juvenile Justice, as he believes that it is an essential prerequisite to imposition of a community service order or detention sentence. The Juvenile Justice Act 1992 states, “the magistrate must have a background report before they can give out a control order” (Sanders & Grainger 2003, p. 256). Magistrate McRoberts focuses on the personal and individual characteristics such as an abusive childhood or mental illness, where his “attention is directed to the pacific factors that may contribute to an event occurring” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 45). A high proportion of offenders have learning difficulties, and appropriate remedial programs can be identified in the report and included in recognisance or probation conditions. A factor outlined by the Children’s Court of Queensland regarding rehabilitation is that young people should be matched “with programmes that suit their personality, learning style and other personal factors” (Robertson 2000, p. 64). Magistate McRoberts may offer a panel referral, which involves detection, arrest, charging (or equivalent), court appearance, further appearance before the panel, carrying out the recommendations of the panel, and final appearance for sentence. He suspects that a high level of intrusion is more likely to deter re-offending, whereas conversely minimal intrusion creates the belief in the offender that there is no real penalty for criminal behaviour. This supports John Braithwaites theory of reintegrative shaming, where the ‘shaming and reintegration’ of offenders, can deter further criminal activities. Pre-sentence and background reports provide magistrates with some answers as to determine the type of sanctions that may be applied. However, the language used to produce a pre-sentence or background report can be of disadvantage to young people, as it leaves “room for assumptions about social class and cultural difference to affect decision-making” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 269). Magistrate McRoberts says that the problem in sentencing juvenile offenders is determining the sentence most likely to deter re-offending and to promote rehabilitation, however, applying them to individuals is not so easy.

Magistrate McRoberts suggests that the primary object in sentencing juvenile offenders is to make the punishment fit the offender, rather than the crime, and that almost any intervention, including the basic processes of detection and arrest, are likely to deter most first offenders. Labeling theory suggests that contact with the juvenile justice system actually “increases future illegal behaviour, whereas deterrence theory would predict the opposite” (Johnson, Simons & Conger 2004, p. 20). Magistrate McRoberts explains this contradiction when he suggests that the likelihood that the first offender that receives a custodial penalty will be guilty of a far more serious offence, and therefore at a level of offending which puts him automatically in a higher risk category. Magistrate McRoberts says that he only imposes a control order as a last resort. He believes that persistent offenders, who have been given the support of supervised probation or a community service order, leave little alternative to full time detention. In Magistrate McRoberts mind, it is far better to make this message clear before a young offender reaches the adult gaols. He believes the circumstances of imprisonment for young men and women are such that it is far better to deliver the message to them as juveniles than it is to wait until they are adults.

In many ways, Magistrate McRoberts investigates the individual, environmental and social factors that influence a young person to commit crime, believing that sentencing in the children's courts is directed mostly to the criminality of the individual. Magistrate McRoberts thought processes link closely to the dominant criminology tradition of positivism, in the sense that individual behaviour is shaped by factors such a psychological and social upbringing beyond their immediate control. The problem with individual-focused positivism, as demonstrated regarding the inconsistencies within sentencing, is that it puts an “inordinate amount of power into the hands of a few experts who may argue for ever-greater levels of intervention” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 33). A Marxist structural perspective would conclude that young offenders experience social and institutional inequality where “the state, through its system of legal control, seeks to protect the capitalist class and reproduce the existing and social economic order” (Quinney 1977). The juvenile justice system is designed around deterrence and detention, with Magistrate McRoberts main focus centered on deterrence. According to deterrence theories, sanctions delivered by the criminal justice system are “somehow painful to the offender and give the offender good reason to avoid offending in the future” (Johnson, Simons & Conger 2004, p. 21). Given that the primary purpose of sentencing is to promote rehabilitation and to deter re-offending, the more intrusive the sentence, in Magistrate McRoberts opinion, is entirely justified, depending on the individual and the environmental and social factors. His primary objective in sentencing juvenile offenders is to concentrate on the offender and make the punishment fit the offender, rather than the crime. Magistrate McRoberts focuses on the individual, where his objective is to reintegrate and conform the offender back into society, “either through the threat and experience of punishment, or by the intervention of expert assistance to resocialise and rehabilitate the individual” (Cunneen & White 2007, p. 33).

Works Cited:

Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) and Human Rights and Equal opportunity Commission (HREOC) (1997). Seen and Heard: Priority for Children in the Legal Process, Australian Law Reform Commission Report No. 84, Sydney.

Borowski, A. & O’Conner, I. (1997). Juvenile Crime Justice and Corrections. South Melbourne: Wesley Longman Australia.

Cunneen, C & White, R. (2007). Juvenile Justice – Youth and Crime in Australia 3rd ed. Melbourne: Oxford Community Press.

Johnson, L. Simons, R. & Conger, R. (2004). Criminal Justice System Involvement and Continuity of Youth Crime. Youth & Society vol. 36 USA: Sage Publications.

Mc Roberts, C. (1997). Difficulties faced by courts in sentencing children. Australian Institute of Criminology Conference. Towards 2000 and Beyond, Adelaide: AIC.

Quinney, R. (1977). Class, State and Crime. New York: David McKay.

Robertson, J. (2000). Childrens Court of Queensland, Seventh Annual Report 1999 – 2000. Brisbane: Queensland Government.

Rutter, M & Giller, M. (1983). Juvenile Delinquency: Trends and Perspectives, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Sanders, J. & Grainger, R. (2003). Youth Justice – Your Guide to Cops and Court in NSW 3rd ed. Macquarie Legal Centre, Annandale: Federation Press.

Works Consulted:

Van Krieken, Robert. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. (2006). Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England: Harper Collins,

Information Ignorance and the Digital Divide.

2009-07-28T00:47:00.001-07:00

With information being flooded into people’s subconscious daily, it is hard for most to believe that they are part of a very small elite and privileged group. It is estimated that only 10 percent of the world’s population are connected to the internet with the concern being that communities, regions and countries are being excluded from Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). It is claimed that the network risks becoming ‘black holes of informational capitalism’ (Castells 2000, p. 165), with many societies falling through the cracks. The introduction of the internet and ICT’s was heralded as the new wave of information and digital accessibility for the globe. However, ‘for millions of people in the world’s poorest countries, there remains a “digital divide” excluding them from the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies’ (Anan 2004, p. 5). Without access to information and the internet and the ability to create the infrastructure to support; produce and decipher that information, it can generate what is known as the ‘global digital divide’ (Castells 2001), reproducing inequalities through mass media and digital globalization. Sociologists are concerned that the media reproduces social inequality in terms of access to information for some social groups, communities, regions and continents. This essay will briefly summarize the affects of Information and Communication Technologies predominately looking at internet use social inequality while taking into account the sociological, political and economical variables from both a positive and negative viewpoint.

The development of ICT’s in the twentieth century can be seen as a cultural revolution. The ‘information society is seen as successor to industrial society’ (Bell, Daniel 1973), with practically everything we now do being controlled with the assistance of ICT’s. With the growth of the personal computer during the 1980’s, information ‘technologies developed exponentially during the last part of the twentieth century, and became dominated by the rise of the internet and of multi-media’ (Calhoun 2005, p. 226). The profound changes could be felt across the globe in that ‘information is now digitalized, information technologies process digitalized information and communication technologies transport digitalized information’ (Sehab 2006, p. 3). It was estimated that ‘at the start of the twenty-first century well over 100 million people worldwide could access the internet’ (Giddens 2001, p. 471), and by 2005 that figure had grown to approximately 938 million people (see figure 1). The growth of ICT’s by crossing national and cultural boundaries has both positive and negative cultural, economical, political and social implications.

Even though the “information age” is in its infancy, some sociologists believe that ‘the effects of the internet on social interaction fall into two broad categories’ (Giddens 2001, p. 471). The first category is seen as a positive effect with many believing that internet interaction allows individuals and groups to break down social and educational barriers with the distribution of information between societies, states and countries, thus breaking down the cultural and distance divide. Since its early development the internet was seen as a ‘harmonizing, and empowering’ medium (Negroponte 1995, p.229). These online communities allow people to share information beyond the physical realm in to interactive communities across the world, and ‘one that is not regulated by the state or by commercial interests but rather owned and controlled by the participants themselves (Schneider 1996). The second is seen as a negative with many sociologists believing that internet interaction creates social dysfunctions generating discord in regard to people spending time in cyberspace (Cyberspace means the space of interaction formed by the global network of computers, which compose the internet), rather than traditional socialization such as the family, religion, work and friends. Some believe it can create ‘cultural imperialism’ (Mc Chesney 2005, p. 96) meaning that the affluent culture dominates the production and information of the digital media. Even with the endless amounts of information that the internet provides, it ‘tends to reinforce existing class and social relations both within and across countries (Mosco 1996, p 52), consequently enforcing the ideals of the dominant culture. There is no doubt that the lack of access to information can immobilize communities and nations with disastrous effects. It is also claimed that ‘the internet is one of the main contributors to – and manifestations of – [the] current processes of globalisation (Giddens 2001, p. 473), and as a consequence creating the digital divide.

The digital divide describes the growing “black hole” of social inequalities that exist between those who have the information and for those that don’t. The reasons can be wide ranging from political and economical to social. The prominent factor seems to be money, as ‘it is clear that developed nations with the resources to invest in and develop ICT infrastructure are reaping enormous benefits from the information age, while developing nations are trailing along at a much slower pace’ (Sehab 2005, p. 5). Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power, without knowledge societies cease to progress, further hindering social development and education. Developing countries lack information communication infrastructure and as a result its benefits. ‘Developing countries are dependent on more advanced ones for capital, technology and access to information. Such a dependent relationship perpetuates patterns of inequality at the global level’ (Guillen & Suarez 2005, p. 4). Even though the overriding argument seems to be that ‘economic factors outweighed all others in predicting cross-national differences in access to the information society’ (Guillen & Suarez 2005, p. 3), comparatively another dominant factor perpetuating the digital divide is the political environment.

The growth of the internet in developed democratic nations steadily grows, but for those in authoritarian or totalitarian states, the regime or government deter access to information and as a consequence end up in “cyber desolation”. An example is North Korea, were there is no internet access at all (Radio Free Europe 1999). In Cuba, only universities and employers have access to the internet, while Middle Eastern countries and regimes have crippled the internet for fear of the ‘loss of control over basic information networks might result in revolutionary political change’ (Franda 2002, p. 55). The Middle East is used as an example in regard to being in that ‘black hole” with arcane regulations and religious constraints denying access to information and the internet. However information and technology is a powerful medium and in some cases powerful enough to break down the digital divide in the most unlikely of places. When the USA attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan after the 9/11 tragedies, they had a target that was the Taliban, operating from a base and a headquarters. Now there is no such target, through the use of the internet by the Taliban, ‘we have gone from Afghanistan to the virtual Afghanistan. The virtual Afghanistan is the internet’ (Friedman 2007). The “War on Terror” is being fought through the internet with young Muslims being recruited through jihadist websites. Currently the world is experiencing an information revolution, a integral part of that revolution is the internet wars, which will most likely continue for many years to come. The Taliban is using the internet to fight against the “War on Terror” through the global network, utilizing the same technologies that crippled it in Afghanistan. Similarly, third world countries have also been described as being in that “black hole of informational capitalism,” but again some have shown quite the opposite. India, the second biggest Muslim state after Indonesia, has embraced ICT’s with many services offered digitally worldwide. Currently there are ‘over 400,000 Americans [who] get their tax returns done by Indians’ (Friedman 2007). Everything is digitalized and any service or process can be outsourced from around the world. So even though India is a developing semi-democratic nation, they are using ICT’s to bring their country into the information society and as a result into the world economy.

Today, many people could not imagine daily life without the use of increasingly sophisticated information and communication technologies. With only 10 percent of the world’s population accessing the internet, it is recognized that without infrastructure, resources and money, the ability to plug-in to the internet, ICT’s and the international economy is next to impossible. As Guillen & Suarez point out ‘the internet is driven not just by socioeconomic status, cost or accessibility, but also by regulatory, political and sociological variables’ (2005, p. 15), which gives the impression that in order to develop Information and Communication Technologies the rights to freedom and information including the internet go hand in hand with democracy. As more and more countries move towards the democratic process, the greater the internet use will be. There have been a number of theories offered both positive and negative regarding mass media and the use of the internet within societies. As mentioned earlier, the “information age” is in its infancy and the world is currently experiencing a cultural revolution through information and digital technologies. ‘Countries differ massively in their levels of internet use and in their exposure to the revolutionary implications of this new medium’ (Guillen & Suarez. 2005, p. 15). As with past revolutions, both political and social, most did not happen over night. They took time to develop and catch the imagination of the public with a number of revolutions being peaceful and others violent with some continuing for many years. Even though there are countries and nations that are entrenched in the digital divide, eventually, depending on political and economic variables, like all revolutions, ICT’s will most likely be available to these countries at some time in the future and allow them to break down the digital divide and join the rest of the information society.

Works Cited:

Anan, Kofi. 2004. “Message by the UN Secretary -General for World Telecommunication day”, 17 May. Availablehttp://www.itu.int/newsarchive/wtd/2004/unsgmessage.htlm

Guillen F. Mauro & Suarez. I. Sandra. 2005. Social Forces. The University of North Carolina Press.

Castells, M. 2000. End of Millennium, 2nd edn, Blackwell, Oxford.

Castells, M. 2001. The Internet Gallexy: Reflexions on the Internet, Business and Society, Oxford University Press, New York.

Calhoun, Craig. Rojek, Chris. Turner, Brian. 2005. The Sage Handbook of Sociology. Sage, London.

Franda, Marcus. 2002. Launching into Cyberspace: Internet Development and Politics in Five World Regions. Rienner.

Friedman, Thomas L. 2007. “Tony Jones speaks to columnist Thomas L Friedman” Late Line, Sydney.

Gerbner, G. 1977. Comparative cultural indicators. In G. Gerber (Ed.), Mass media policies in changing cultures. John Wiley & Sons. New York.

Giddens, Anthony. 2001. Sociology 4th Edition. Blackwell, Oxford.

Guillen, Mauro F & Suarez, Sandra L. 2005, Social Forces-Explaining the Global Digital Divide. The University of North Carolina Press. North Carolina.

Lyons, Jeffery K. Media Globalization and its Effect upon International Communities Seeking a Communication Theory Perspective. Hawaii Pacific University. Hawaii.

McChesney, R.W. 2005 The new global media. Living in the information age - 2nd ed, p. 96. Wadsworth Thomson Learning, Belmont.

Mosco, Vincent. 1996. The Political Economy and Communication. Sage. London.

Negroponte, Nicholas. 1995. Being Digital. Knopf.

Radio Free Europe. 1999. “The 20 Enemies of the internet.” www.rferl.org/nca/special/enemies.htlm

Sehab, Tahereh. 2005. ICT, Education and Digital Divide in Developing Countries.

Schneider, Steven M. 1996. “Creating a Democratic Public Sphere through political Discussion,’ Social Science Computer Review. p. 373-393.

Works Consulted:

Bell, Daniel. The coming of post-industrial society – a venture in social forecasting. Great Britain. Peregrine. 1973. p. 20-45.

Blau, Judith, R. The Blackwell companion to sociology. Oxford. Blackwell. 2001, 2004. p. 16-29.

Calhoun, Craig. Rojek, Chris. Turner, Brian. The Sage Handbook of Sociology London., Sage. 2005. p. 223-226.

Creed, Barnara. Media Matrix: Sexing the new reality. Crows Nest. Allen & Urwin. 2003. p. 191-202.

Curran, James and Gurevitch, Michael. Mass Media and Society, 2nd ed. New York: Hoddler Headline Group. 1996. p. 177 & 196.

Giddens, Anthony. Sociology 4th ed. Oxford. Blackwell. 2001. p. 452-481.

Guillen, Mauro F & Suarez, Sandra L. 2005, Social Forces-Explaining the Global Digital Divide. Volume 84, No. 2, December. The University of North Carolina Press. 2005. p. 1-15.

Friedman, Thomas L. “Tony Jones speaks to columnist Thomas L Friedman” Late Line, Sydney. 1 may 2007.

Lull, James. Media, Communication, Culture. Oxford. Blackwell. 2000. p. 232-235.

Lyons, Jeffery K. Media Globalization and its Effect upon International Communities Seeking a Communication Theory Perspective. Hawaii Pacific University. Global Media Journal. 2005. http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/fa05/gmj-lyons.htm p. 1-15.

Saheb, Tahereh.. ICT, Education and Digital Divide in Developing Countries. General Applied and Scientific University, Tehran. Global Media Journal. 2005. http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/fa05/gmj-saheb.htm p. 1-9.

Van Krieken, Robert. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England. Harper Collins. 2006.p. 429-458.

Global Media, Neoliberalism and Imperialism

2009-07-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism
The flow of mass media over the last twenty years has changed considerably with only seven media corporations currently controlling the world’s information. A leading sociologist Robert W. McChesney claims that the media is dominated by neoliberalism creating class struggle under capitalism. It is claimed that Mass media can create ‘cultural imperialism’ (McChesney 2005, p. 96) meaning that the affluent culture dominates the production of information, and ‘tends to reinforce class and social relations both within and across countries’ (Mosco 1996, p 52), consequently reinforcing the ideals of the dominant culture. This essay will briefly critique a speech made by prominent sociologist Robert W. McChesney titled, “Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism”, presented at a United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) conference on the future of the global media.

From newspapers and television to radio and the internet, global media shape, create and determine major social, political and economical trends. In McChesney’s view, the notion of globalisation is commonly used to describe some “natural force” is misleading. A term that McChesney uses is “neoliberalism” which refers to national and international policies that call for ‘business domination of all social affairs with minimal countervailing force’ (McChesney 2000, p 2). McChesney claims that the centerpiece of neoliberal policies is a call for commercial media to be deregulated and “re-regulated” to serve corporate interests. Understood as neoliberalism instead of globalisation, ‘it seems less the result of uncontrollable natural forces and more of a class struggle under capitalism’ (2).

A global media market has emerged dubbed by media analyst Christopher Dixon as “Global Oligopoly”, meaning that the entertainment industry is growing like the oil industry did in the twentieth century. McChesney claims that the media view themselves as global entities, creating huge global media conglomerates. In short, the global media market has come to be dominated by seven multinational corporations. He believes this has taken place due to a shift to neoliberal deregulation with ‘noncommercial preserve in many nations, suddenly [becoming] subject to transnational commercial development’ (5). He says that the global media is linked to the neoliberal economy by way of ‘five or six super-ad agency owning companies that have emerged to dominate global trade’ (7).

McChesney says the system has cultural and political implications regarding democracy, imperialism, and the nature of socialist resistance. The world media in the hands of a few contradicts and ‘violates any notion of a free press’ (13). He argues that the notion that the media are purveyors of U.S culture is less plausible as mass media has become increasingly globalised. The stability of the global economy looks fragile and the world media is making resistance difficult as little noise is made about the harsh reality of exploitation and inequality. McChesney believes that social movements need to form to counteract the global media culture and notes that in many countries movements have already begun. Democratic left political parties are creating structured media reform, recharging non-profit and non-commercial broadcasting and developing independent media under popular control. ‘Organising for democratic media must be part of the current struggle, if we are going to have a viable chance of success’ (19).

The implications of McChesneys’ speech on global media and the arguments he introduces are impressive. The social inequality of the information age and the global economy are well known with McChesney highlighting many important areas. The fact is that the situation is in dire straits. Globalisation is engulfing the world creating disturbing consequences for many communities with the call for change growing around the world. Local cultures are being replaced by the dominant culture through commercial media creating a global class struggle under capitalism. The neoliberalism values along with political contributions from media conglomerates, makes one conclude that for change to come it needs to come from the people through social movements and social, political and economical reform.
Works Cited:

McChesney, R.W. 2005 The new global media. Living in the information age - 2nd ed. Wadsworth Thomson Learning, Belmont.

McChesney, Robert W. 2000. Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism. United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) conference on the future of the media.

Mosco, Vincent. 1996. The Political Economy and Communication. Sage. London.

Works Consulted:

Blau, Judith, R. The Blackwell companion to sociology. Oxford. Blackwell. 2001, 2004. p. 16-29.

McChesney, Robert W. Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism. United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) conference on the future of the media. 2000. p. 1-17.
Van Krieken, Robert. Habibis, Daphne. Smith, Phillip. Hutchins, Brett. Haralambos, Michael. Holborn, Martin. Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 3rd ed. England. Harper Collins. 2006.p. 429-458.

2009-07-28T00:41:00.001-07:00

Open justice is considered a fundamental human right, based on democratic values that all people are created equal and free, with open court considered to be the hallmark of judicial proceedings. By this rule, all proceedings of every court are fully exposed to public scrutiny and criticism, as “their proceedings shall be conducted publicly and in open view” (Walker, 423). There is no legal right to open justice, however, Australia is a party to the United Nations, International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, which states, “all persons shall be equal before the courts” (Article14). Even though open justice is designed to be transparent and open to public examination, the perceptions of justice and fairness are closely related to each other, and are often used interchangeably. The orthodox values and beliefs of any given state will usually depend on whether an individual will in fact get justice. To define what is ‘fair’ as to who receives justice is a fundamental question, with the answer often clouded in obscurity. The ideals of fairness and open justice can be displaced by common law and statutory exceptions where open justice can sometimes be in conflict with the judicial process. This may require a case to be held in a closed court, which includes withholding information from journalists. Society generally accepts the exceptions to open justice however; in recent times there has been a number of non-publication suppression orders that raise cause for concern. The Australian Press Council has consistently raised concerns regarding open justice and the judicial system, and how press freedom contributes to a system of transparent justice. In many cases, the principles of transparent justice and fairness is often delude and obscured within the community, blurring the vision of the courts as to what is fair, and to who actually gets justice.

Based on common law, the concept of open justice is deeply rooted within democratic society, dating back to the earliest history of the English courts. The principles of open justice is based on that the “judicial process should be transparent and open to public examination” (Pearson 59). Open justice is considered a fundamental human right, based on democratic values that all people are created equal and free, a position that has been reinforced by the United Nations,

“All of these provisions are aimed at ensuring the proper administration of justice, and to this end uphold a series of individual rights such as equality before the courts and tribunals and the right to a fair and public hearing” (Article 14).
Open justice is regarded as essential to the proper administration of justice and the “best means for winning for it public confidence and respect” (Walker, 421). An open court means that the public has a right to free access to the courts and no individual has the right to anonymity. The courts decisions must be announced in open court and published, as ‘what passes in court can be reported to the public at large by those who choose to attend’ (Butler, Rodrick, 161). There are many reasons for the existence of open justice, apart from its primary function of enhancing the quality of justice, open justice is also a manifestation of freedom of expression. There is no legal right to open justice; it is the principle of openness of judicial proceedings that has generally been adopted by Australian courts. Australia does not have a ‘Bill of Rights’ that protects open justice, however, Australia is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights. Although not incorporated into Australia’s domestic law, “this covenant bears upon the interpretation of statutory rights and obligations and serves as a ‘powerful influence’ on the courts when developing the common law” (Spigelman, 2000). Open justice is designed to be impartial and fair, however, justice and fairness are closely related to each other and is often used interchangeably. Justice is often used as a standard of rightness while fairness is regarded as the ability to judge without reference to an individual’s feelings. Many people within the judicial system ask that they be treated with justice and fairness, yet in today’s world the definition, concept and principle of justice and fair, is often deluded with the ideals of justice reserved mainly for those who are judging.

Justice is defined as a ‘quality of being just,’ with just defined as ‘fair or impartial in action or judgment.’ Since the early history of man, his peers have judged him. Be it by his mother or father, or the elders of a community council, history has shown that justice can come in many shapes and forms, with the ideals of justice reserved mainly for those who are judging. Justice is sometimes handed over to the people to decide, which can have some profound and devastating affects. People can be worked up into a frenzy of hype and propaganda, and work themselves into a ‘moral panic,’ where justice can become blood lust. When Pilate asked the people of Rome whom they wanted to crucify, either Jesus Christ, who had committed no crime against Rome, or Barabbas, who had been convicted of murder, the crowed responds, “death to Jesus.” As with then and as with now, those who hold power generally define the definition of justice. The orthodox values and beliefs of any given state will usually depend on whether an individual will in fact get justice. Justice is a human ideal that is defined by the laws of the day. Billy Bragg, a Welsh folk songwriter, challenged the notion of justice and the laws that define it, within a song called, ‘Rotting on Remand,’

“I stood before the judge that dayAs he refused me bailAnd I knew that I would spend my timeAwaiting trial in jailI said there is no justiceAs they led me out of the doorAnd the judge said, this isn’t a court of justice, sonThis is a court of law” (Bragg, 1984).

Law is defined as a ‘rule binding on a community [via] a system of rules.’ However, communities can misconstrue laws and because of the “notion that justice [is] compromised behind closed doors” (Pearson, 60), the concept of ‘open justice’ was devised to create an accountable and transparent judicial system that is designed to deliver justice fairly. Although, to obtain the standards of fair justice, one generally depends on another’s perceptions, leaving the concept of fair, out of reach for many people.

The definition of fair is to be ‘unbiased and reasonable,’ yet the concept and principles of fairness is often defined by the eye of the beholder. Society’s definition of what is a fair principle generally depends on the cultural and ethical beliefs of the society where judgement is being made. Fairness is often used regarding the ability, without reference, to judge ones feelings or interests. It can also refer to “the ability to make judgements that are not overly general but that are concrete and specific to a particular case” (Velasquez, 1990). When questions of fairness are raised, often the decisions of what benefits or burdens individuals can be quite obscure and generally depends on the social and financial status of the person that is being judged. To get access to good legal advice and representation usually depends on how much money an individual is willing to spend on their legal defence. An experienced lawyer can be expensive and unfortunately, is not an option for many people. Those that cannot afford the services of an experienced lawyer commonly accept legal aid. The issues and problems with legal aid is generally under funding, and as a consequence “those who require the assistant of legal aid and cannot afford private counsel have no recourse but to represent themselves” (Laoc, 2006). Due to this, the principle of fair becomes obscure especially to those that cannot afford the services of an experienced lawyer. Nevertheless, due to the obscurity of the judicial system and how it can be twisted to suit individual needs, the concept of open justice has become a fundamental ideal to protect the perceived principles of justice and fairness. Even though in some circumstances an individuals right to privacy or the right to a fair trial can be compromised, the principles of open justice is currently the best known system to achieve an accountable and transparent judicial system that is open, honest and fair.
The ideals of fairness and open justice can be displaced however, by common law and statutory exceptions that adhere to the fact that open justice can sometimes be in conflict with the judicial process.

There are a number of common law and statutory exceptions to the principle of open justice. Common Law exceptions range from the control of public court attendance to in camera (private) sessions generally dealing with trade secrets and national security; Voir dire (trial within a trial), family law, the mentally ill, sexual offences, and cases dealing with children. There are a number of statutory exceptions that normally deal with suppression orders that aim to prevent information being released to the public. These exceptions vary and generally take on one or two forms. The situation may require that the case is to be held in a closed court, which includes withholding information from journalists, or “they vest the court with a discretion to make orders [sic] usually delineated in the legislation” (Butler, Rodrick, 178). There are many reasons for exceptions to the principle of open justice with a general acceptance from the community to withhold information relating to court cases involving children, sexual offences, the mentally ill, and matrimonial disputes. The protection of children is a fundamental ideal stipulated in the Queensland Child Protection Act 1999, prohibiting the publication of information leading to the identity of children. The same restrictions apply for sexual offences where the accused cannot be identified until after the committal, and where the complainant cannot be identified at any time. This protects victims from “further embarrassment and trauma and, in some circumstances, to protect them from the fear of threat or abuse during a trial” (Pearson, 148). The nature of sexual offences sometimes involves people who are known to the victim, for this reason the accused is not named as this could lead to the identification of the victim. In the Family Court, restrictions apply through the Family Law Act 1975, as much the same way as the Child Protection Act as it deals with child custody and matrimonial matters of a private nature. Society generally accepts these restrictions and exceptions to open justice rule, however, in recent times there has been a number of non-publication suppression orders prompting claims “that they are not strictly necessary” (Australian Press Council, 2006) and that these so-called exceptions to open justice maybe interfering with the transparency of the courts.

There are many restrictions of what can be published about judicial proceedings. These exceptions are not uniform as the legislative restrictions apply only in the State or Territory in which the proceedings are held. The Australian Press Council have consistently raised concerns regarding open justice within their annual reports,

“The judicial system seems either unaware of, or uncaring for, the importance of press freedom and how it contributes to a system of transparent justice”
(Australian Press Council, 2007)

Court perceptions may issue a suppression order “to prevent prejudice to the proper administration of justice or to prevent undue hardship” (Pearson, 69), depending on the circumstances of the individuals giving evidence. These exceptions to open justice in some ways can interfere with the transparency of the court, but with many cases the exceptions are not taken lightly. In the Police Tribunal case (1986), Justice McHugh stated that, “an order of the court prohibiting the publication of evidence is only valid if it is really necessary to secure the proper administration of justice” (Pearson, 71). It is at this point that the order needs to be challenged, as it is often uncertain whether courts have the power to make an order “limiting what might lawfully be published concerning proceedings held before it in open court” (Butler, Rodrick, 173). In some cases the reasons are legitimate especially cases involving sexual offences, children, family law, coronial inquests, adoptions and mental illness. Nevertheless, sometimes the lines can become blurred within the protection of individual rights when “damaging and even dangerous facts occasionally come to light” (Justice Kirby, 142). An example of this is when a series of suppression orders were issued concerning allegations of rape made against the former Australian Governor-General, Dr Peter Hollingworth, that raised many questions about the right of public figures to avoid scrutiny (Lateline, 2003). This calls into question the issues of fairness, justice and transparency of the court. Dr Hollingworth’s name was suppressed due to the nature of the allegation stipulated by law. Nevertheless, many people think that the public have a right to know about the allegations, because Dr Hollingworth is the Governor-General of Australia, raising debate about the validity of suppression. The allegations were never proved and subsequently ended Dr Hollingworth’s position as the Australian Governor-General. Unfortunately, Dr Hollingworth was perceived guilty before the allegations were heard before the court, subsequently, ending his career. In this case the law was used as it was intended through the Act, however, the principles of justice and fairness have become just as transparent as the courts, and in many ways, a casualty of law.

Chief Justice Lord Hewart stated in the Sussex Justices case in 1924, “justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done” (Pearson, 61). Open justice is considered a fundamental human right, based on democratic values that all people are created equal and free, a position that is reinforced by the United Nations. The orthodox values and beliefs of any given state will usually depend on whether an individual will in fact get justice, as it is generally defined by the laws of the day. There are a number of common law and statutory exceptions to the principle of open justice that normally deal with suppression orders to prevent information being released to the public. Open justice can sometimes be in conflict with the judicial process and can be twisted to suit individual needs with the concept of open justice becoming a fundamental ideal to protect the principles of justice and fairness. Many people within the judicial system ask that they be treated with justice and fairness. When questions of fairness and justice are raised, often the decisions of what benefits or burdens individuals can be quite obscure and generally depends on the social and financial status of the person that is being judged. Even though in some circumstances an individuals right to privacy or the right to a fair trial can be compromised, the principles of open justice is currently the best known structure to achieve an accountable and transparent judicial system. However, it must be realised that there is a clear separation between the ideals of fair, justice and law. The law is not justice, just as justice is not the law, and it will never be fair. As Billy Bragg states, “this isn’t a court of justice, son - this is a court of law” (Bragg, 1984).

Bibliography:

Australian Press Council Public Address. (2006 - 2007). Access to Justice - The Media, the Courts and the Public Record. The Hon Wayne Martin, Chief Justice of Western Australia. www.presscouncil.org.au

Bragg, Billy. (1984) Workers Playtime - Rotting on Remand. Festival Mushroom, Sydney, Australia.

Butler, Des. Rodrick, Sharon. (2007) Australian Media Law. Thompson Lawbook Co. Pyrmont, NSW.

Collins English Dictionary. (1996) Harper Collins, England.

International Covenant on Civil and Political rights. (Art. 14) Walker, Sally. (2000) Media Law – Commentary and Materials. LBC Information services, Pyrmont, NSW.

Late Line (2003) Rape claims deal G-G’s credibility double blow. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. www.abc.net.au/lateline

Loac.(2007). Access Legal Aid, Legal Aids in Australia. www.laoc.org/Australia.html

Pearson, Mark. (2007) The Journalist Guide to Media Law. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.

Queensland Government. Child Protection Act 1999/ Family Law Act 1975. www.legislation.qld.gov.au

Spigelman, Hon JJ. (2000) No. 74 Australian Law Journal 290-293. Pearson, Mark. The Journalist Guide to Media Law. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.

Velasquez, Manuel. Andre, Claire. Shanks, Thomas. Meyer, Michael J. (1990). Justice and Fairness - Issues in Ethics. Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics. Santa Clara University. www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/justice.html

United Nations, Human Rights. (1984). General Comment No. 13: Equality before the courts and the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent court established by law (Art. 14). www.unhchr.ch

Walker, Sally. (2000) Media Law – Commentary and Materials. LBC Information services, Pyrmont, NSW.

To defame or not to defame.

2009-07-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

To defame or not to defame is the journalist question. The minefield of black holes that reporters can fall down is endless when confronting defamation. It has sent publishers bankrupt and ended journalists careers over a few written or spoken words. As Four Corners investigative journalist Chris Masters puts it, “One of Australia’s most careful journalists is one of Australia’s most sued journalists” (Conley, 413). Defamation happens everyday and occurs when one person attacks, or calls into question, the reputation of another. If an article or comment makes people think less of a person, they have most likely been defamed. Defamation laws work to protect an individual’s reputation without diminishing the fundamentals of freedom of speech. Since its early beginnings, laws have evolved to govern communities to protect individual rights and freedoms predominately influenced by religion and the church. In 2006, Australia adopted uniform laws of defamation aligning all the states under the one umbrella to promote uniformity, and to “ensure defamation laws do not place unreasonable limits on freedom of expression” (Pearson, 179). Information and communication technologies have grown dramatically over the last ten years with the new laws that govern the use of the internet, constantly changing and evolving. The growth of media technology is unprecedented since the invention of the printing press, leaving many governments behind the eight ball when it comes to cyber space defamation. Even though the main bastion of the internet is free speech, free speech is precisely what the internet maybe threatening.

Defamation occurs when one person attacks the good reputation of another through the use of words, illustrations, and film or by any other form of communication that calls into question an individual’s reputation. Defamation happens everyday, for example, if I were to say to the class that, “Mark Pearson’s, A Journalist Guide to Media Law book is lame,” it would be an opinion only, and not constitute defamation, as Mark Pearson has not been defamed. However, if I were to say that, “Mark Pearson is full of it, and his Journalist Guide to Media Law book is plagiarized,” it would constitute defamation, as I have called into question the integrity and reputation of Mark Pearson, and his skills as a writer. Defamation laws work to protect an individual’s reputation without diminishing the fundamentals of freedom of speech. The intention of defamation law is to “strike a balance between the protection of reputation and the promotion of freedom of speech” (Butler & Roderick, 27), without compromising the rights to freedom of information and the discovery of truth. The defamatory meaning from a publication can have distinct imputations from the perspective of an ordinary community member. There are three ways to convey imputation, the natural and ordinary meaning, or through ‘false’ and ‘true’ innuendo. The natural ordinary meaning is literal, inferred or indirect. False and true innuendo is inferred or implied. As the High Court observed, “An article which gives otherwise irreverent prominence to the existence of smoke may be found to suggest the existence of fire” (Favel v Qld Newspapers). The Collins English Dictionary defines reputation as an, ‘estimation in which a person is held,’ which by law, accounts for every aspect of his/her life, including their mental, physical and spiritual welfare.

Law is defined as a ‘rule binding on a community [via] a system of rules,’ with its origins beginning in ancient Greece. Since its early beginnings, laws have evolved to govern communities to protect individual rights and freedoms. Religion has played an integral part in the creation of these laws, in particular through the influence of the Bible and the laws of the Ten Commandments. Where as a physician is concerned with the physical welfare of an individual, the Church is concerned with the spiritual welfare, and as such “defamation proceedings were often brought in the ecclesiastical courts of the Church before the reformation” (Pearson, 178). Between the Church and the courts of common law, defamation cases continued to grow, until eventually the ecclesiastical courts were no longer necessary with the laws of defamation falling completely into the jurisdiction of common law. The Defamation Act in New South Wales was put into legislative form in 1847, with some states repealing the Act and reverting to common law, while others decided to enact their own legislation. In 1847, there was no Australian Federation to deal with complex defamation laws, which left the issue residing in the hands of the individual states. This created an array of different defamation laws making the task of identifying defamation within each state a logistical nightmare for any publisher or journalist. Although many changes to defamation laws have occurred since 1847, it was not until 2006 when Federal defamation legislation adopting uniform laws was enacted across all states.

In 2005, the Attorney-General of Australia, Phillip Ruddock, proposed the enactment of Federal defamation legislation concerning disputes between the states and territories. In 2006, Australia adopted uniform laws of defamation previously followed in New South Wales by ‘relying on the common law for the laws relevant to establishing the cause of action whilst providing statutory defences’ (Defamation Act, 2005). Since its introduction, the number of new defamation actions has “decreased significantly” (Australia Press Council, 2007), predominately through resolution apologies. Juries sit in civil defamation trials in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia, however in the ACT, South Australia and the Northern Territory, “judicial officers perform all roles” (Pearson, 179), including that of the jurors. Previously, the rule of defamation law entitled the plaintiff to claim defamation on every publication in any given state that published the material, including publications that are subject to different laws, however, “only one action could be brought” (Maple v David Syme), by the plaintiff. This was ideal for the plaintiff, as they could search for the jurisdiction with the laws that most suited their needs. With the new changes to the Act, if the plaintiff claims multiple publication of offending material that crosses a number of jurisdictions, the defamation action will apply only where there is “the closest connection with the harm occasioned” (Butler & Roderick, 29). Ceilings on the amount that people can sue have now been implemented, abolishing the concept of ‘libel chill,’ where publications were hesitant to chase stories that risked defamation. The distinctions between “libel” (written words and print), and “slander” (speech or verbal) have also been abolished by the uniform legislation allowing only one act of defamation for interpretation. Any living person may claim defamation with the exception of Tasmania, “where their estates can sue over defamatory material published before the person died” (Pearson, 179). The extent of harm sustained by the plaintiff in each jurisdiction also applies to material published over the internet within Australia and internationally, and is subject to international defamation laws, with the implications potentially far-reaching.

Information and communication technologies have grown dramatically over the last ten years with the laws that govern the use of the internet constantly changing and evolving. In recent years defamation laws governing published material on the internet has developed to protect individual’s reputations, even if that individual lives in another country. The Australian Press Council brought to the attention of the Federal Government in 2007 the difficulty of defamatory material on the internet and the subsequent risk and liability for publishers who facilitate the publication of user comments upon their websites,

“The Press Council urges governments to reform the ‘Defamation Act’ in order to ensure that publishers are not exposed to excessive risk in relation to material that they have not authored. Such reform could also ensure that publishers deal appropriately with defamatory posted when they are aware of them”
(Australian Press Council, 2007).

However, publishers of websites, blogs and home pages currently expose themselves to local and international defamation laws, and risk personal liability if the information published is defamatory. An example is the case between Dow Jones and Company Inc v Gutnick. The defendant, Dow Jones, operated a news subscription service over the internet in New Jersey, in which Melbourne businessman, Joseph Gutnick, claimed the material was defamatory to him, and that it was downloaded by subscribers in Victoria. In the end, the High Court held to the general rule that defamation occurs where the publication is made available. In this case, it was deemed that Joseph Gutnick had the right to sue in Victoria, his place of residence, where said material was downloaded and read via a web-browser. The court specified the ‘third party rule’ where defamation occurred the “instant a third party read the material” (Pearson, 193), other than the plaintiff and the defendant. This implicates and subjects any person around the world that places material on the internet to their own local defamation laws, and potentially to defamation laws in international jurisdictions.

“The greater the truth the greater the libel” (Conley, 416). Lord Chief Justice Mansfield uttered those words back in the late 18th Century, not to expose the truth, but to restrict journalists from obtaining the truth. “Defamation is the law that is supposed to offer some solace to those who have had their reputations damaged” (Pearson, 175). Defamation concentrates on the loss of reputation, just because someone is offended or inconvenienced by a publication, does not mean that they have been defamed. Defamation laws work to protect an individual’s reputation without diminishing the fundamentals of freedom of speech. To defame someone was considered by the Church to be a spiritual matter as it affected the soul. Religion produced the Bible, the most complicated, hypocritical, power hungry text in history, which goes a long way when trying to explain the complexities and disparities regarding defamation law. Although many changes to defamation laws have occurred since 1847, it was not until 2006, some one hundred and fifty years later, when Federal defamation legislation adopting uniform laws was enacted across all states. At the time Justice Fitzgerald stated, “the degree of permissible freedom of speech is a fundamental indicator of a society’s preference for freedom of regulation” (Conley, 410). Changes to defamation laws within Australia finally came to the forefront due to advancing technologies and the associated problems regarding defamation. To this day the Australian Government is still lost within cyberspace. A national forum regarding internet technologies and legal rights was due to be held this month. However, there is no word from the government as to when the forum will happen, leaving Australia behind the eight ball when it comes to internet defamation law. The world of cyber space and the internet have connected millions of potential defamation actions across the globe, curtailing individual freedoms with the implications threatening the main thing that the internet promotes - freedom of speech.

Bibliography:

Australian Press Council Public Address. (2006 - 2007). Access to Justice - The Media, the Courts and the Public Record. The Hon Wayne Martin, Chief Justice of Western Australia. www.presscouncil.org.au

Butler, Des. Rodrick, Sharon. (2007) Australian Media Law. Thompson Lawbook Co. Pyrmont, NSW.

Collins English Dictionary. (1996) Harper Collins, England.

Conley, David & Lamble, Stephen 2006. The Daily Miracle – An Introduction to Journalism. Oxford Community Press, Melbourne.

Dow Jones & Company Inc v Gutnick (2002) 210 CLR 575. Butler, Des. Rodrick, Sharon.(2007) Australian Media Law. Thompson Lawbook Co. Pyrmont, NSW.

Favel v Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd (2005) 79 LAJR 1716. Butler, Des. Rodrick, Sharon.(2007) Australian Media Law. Thompson Lawbook Co. Pyrmont, NSW.

Maple v David Syme & Co Ltd (1975) 1 NSWLR 97. Butler, Des. Rodrick, Sharon.(2007) Australian Media Law. Thompson Lawbook Co. Pyrmont, NSW

Pearson, Mark. (2007) The Journalist Guide to Media Law. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW.

Queensland Defamation Act (2005) www.legislation.qld.gov.au

Which Way is Right – Media Power and Indigenous Australians.

2009-07-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

Domestic violence, unemployment, drunkenness, petrol sniffing and prison – are some examples of the general public perceptions of indigenous Australians. The power of the media in shaping peoples beliefs and values about society is paramount with the messages, images and symbols they produce. Australian people have limited knowledge of other cultures, obtaining their beliefs and attitudes predominately through the media. The lack of knowledge and understanding of indigenous culture among Australian journalists have contributed greatly to the perceptions about indigenous people. Australia has only a handful of indigenous journalists to communicate indigenous issues and concerns with indigenous media only recently beginning to communicate through radio, print and television. There has been much debate in regard to media reporting on indigenous issues concerning a fair and balanced journalistic approach. To write about people, it is essential to recognize their culture, environment and their concerns. The mainstream media have always been inept when reporting on indigenous issues; they do not know the complexities, the procedures, the laws and the traditions that sustain Aboriginal people. The media can educate themselves, workshop and learn indigenous culture, but at the end of the day, they will always be “behind the eight ball” when reporting on indigenous issues, due to the fact that the majority of the Australian media are not Aboriginal.

Since 1803 when Australia’s first newspaper was published, the media have portrayed aboriginal people in a negative way. A culture portrayed as unintelligent, destitute and violent with no-means of helping themselves. The Australian people constantly receive ‘negative images of Aboriginal Australians (usually found in the news) some fighting, crime and disorder in urban contexts’ (Van Krieken & Habibib 2006, p. 297). The images that the media produce can give a positive or negative view instantly of any person or culture in society. A recent example of this is the photo that the media produced in 2001 after the capture of David Hicks in Afghanistan. The first image was of a weapon (anti personal gun) on his shoulder. The media tried to dehumanise Mr Hicks and keep the public at a distance, while in 2007 when public opinion changed, the media published images of Mr Hicks smiling and wearing a woollen jumper. Public perception of issues and images generally depends on the way the media relay the information. It is also claimed that ‘media images reinforce racist aspects of the dominant culture and worldview. This theme is exemplified in their analysis of images of Aboriginal Australians’ (Jakubowicz, Goodall 1994, p. 60). The lack of protocol, knowledge and empathy that journalists have regarding indigenous culture is regrettable to say the least, with ‘unfortunately the most frequent contact between journalists and Aborigines is in Australia’s courtroom’ (Sweetman and Summerfeld 1996, p. 4).

Aboriginal culture has been constantly bombarded with Western views, beliefs and ideals, ‘all we hear on the wireless is white culture, white values, white songs’ (Macumba 1980, p. 127). Aboriginal people are a minority in Australia with little chance of being heard over the prevailing culture. David Byrne, Policy Director of the Cape York Land Council addressed the Press Council Forum and stated that ‘the press…[is] a very powerful non-indigenous institution that has been a powerful influence throughout the occupation’ (Byrne 1997, p. 2). The challenge for indigenous Australians is how to get a balanced and unbiased view of their culture out to the wider Australian public. During the early eighties, the broadcasting of indigenous messages and music started to be heard around the country. ‘The first Aboriginal station, 8KIN in Alice Springs operated by…[the] Central Australia Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) came on air in 1985’ (Craik, Bailey, Moran 1995, p. 152). Aboriginal broadcasting and the training of indigenous journalists cannot only offer opportunities to Aboriginal Australians, but can also benefit the wider Australian public, ‘the expansion of indigenous media, far from being in competition with mainstream media, or absolving it of responsibility for Aboriginal white relations, offers opportunities for them (white people) to shed their colonising roles’ (Bayles 1993, p. 2). The balance of power is beginning to shift with indigenous people now becoming agents of power themselves through radio, print and television.

The reporting on indigenous issues is generally concentrated on either health, employment, violence, alcoholism, “helping themselves” articles, unemployment and land rights, ‘these are very small boxes into which to squeeze the cultural and human diversity of a nation’(Schultz 1996, p. 17). The perspective of most Australians is very narrow and discriminative when it comes to indigenous culture due largely to bias and uneducated reporting. A basic example of this is a cartoon from the Cairns Post – the caption reads “Do you feel we should integrate into a mainstream, multicultural Australia apropos economic, societal and cultural opportunities and rights … or should we just go on taking whitey’s hand outs?”(Yanmin Yu, Ph. D, 2005). The distorted image that mainstream Australia has of indigenous people is maintained through film, television, books and newspapers with the media shaping those ideals, ‘The media informs and entertains but also indoctrinates individuals with the values, beliefs and codes of behaviour acceptable in the larger society’( Acland 2001, p. 13).
Included in this essay are some articles concerning indigenous affairs. These newspaper clippings were collected over a month (March 10 to April 10, 2007) from the Australian and the Townsville Bulletin. Besides one or two articles, the stories were either on health or social issues including alcohol abuse, petrol sniffing, crime and housing as well as the “feel good” stories concerning indigenous people helping themselves, ‘I’ve seen young kids walk out of the shadow of suicide and the doldrums of drugs. / Now they are out of the unemployment queue, they have jobs. They have broken the cycle of welfare dependency’, (Getawan 1997), The “feel good” stories perpetuate the continuing image that indigenous people are of lower class and need to be helped by the affluent population. The other angle that journalist take on Aboriginality is for the most part dominated by the abuses of alcohol, petrol sniffing and housing. The frequency of these articles is principal to the attitudes that white Australia have about indigenous people. One such article appeared in Saturday’s Australian newspaper with ‘a Northern Territory Supreme Court judge conceding that after sixteen years on the bench he could not “remember the last time an Aboriginal offender was sober” at the time of the offence,’ (Roberts 2007, p. 2). These sorts of articles are ingrained into the public’s self-conscience. In a study of 2700 articles to press making reference to ethnic minorities Teun van Dijk states, ‘The prominent presence of the concept of ‘black’ in the headlines suggests that the disturbances are defined primarily in terms of ethnic background or colour. They are not defined as ‘urban’ or ‘social’ forms of protest or unrest. Or as actions of ‘youths’, but specifically attributed to black people, usually young males, despite the fact that 30 per cent of the participants were white,’ (Van Dijk 1991, p. 55).
The media have great responsibility when it comes to reporting on any issue. Their influence is substantial with its effects being both wide ranging and influential on us all. The different opinions and beliefs that journalist encompass, have no place within journalism, as Nelson Crawford points out in The Ethics of Journalism ‘The press is a human institution and no human institution ever conforms precisely to a consistent ethical or philosophical theory,’ (quoted in Kier et al. 1986, p. 33). The existing stereotypes and depictions of indigenous people need to be challenged and deconstructed if the media are to be respected not only by Aboriginal people, but by the wider society as a whole. The hope is, with the transition to more Aboriginal journalists, indigenous messages and news can be translated and reported respectfully for all Australians. In time, as more diversity is spread across the Australian media, instead of headlines like the following from the Cairns Post, ‘Land grabs – FNQ Blacks lay claim to 7,000 square kilometres,’ (Yanmin Yu, Ph. D, 2005), indigenous stories and issues will begin to expand in cultural sensitivities and knowledge with fair and unprejudiced reporting. Until indigenous Australians become “agents of power” themselves and diversity is achieved, the Australian media will always be “behind the eight ball” when reporting on indigenous issues and current affairs. It is hoped that with the introduction and integration of Aboriginal journalists, the Australian media will finally be able to step out from behind the queue and take its place amongst a respected journalistic society.

Bibliography:

Ackland, Craig 2001. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues – The interactions of Aboriginality, media and education. Vol 4, No. 4, December.

Bayles, Tiga 1993. Australian Press Council News – Accommodating Differences Vol 5, No. 2 May. Print Mail.

Byrne, David 1997. Australian Press Council News – The Press and the Reconciliation Process, Vol 9, No. 3 August. Print Mail.

Conley, David & Lamble, Stephen 2006. The Daily Miracle – An Introduction to Journalism. Oxford Community Press, Melbourne.

Craik, Jennifer. Julie James, Bailey. Albert Moran 1995. Public Voices: Private Interests - Australia’s Media Policy, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW.

Getawan, Henry 2007. The Townsville Bulletin, Saturday 31 March, p. 17.

Jakubowicz, Goodall, Martin, Mitchell, Randall, Seneviratne 1994. Racism, Ethnicity and the Media. Allen & Unwin, Sydney - . Sociology themes and perspectives 3rd edition.

Kier, Gerry: McCombs, Maxwell & Shaw, Donald L. 1986, Advanced Reporting, Longman, White Plains, NY - Conley, David & Lamble, Stephen, The Daily Miracle.

Macumba, John 1980. Broadcasting in Australia: Today’s issues and the future. Australian National University, Canberra.

Roberts, Jeremy, 2007, The Weekend Australian, Saturday 31 March, p. 2.

Schulze, Julianne, 1996, ‘Searching Beyond Stereo Type’, The Courier Mail, 27 November, p. 17. - Conley, David & Lamble, Stephen, The Daily Miracle.

Sweetman, Kim & Summerfeld, Jeff 1996, ‘Leader Lashes Inaction over Deaths Report’, The Courier Mail, 26 November, p. 4 - Conley, David & Lamble, Stephen., The Daily Miracle.

Van Dijk, T. 1991, Racism and the Press, Routledge, London, p. 55.

Van Krieken, Habibib, Smith, Hutchins, Haralambos, Holborn, 2006. Sociology themes and perspectives 3rd edition. HarperCollins.

Yanmin Yu, Ph. D. 2005, “Australia – New Country, Old History”Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad. www.fulbright.com.au