UPDATE: Jessica Rowe has since removed the interview she had with Pauline Hanson on her podcast due to the backlash, which is good.
Is anyone else surprised about this? Despite the fact that Pauline Hanson has spent just over the last 2 decades spouting out racist drivel, the Australian mainstream media keeps giving her a platform and they essentially normalise her racist views.
When Hanson came into Australian Parliament back in 1996 as a Senator, her maiden speech started off with “Australia is being swamped by Asians….”…
She is also an Islamaphobe, anti-black and anti-First Nations/Indigenous- pretty much against everyone who is not white or who does not subscribe to her shit. She has become a household name featuring on shows like “Dancing with the Stars” ( this was many years back, when she was making a comeback after spending time in gaol), and is a constant panelist and interviewee on “Sunrise” and other mainstream Australian programs.
And now this – going on Jessica Rowe’s podcast to talk about “love, children and how she keeps going” (via Pedestrian ) – yes yet again making her out to be some holy and lovely person, when clearly we know she is not. Here is more from Pedestrian, written by Saoliha Iqbal:
Are we seriously creating inspirational and sympathetic narratives on how Pauline Hanson “keeps going”? Why are we applauding the drive of someone hell-bent on racism? Are we supposed to find her conviction in her shitty beliefs aspirational?
I mean, Rowe could have questioned Hanson’s recent support for the anti-vax protests in Melbourne. She could have called out Hanson for saying “Building Lives Matter”. (Yes, that’s a real thing she said, and I really do wish I was joking).
She could have interrogated Hanson’s long history of anti-Muslim and anti-Asian racism, her bigotry when it comes to gender and sex, her call for an immigration ban, or her claims that people can choose to catch and die from COVID.
And yet, she didn’t. Instead, we were given a story that humanised Hanson as just another Aussie mum. And I am furious.
…… that is all we will say about this.
Image via Twitter
To read the original article, please click on: Can White Journalists Stop Giving Pauline Hanson A Fucking Sympathetic Platform, Please?