A two-part program by SBS Radio World News on the racial vilification complaint brought by the Australian Macedonian Advisory Council (AMAC) against the ‘Australian Macedonian Weekly (AMW)’* has won the 2012 Victoria Law Foundation Legal Reporting Award for multicultural media.
According to Kristina Kukolja, the journalist who produced the program, “six months on from when it first hit the airwaves it continues to inspire debate on the central subject matter, as well as the broader issue of journalistic standards in Australia’s ethnic media.”
Kukolja’s broadcast investigated reaction to VCAT’s decision in September 2011, that an article published by the AMW* which described Greek people as “freaks of nature” and “deranged bastardly monsters” did not incite racial hatred.
The widely-denounced judgement supported the notion that a person may make public statements that are racially hateful and inflammatory, so long as those statements are directed to others of a similarly prejudiced predisposition.
The Australian Macedonian Advisory Council (AMAC) told Neos Kosmos that it welcomed the acknowledgement of the mainstream media to the anomalies raised by the VCAT ruling.
“Despite the negative result at VCAT, the decision has stimulated debate regarding the limits of free speech and journalistic standards in the ethnic press. Criticism of the decision at VCAT has become a focal point in this debate,” said AMAC’s spokesman.
Links to the podcast of Kristina Kukolja’s two-part report can be found at www.sbs.com.au/podcasts
*This is the formal name under which this entity is registered in Australia.
* Neos Kosmos does not endorse the use of the term ‘Macedonian’ in this context.