‘Sheer narcissism’: It’s time influencers like ‘wombat woman’ were held to account

This US influencer enraged Australia with her repulsive wombat stunt – but there’s one thing nobody’s talking about.

OPINION

The backlash to “Wombat Woman” – US influencer Samantha Strable, known online as Sam Jones – has been extraordinary.

I cannot, in living memory, recall an influencer who has ignited the ire of an entire nation in the same way she has by interfering with an innocent Australian icon.

This one has gone to the very top.

The social media influencer has gone viral for stealing a baby wombat from its mother as the pair waddled down the road at night.

She grabs it, roughly hauls it away and “hugs” it, Elmyra Duff style, for the camera, held by an encouraging male friend, while the pair openly cackle at the mother.

The usually shy wombat, hissing in distress, comes right up to the car to desperately try to retrieve its beloved, clearly anguished infant.

Animal experts have said the act is illegal under Australian wildlife protection laws, that the way the baby animal is being manhandled could lead to permanent damage and even that the human scent could cause the mother to abandon her baby (Jones plods the infant back onto the road casually after the incident).

It has prompted an unprecedented response given that influencers, regularly, show behaviour that’s disrespectful – to put it mildly.

This one, though, really takes the biscuit.

Three major politicians have waded in.

There have been calls to deport the ‘wombat woman’ after her stunt. Picture: Instagram/SamJones

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rebuked her, saying “Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there”.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed her visa status is under review, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong has also joined the condemnation.

The incident has made headlines across the British and US media, including in the BBC and Time Magazine.

Pictures have since emerged of Sam Jones handling a wild echidna and posing with a dead Australian Chital she hunted.

While the alliteration of “wombat woman” is clicky and convenient, there are two culprits here – the laughing man holding the video camera is just as guilty as Sam Jones, the female face of the pile-on.

And while any wilful mishandling of native wildlife will inflame Australians, this incident isn’t just about that. It’s about influencers more broadly.

You wouldn’t see respected wildlife or environmental journalists like the BBC’s David Attenborough treat any animal like this.

Aside from the basic cruelty, this act has angered a nation because of the wanton disrespect of influencers who visit other countries and seek to make the story all about them.

They lazily do this rather than actually listening to locals, interviewing experts and doing all the hard work involved in actual decent storytelling.

The American hunting influencer enraged the nation. Picture: Instagram/SamJones

The sickening act make global headlines. Picture: Instagram/SamJones

They topple historic monuments and distress wildlife just to get the best selfie or video in the hope they’ll go viral and up that all-important follower count.

In recent years, the problem has ballooned to the point that influencers are trampling Angkor Watt in “Temple Runs” for TikTok videos or scrambling up the sacred Uluru – acts you’d never see from respected history reporters or filmmakers.

Australians aren’t exempt from this categorisation; in my recent feature on digital nomads for news.com.au, one interviewee in Bali claimed that Aussie influencers “trample in, ruining the tranquility of sunsets or peaceful beach moments as they shoot endless selfies and me me me videos”.

The sheer narcissism of these wannabe Insta-famous cretins is, for journalists like me, difficult to stomach.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned the act. Picture: NewsWire/Nikki Short

As has Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke. Picture: ABC NEWS

This is why proper journalism matters. While we’re by no means perfect as a profession – far from it – we’re largely held to account, and to professional guidelines.

The MEAA Journalist Code of Ethics was created in Australia in 1944 to promote basic values and maintain community confidence and trust.

Journalists don’t always get it right. The good ones often do.

Influencers, meanwhile, rarely have anyone’s best interests at heart but their own. “Respected influencer” is an oxymoron.

The guidelines were written by noble journalists who want to tell stories in the public interest in a way that’s ethical and has integrity. Can you imagine influencers organising and doing the same for their industry? Me neither.

Journalists aren’t obsessive about making the story about us – occasionally we do (called “gonzo journalism”) – but influencers don’t even have a story unless their mug is in it. It’s crass.

‘Respected influencer’ is an oxymoron. Picture: iStock

Part of the problem is the desire to become an overnight celebrity. Overnight – no training, no hard graft, no incremental rising through good work and talent.

Instead, influencers want to be famous for their self-obsessed, erudite-free, vacuous videos doing something outrageous, dangerous, idiotic, or that makes them look hot.

It’s time we encouraged people to want to be famous for an actual skill, rather than doing whatever it takes to go viral.

Look where it leads: ripping a shy baby wombat from its mother to the point the usually taciturn animal is hissing is distress.

Gary Nunn is a freelance journalist. X: @garynunn1