NO! Stop ! Race-Targeting in Australian Press

Richard Yuan, Sydney 

Australian media has somehow stopped being journalism and is now no more than propaganda! It has followed the path of the USA in its populist political rhetoric of 'blaming the Chinese' and China pandering to the far right identities such as Pauline Hanson.

Disappointingly, key journalists are pushing an agenda to target China without so much as a shred of evidence.

Case in point are the recent pieces surrounding Sydney Morning Herald's "Chinese-backed companies' missions" to source Australian medical supplies such as protective gowns and masks. The glaring question that the journalist Kate McClymont avoids is how does Australia spent $750 million on a national pandemic stockpile and then finds it has not enough masks and PPE when a pandemic strikes? Importantly, it fails to include nuance in a national story, that is, Australia sold the masks for a profit and promoted the solidarity of helping China during the COVID-19 crisis.

These missions are no secret. The constant bombardment of agenda from these newspapers and its editors dumbs down Australia and makes a mockery of its readers. It is harmful to the Australian society and looks to vilify a race and affect those who identify as Australians with Chinese heritage. Other Asian Australians may be next. This is scary as it is not uncommon that many Australians have a foreign heritage.

Numerous overseas Chinese persons - many may have no links to China - have been attacked and assaulted during the coronavirus outbreak, thanks to these publications' irresponsible reporting or lack thereof.

This has to stop.

These publications need to make a pledge to start honouring their duty as privileged journalists whose jobs are to report, not instruct or opine. They need to stop filling the Australian media space with agenda that is driven by personal beliefs and which do not and never represent the truth. They need to uphold what they claim they are about that is, "independent, always" a slogan by the Sydney Morning Herald. At the moment, they are nothing near that, but mere propagandists.

不！请澳大利亚媒体停止针对种族的报道！

袁祖文 悉尼
 
澳大利亚媒体的做法阻滞了新闻业的发展，现在它充其量只不过是宣传机器！ 它沿袭了“指责中国人和中国”这种美国民粹主义的政治言论，和波林·韩森（Pauline Hanson）这类极右翼人士如出一辙。
 
令人失望的是，澳洲的主流记者正在毫无证据地推动针对中国的事件。
 
近期的一个事例就是《悉尼晨锋报》的报道。《悉尼晨锋报》发表了题为“中国背景公司的使命”的新闻，报道说一些公司在澳洲大量采购医疗用品（口罩）。 报道中，记者凯特·麦克莱蒙特（Kate McClymont）明显回避了一个关键问题：澳大利亚在应对病毒大流行的物资储备上支出了7.5亿澳元，却发现病毒爆发后澳大利亚没有足够的口罩和个人防护装备？ 重要的是，它没有在它的全国性的报道中体现出这双层含义：澳大利亚既帮助了中国抗疫COVID-19危机，增加与中国友谊，夯实与中国关系，同时，又出售大量医疗用品及口罩，以牟取足够的商业利益。
 
这些所谓“购买使命”并没有偷偷摸摸进行! 澳洲的这些报纸对这件事情的大肆炒作，将澳洲和它的读者们当成傻子一样愚弄。这对于澳洲社会是有害的，它侮辱了一个种族，影响了那些拥有华裔血统的澳洲人。下一个可能就是亚裔澳洲人，想想这事该多可怕? 因为多数澳洲人可都有海外血统！
 
很多海外华人——有很多或许与中国没有任何联系——在新冠病毒爆发期间被袭击、被羞辱，都是拜这些不负责任的报道所赐。
 
这一恶行必须停止！
 
澳洲媒体必须开始履行它们神圣的职责，因为作为拥有话语权的记者，其工作应该是报道事实真相，而不是指指点点或用个人观点去误导读者。他们必须停止让澳洲媒体充斥大量的被个人信仰驱使，带节奏来表达个人观点的文章，这些文章从来没有，也永远不会反映实事真相。他们应该秉承《悉尼晨锋报》所宣称的“独立.永远”的口号。此时此刻，他们远离其宗旨，沦为宣传机器罢了！