QandA: Barnaby Joyce calls for the challenging of ideas during diversity debate

Monday night’s panellists on ABC’s QandA grappled with the issue of diversity and representation in Australia’s mainstream media.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce on QandA on Monday night.

Monday night’s panellists on ABC’s QandA grappled with the issue of diversity and representation in Australia’s mainstream media.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce advocated for news outlets that challenge ideas and champion “proper debate” by representing all sides of the political spectrum.

Responding to a hijab-wearing young woman and aspiring journalist asking whether she would be accepted on Australian screens, Mr Joyce responded by saying, “I‘m from the country, I don’t think people give a toss what you wear.”

“They give a toss about what you say. They want to see balance. What I’d be looking for if you’re on the ABC, I’d be saying I want to see as many right-wing commentators as I see left-wing commentators,” he said.

What can be done to ensure Australian media reflects all Australians? #QandA pic.twitter.com/Ii1GL2lZrr

— QandA (@QandA) August 17, 2020

Channel 10 journalist Antoinette Lattouf said Australia had “a long way to go in terms of our newsrooms being inclusive”. Lattouf, who co-founded the not-for-profit organisation Media Diversity Australia, said the group’s report released on Monday highlighted that television news and current affairs was “overwhelmingly white”.

“What our report found is Australia has a pretty long way to go in terms of catching up with other western democracies similar to ours,” she said.

Lattouf said news outlets’ lack of diversity had a “trickle-down effect on which stories are told, how they‘re framed and the voices that are put forward”.

“Too often we see on all the networks, including the ABC, and panels which are 100 per cent white. Commenting on issues that affect multicultural Australia, commenting on refugees, commenting on Black Lives Matter protests,” she said.

“You wouldn’t have a cooking show and a panel of experts where no one is a chef and doesn’t know how to cook. But when it comes to current affairs we think it’s acceptable to not have diverse voices.”

Discussing Johannes Leak’s recent cartoon of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Mr Joyce said there was a “special place for cartoons”.

“I’m sure The Guardian has smashed Trump at times. I’m sure CNN has smashed Trump at times. I’m sure the Fairfax Media, you could bring out so many cartoons that would take certain traits.” he said.

The Australian’s columnist Niki Savva told the program that the cartoon was based on Mr Biden’s words in a recent tweet about “little girls … especially black and brown girls” feeling represented by Ms Harris’s appointment.

“It was a sledge against Biden. It was not a sledge against Kamala Harris. That‘s how I saw it,” she said.

The panel then dissected the notion of public interest and its balance with privacy. Asked by host Hamish Macdonald who holds the media accountable when they get the balance wrong, Savva said “we have law courts. We have shows on the ABC that hold all sorts of outlets to account”.

“Who arbitrates as to what is in the public interest... and what prevents journalists from chasing profit under the guise of the public interest?” #QandA pic.twitter.com/oR4kmhqKaR

— QandA (@QandA) August 17, 2020

But Mr Joyce said it was “quite easy to draw the line, acknowledging that public officials like himself should expect media scrutiny.

“If a person is in the public view that‘s paid for the job they’re in the public. I’m paid for a job … if a person is an individual that is not paid, then it is not in the public interest,” he said.

“I’m going to call it out because I don’t care, that’s all in the past what happened to me. I don’t want that to happen to somebody in the future.”

Macdonald acknowledged Mr Joyce was speaking from “personal experience” after his affair with his staffer Vikki Campion was exposed and reported on in the media.

Labor communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland said she “knew where Barnaby was coming from”.

“I‘m in the public eye as well. But I put myself out there and the fact is that media scrutiny is the price that I pay for being a politician. And serving a democracy. That’s a price that I’m willing to pay,” she said.

On the topic of border closures in response to coronavirus, Mr Joyce argued that they were a “balancing act”, but that “states in their current form are way past their use-by date”.

“There‘s no way north Queensland feels any affection towards Brisbane or central Queensland,” he said.

Ms Rowland pointed to the importance of political leaders following the advice of health authorities in regards to border closures.

“The actions that have been taken by various states have worked. And I also think that it is incumbent on premiers and chief ministers, if they’re part of, we’ve heard a lot about this national cabinet, I think it’s incumbent on them but it is on the Prime Minister to respect those views,” she said.

Indigenous hip hop artist Ziggy Ramo said while border closures had hit the music industry hard, the pandemic was not “something to be taken lightly”.

“Artists are feeling the impact of that. But personally I see my responsibility as someone who will survive this. If I get it, I’m not that susceptible and vulnerable. However, we do have vulnerable people within our community,” he said.

In addition, the panel tackled cancel culture and how comedians can find the balance between causing offence and making audiences laugh.

Ms Rowland said she was “not a fan of cancel culture” but argued the debate reinforced the need to have screen content that reflects Australia’s diverse cultural make-up.

Ramo said it was problematic if the comedy creator was not from the background of what they were representing.

“If it‘s not coming from the source, it’s going to be misrepresented,” he said.

“So I think an example is Chris Lilley, he’s making jokes about a lived experience he hasn’t had. I think that’s where it falls short. In the same way that in our media we need cultural diversity, so people can speak on their lived experience.”