Poor Christine Nixon continued to cop a flogging. Ridiculous. She went back to the commission after I posted and was understandably a little defensive. I would be too in that kind of situation. She had to stand up for herself.
When I checked, The Dawn Chorus didn't have anything on Christine's treatment in the media, which I found kinda surprising for a feminist blog. It's a Joan Kirner scenario all over again - treat her like shit because she happens to be an older, fat woman.
Anyway.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Christine Nixon
Fucking media. Leave Christine Nixon alone.
As a former journalist, never thought I'd be moaning about the quality of media coverage in this city. But here I am. Find ourselves in strange places sometimes.
So, my problem with the recent reporting of Christine and what she did or didn't do on February 7 last year is that, in my view, it's sexist, biased, and just ridiculous. I've never met her, but count myself as an admirer. In her roles as former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police and now head of the Bushfire Reconstruction Authority, she's warm, personable, honest, accountable, etc etc. Yeah, she's a really good media operator, but we frankly see very little of them. I have no doubt she's as much of a politician as anyone we regularly see in the news or read about, but she comes across really well. Is she doing a good job or not? That's not for me to decide or judge.
However, the fact that she's been made to apologise for EATING, and/or leaving the Incident Control Centre (ICC) on Black Saturday, is absolute bullshit. I reckon her being put over a barrel like this comes from the fact that she's a woman, and not a small one. Have questions been asked of senior men in emergency services about when they left the ICC on Feb 7 and what they did after, and did they eat? And had the questions been asked, were the answers reported? Like fuck they were. So no. Some sexist fuckers with an axe to grind have been let loose and Christine's copping it. Pun unintended. Jesus. I know the journos are just doing their jobs, but in this case, the coverage seems unbalanced. I know for a fact that some senior men left the ICC relatively early on Feb 7, and while food is often available in such places during major incidents, I can pretty much guarantee some wouldn't have eaten there. But they haven't been criticised for that.
The Dawn Chorus might have written up something on this topic. I'll check and get back to you.
Rant over.
Sorry it's been a while between posts. Motivation lacking.
As a former journalist, never thought I'd be moaning about the quality of media coverage in this city. But here I am. Find ourselves in strange places sometimes.
So, my problem with the recent reporting of Christine and what she did or didn't do on February 7 last year is that, in my view, it's sexist, biased, and just ridiculous. I've never met her, but count myself as an admirer. In her roles as former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police and now head of the Bushfire Reconstruction Authority, she's warm, personable, honest, accountable, etc etc. Yeah, she's a really good media operator, but we frankly see very little of them. I have no doubt she's as much of a politician as anyone we regularly see in the news or read about, but she comes across really well. Is she doing a good job or not? That's not for me to decide or judge.
However, the fact that she's been made to apologise for EATING, and/or leaving the Incident Control Centre (ICC) on Black Saturday, is absolute bullshit. I reckon her being put over a barrel like this comes from the fact that she's a woman, and not a small one. Have questions been asked of senior men in emergency services about when they left the ICC on Feb 7 and what they did after, and did they eat? And had the questions been asked, were the answers reported? Like fuck they were. So no. Some sexist fuckers with an axe to grind have been let loose and Christine's copping it. Pun unintended. Jesus. I know the journos are just doing their jobs, but in this case, the coverage seems unbalanced. I know for a fact that some senior men left the ICC relatively early on Feb 7, and while food is often available in such places during major incidents, I can pretty much guarantee some wouldn't have eaten there. But they haven't been criticised for that.
The Dawn Chorus might have written up something on this topic. I'll check and get back to you.
Rant over.
Sorry it's been a while between posts. Motivation lacking.
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