It was a fantastic opportunity to experience a different culture and wear my new cape.
That’s how I arrived at my decision to go along to a football game. I’d never seen a professional sporting event before and I had poor to moderate expectations.
NRL is a sport where large men run around on a field and push each other to the ground while trying to get a ball over a line and through some poles. It’s pretty weird.
The Canberra team are raiders which are kind of like vikings and the St George team are dragons. I prefer vikings and dragons out of a sporting context. I assumed they were natural enemies because I had seen that DreamWorks film How to Train Your Dragon. I also know vikings and dragons have it in them to put their differences aside and peacefully coexist to a heartwarming effect.
There were some decent moments: a stranger letting me in for free was a nice way to start the evening and welcome me to this world of sporting fanaticism, I learned some of the rules of the game and I was home in time to watch Q&A.
But I would like to provide some constructive criticism to sports enthusiasts and venues:
Get a roof.
And a larger variety of vegetarian options.
And some cider. Where will I get my fruit/veg intake from if I don’t have a veggie burger or a nutritious, apple-filled Magners?
I think you should indulge the arts during your halftime show. A band or some interpretive dance would work nicely.
Provide a winter uniform for your cheerleaders. Beanies and scarves are adorable.
What troubled me the most was the booing. I just don’t understand it, these football players are here to entertain you with their violent beefiness. Where would you be if they weren’t here? Raiders can’t play themselves.
I had a decent evening, I would attribute that more towards vodka and socialising rather than the game itself, but I could have done that in a pub where they have a roof.
I could write a Valentine’s Day post. I won’t, I don’t really care for Valentine’s Day.
I probably sound like a bitter, single person. And I am, but that’s not why I don’t like Valentine’s Day. I honestly can’t think of anything I’d prefer to be doing this evening over watching bad reality TV in my pyjamas.
Lifestyle You. Dance Moms. YES.
I could write about consumerism and commercialising love and Hallmark inventions, but that would be almost as clichéd as the day itself.
Instead I choose to celebrate love by sharing my sister’s short-lived, Valentine’s Day, text message relationship with you.
7.28am – MITCH: Hey you
9.20am – MITCH: Wat ya doing [sic]
10.18am – ELLA: Hi there, who is this?
10.28am – MITCH: Mitch who this
10.41am – MITCH: ????
11.01am – Mitch: Who this
11.28am – ELLA: Hi Mitch, someone must have given you a fake number which happens to be mine. People are cruel. Anyway some friendly advice: if a girl happens to give you a real number next time don’t message her at 7.30 it’s rude. Have a good day.
11.29am – MITCH: Sorry who is this by the way???
11.35am – ELLA: I’m Ella. And I don’t know a Mitch, sorry dude.
11.36am – MITCH: Where you live Ella???
11.44am – ELLA: In my house. That’s a pretty personal question there, Mitch. My second piece of advice is not to ask random girls where they live. Thanks.
11.51am – MITCH: Well how r you than???
11.57am – ELLA: That’s much better, now try it on someone that isn’t me. Then go forth young Jedi…just don’t use the force on women, ta.
Here are a few highlights from my Christmas movie marathon of the past week:
LOVE ACTUALLY
I typically watch this every year. I’ve seen a few American knock offs of this. The “cram several stories into a romantic comedy” formula, preferably set around some kind of holiday has been repeated too many times and it has never lived up to this British original. They’re not as clever or funny and the way the stories are linked just feels so forced. Love Actually never did. Each time I watch it there is something new that I’ve forgotten about that has me in hysterics, yesterday it was this kid in the nativity play.
ELF
Just watched this one tonight and remembered how much I love it. I think I’m going to make paper snowflakes next year. I love the part where Buddy buys his dad lingerie, I also love this bit.
MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL
One of my longest running traditions is to watch this movie every Christmas Eve. I know the lyrics to all the songs. When I grew up and read Charles Dickens’ book I had a hard time reading it without imagining Muppets, Bob Cratchit kept forming in my head as Kermit. If you haven’t read the original, there’s no excuse. It’s a short, beautiful read and available for free here.
Needless to say, I can’t wait for the new Muppet movie.
I’ve experienced one British Christmas. It didn’t snow on the day, but I was able to spend the season waking to this picturesque scene on a couple of occasions.
It’s strange that we have grown accustomed to hearing Let It Snow being played in shopping centres while it’s 30 degrees outside.
I know it won’t happen until I celebrate another Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere, but I want a chance to wear one of these saucy numbers.
I’m all done with my degree and it’s definitely weird. I’m in those strange few weeks that would normally be a uni break. But this time they’re those few weeks between the end of my studies and employment.
If Dustin Hoffman has taught me anything it’s that I should be having an illicit affair with someone married and in their forties while Simon and Garfunkel melodies whirl around my head, instead I’ve been all about Christmas.
Whether it’s baking, decorating, gift wrapping, painting my nails to look like candy canes, cheesy songs and even cheesier movies. I love everything about Christmas. I even come close to tolerating Mariah Carey at Christmas time (I know!), I blame the little kid from Love Actually.
Christmas is one of my skills, I should put it on my resume. A couple of years ago, a friend and I even invented a Christmas cocktail (okay, we stuck candy canes in Passion Pop and called it a ‘Christmas Ho’), I’d make a fantastic elf.
Over the next few days, I’d like to share some of my favourite Christmas songs and movies because I can’t bake virtual cookies, but I can embed music videos.
Here’s I Wish It Was Christmas Today. It originally appeared on Saturday Night Live in 2000. This version was recorded last year. It has Jimmy Fallon. It has fake snow. It has Julian Casablancas. Could you ask for more?
This semester in Advanced Broadcast Journalism 2 we told the stories of refugees in Canberra. We focused on the people’s stories, the ones that are too often ignored in favour of the political lines, scare tactics, negative stereotypes or a depiction of the ‘other’.
Daily Telegraph, July 2010 Retrieved from Mumbrella
McKay et al (2011) stated, “Some leading advocacy groups have accused the Australian media of promoting fears and unfavourable attitudes towards refugees through the negative framing of the ‘refugee news.’”
We have had some excellent examples from the media this year on the right way to approach refugee and asylum seeker issues with programmes such as Go Back To Where You Came Fromon the SBS and Sarah Ferguson’s investigation into detention centres on Four Corners. Unfortunately, there are still far too many wildly inaccurate and harmful portrayals of asylum seekers. Today Tonight is a prime example as highlighted by Media Watch.
“The deliberate manipulation of language to exclude asylum seekers from any category of people with whom one might feel human solidarity demonstrates the power of language to demonise and dehumanise the most vulnerable of human beings: those in desperate need of protection and care.”
As I type this post ‘Detainee deluge – thousands of boat people to invade NSW’ is the second most read story on the Daily Telegraph website today.
PRIOR PERSPECTIVES
Like many other Australians, I wouldn’t be here if this country didn’t accept refugees. In the 1950s my grandmother fled Indonesia to resettle in Australia. She had a European background and the Indonesian revolution forced her family to leave the country. Having already survived a World War II concentration camp, she was a young woman when she came to Australia alone. Members of her family were scattered across Europe or America, wherever they were accepted. She doesn’t often choose to talk about these things, so most of my knowledge about refugees and asylum seekers has come from the media.
My attitude towards refugees has always come from the very simple philosophy that if you can help people you should. Being born into a privileged society should not entitle you to a higher level of human rights. There are few things that infuriate me more than politicians using some of the most vulnerable people in the world to stir up fear and score points off each other with phrases such as “stop the boats” as campaign slogans. It’s dehumanising and embarrassing. It’s astonishing that we can use a term like ‘boat people’ whilst we simultaneously forget that they are people. People with friends and families, just like us, but without the privilege of being born into a society with rights we so often take for granted.
The fear and negative attention directed at the asylum seeker arrivals in Australia is perplexing when you look at the figures. In 2009, 8427 people sought asylum in Australia, a small number compared to the 45,197 who sought asylum in the UK (Amnesty International, 2011).
I thought I was well-informed about refugees and asylum seekers before I started this project, but when you delve into these sorts of situations, you start to realise how little you know. Olivia Neethyrajah (@oliviadn) and I were assigned a profile piece on Eritrean refugee, Teclu Ogbamicael. I knew nothing about Eritrea. I really mean nothing. I was quite sure it was in Africa, but I couldn’t have placed it on a map. I definitely couldn’t have told you anything about the political situation. Aside from some eye-opening facts and a crash course in the history and politics of Eritrea, it was wonderful to be able to speak with someone who was so open and candid about his experience as a refugee.
I have always been quite judgemental towards those I believe are ignorant or naïve about these issues, but this project has definitely forced me to see that I am not without ignorance and naïvety either. We asked Teclu the hard questions; we discussed the war in Eritrea, his colleagues killed or arrested and what it’s like to leave your home and settle in a foreign country. When the conversation turned to Julia, his daughter that he’d finally been reunited with, I thought we had entered a happier, more comfortable part of the interview. But it soon became clear that this was the hardest thing for Teclu to talk about. Despite this reunion, missing his daughter’s childhood still weighed heavily on his shoulders.
I realised I’d given very little thought to what happens next. Had I simply assumed that once the refugee is safe and once their family was safe they could live a normal, happy life? It’s not the case at all. This shouldn’t mark the end of support they receive.
After hearing Teclu’s story and the amazing stories produced by my classmates in this unit, my opinions regarding Australia’s treatment of refugees haven’t changed, but they have definitely been strengthened. It’s a complex issue and I obviously don’t have all the answers, but I believe that Australia should play a much larger role in helping these people find safety.
Most of the media in this country has made me feel quite depressed and ashamed at how refugees are treated in Australia, but this project has opened my eyes to the caring people in our community who help to make refugees feel welcome; organisations like Companion House, Canberra Refugee Support and individuals who offer scholarships to students. Refugees come to this country with nothing, they need more than a protection visa. The stories of these organisations are inspiring, they’re not told often enough, and I’m thankful to be part of a project that will share them.
LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
With every broadcast assignment I learn something new that will make me a better journalist. As usual, there were technical lessons learned (test the voice recorder on the interviewee, not yourself), there were improvements in my interviewing technique but there was something even more valuable to be learned from this unit. Over the course of this project I have given a lot of thought towards our role as journalists in forming attitudes and influencing opinions. As journalists we have the ability to affect the public’s perception on certain issues.
“…media representations are seen as significant in the cultural (and therefore political) sphere precisely because they actively construct meaning, and do not merely reflect social reality. …in other words media representations ascribe meaning to events.”
When we’re dealing with the subject of refugees and asylum seekers we are sharing information with people who have a hard time relating to their plight. Most Australians have grown up with security. We have all been disappointed in our Government at one point or another, but it has never made us fear for our lives. Journalists should explain the situation in a way that encourages empathy.
UNICEF Australia Young Ambassador, Adam Baidawai (2011) noted,
“The dehumanisation of asylum seekers as ‘boat people’ or ‘queue jumpers’ means that our media coverage can leave us utterly detached from the horrifying plight of asylum seekers.”
In every journalism unit we have had over the course of this degree we have learned the fundamentals of reporting. Be fair and accurate, tell each side of the story, report all the facts. However, to get a real sense of how the world works and how to relate to the people in it we must do more than tell the bare facts; a boat from ____ carrying ___ people was intercepted at ____. If we go deeper, if we learn who these people are, what has caused them to leave their home and what treatment they will receive in a detention centre – if we get to learn about these people as human beings, not as faceless statistics – we can begin to relate to these people and understand their situation.
The UNHCR use this approach in ‘The Human Story’ section of their website. They note,
“The best way to understand the suffering of others is to hear their stories of hardship, courage, struggle and perseverance,” (UNHCR, 2011).
This quote and the lessons I have learned from this project can be applied not only to reporting refugees, but to any issue that requires extra understanding. Society could certainly benefit from a little more empathy. In any story about people there is a human side that transcends statistics. We can’t offer a complete account of a story if we don’t address that.
Reporting Refugees airs on Sunday, November 27 at 10am on 666 ABC Canberra, or you can listen to our stories online.
REFERENCES
Amnesty International 2011, ‘The Facts’, Rethink Refugees.
