Law Enforcement on Racial Prejudice in Mass Media

【摘 要】媒體對塑造個人特點、價值以及觀念起到了重要作用。涉及不同種族事件的報道也對維護社會穩定、促進不同民族和諧發展以及建設啟蒙教育有重要性。然而，種族歧視在媒體行業中仍舊屢見不鮮。媒體通常以道德層面來評述此類行為，很少提及涉及法律法規。事實上，法律效力可以幫助解決大眾媒體中出現的種族歧視的問題，同時規范媒體行業良性發展。

【關鍵詞】媒體；種族歧視；法律效力

Introduction

The media plays a crucial role in shaping individuals’ characters， values and even perceptions towards races. The media coverage relating to racial information is significant in sustaining social stabilities， promoting harmonies towards interaction among various races and contributing the formative education to younger generations. However， racial prejudice still largely exists in media industry all over the world. The media has vigorously commented from ethical perspective， however a very few of them mentioned laws and regulations applied to those analogous situations. In fact， law enforcement can be of assistance to resolve racial prejudice in mass media， as well as regulate the media industry.

Current situation in Australia contributes to racial prejudice in mass media and the significance of law enforcement.

Australia is famous for its multicultulism and its immigration policies keep attracting people all over the world. In recent decades， the diverse cultures have aroused hot debates among Australians. An 11-year study， Challenging Racism Project （Ani， par. 11）， by a collaboration of Australian universities reveals that：

* Nine of ten Australian believes the existence of prejudice in the country.

* One out of five has experience of racial verbal abuse， such as offensive slang names for different cultural groups， swearing and offensive gestures.

* 11 percent of Australian feels they don’t belong or are inferior.

* 6.5 percent of the 16，000 Australians surveyed were against multiculturalism

* Over 40 percent of those surveyed feel that cultural difference pose a treat to societal harmony.

The long term survey also indicates that majority of Australians are pro-multiculturalism and regard cultural diversity stimulates the development of the country， however， some are anxious that the diversity is being out of control and will hinder people form interaction.

It is clearly shows that the media industry has ignored news or story coverage about minorities for a long period， a great number of negative portray and stereotyping of minorities contribute to the misunderstanding among white people towards their cultures and current lives， as well as the existence of racial prejudice in mass media will further aggravate the intensive situation among democratic countries. In this respect， law enforcement can intensify regulations in the content of TV program， printed material and mainstream internet websites， as well as stimulate the positive and healthy development of media industry.

The Code of Practice as a benchmark sets out healthy regulations in media industry.

It is worthy to note that media in reporting and portraying diverse races will generate different impacts for viewers. One of the reports released by Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission indicated a “twenty-fold rise of discrimination and vilification of Arab Australians in the month after 11 September 2001”. （“IsmaU-Listen，” par. 3） According to a study on the influence of racial portray in mass media towards racial perceptions among children in the USA， “Media grant legitimacy through the 'recognition' and 'respect' shown to racial groups”. （“A Different World，” par. 3） They further explained “Recognition occurs when group members appear in programs， while respect is conferred when group members are cast in positive roles. The absence of group members suggests that they are not worthy of viewers' attention， while stereotyped or negatively-valued roles indicate that they are not worthy of respect.”

In the adversary note of the portray of cultural diversity from the Code of Practice， “Be sensitive to language and images which people from non-English speaking or minority racial backgrounds may reasonably find offensive or discriminatory.” It is highly recommend programm producers and its involving staff can foresee the consequences of contents from the programme. This Advisory Note also notes that “when reporting or portraying events involving people with racial backgrounds which differ from your own， you should be conscious of your own preconceptions and be sensitive to the cultural norms and experiences of those people.”， as well as “any report on race-related issues should be well researched， and not based solely on the claims of particular groups.” Reporters and program producers should in accordance with this Advisory Note with aim of helping and encouraging them to produce programs which “treat all people with equal respect， regardless of their national， ethnic or linguistic background”.

Any people inside the media industry should in accordance with the Code of Practice for the sake of positive and healthy development of the industry. Any action breaching the Code of Practice needs to be taken serious consideration. The Australian Communication and Media Authority （ACMA） also need to pay constant attention to ongoing situation and intensify the regulation on TV programme. In this regard， ACMA should give Sam Newman and the Footy Show a “warning”. If there was still no official response regarding to the racial remarks， the licence of the show need to be suspended through ACMA.

Vilification and race hatred law are of assistance to promote healthy image of media industry.

Freedom of speech is prevalent in democracy countries； however， certain laws stop people， especially people working in media industry， from actual harm to a person or a group. “Vilification laws cover hatred acted out against people because of their race， sexuality （including homosexuality and gender identity）， religion， HIV/AIDS status or disability.”（“Vilification，” par. 6） The law applies at federal and state levels， as well as territory level.

Most of the racial vilification or race hatred acts define racial vilification as：

* A racist act， which could be visual， such as text in a newspaper， cartoons or slogans on a wall， or audible， such as people speaking publicly about others or broadcasting racist insults.

* committed in public，

* which could incite serious contempt or severe ridicule of an individual or group because of race， colour， nationality， ethnic， ethno-religious or national background

It is worth mentioning that jokes about race， colour， nationality， ethnic， ethno-religious or national background will at certain circumstances not included in vilification laws， except occurrence of serious damage to another person or another group. The unprecedented riot between white Australian gangs and Middle Eastern youths on December 2005 at Sydney’s Cro1a beach is an example of prejudice coverage in mass media.

Because vilification， at most circumstances， is an unlawful act， it receives investigation and determination by Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission （HREOC）. “The vilification legislation in Australia usually has two main functions： to educate people about living in harmony and to take action against offenders if education does not succeed.” （“Vilification，” par. 30） The procedure usually starts with a complaint about vilification， then the authority–such as HREOC under the federal Racial Hatred Act–will investigate the matter and try to resolve the issues between the two parties–the people who made the vilification and those who complained about it through conciliation. If both sides satisfied with conditions during the conciliation process， people who made vilification will make an agreed formal apology. In terms of the media， it may also result in a published or broadcast correction and apology.

Conclusion：

In the globlised world， harmonious and equal social developments largely depend on righteous understanding of racial identities and positive appreciation of multicultulism. In this regard， media plays a crucial role， among other influences， in assistance of building bridges to narrow the gags. The enforcement of law does not intent to punish those offenders but sets out principles so as to well regulate media industry and promote social stabilities and understanding towards diverse cultures. Therefore， a relatively more comprehensive regulation need to be articulated and coverage of vilification and race hatred law need to be expanded in order to demolish the racial prejudice in mass media.

【References】

[1]“A Different World： Children’s Perceptions of Race and Class in Media.” Media Awareness Network. 1998. 4 Oct. 2009 .

[2]“Code of Practice.” MECO Postgraduate Coursework. 14 Aug. 2009. 12 Oct. 2009 .

[3]D’Cruz， Frankie. “Aussie TV Host in ‘Monkey’ Furore.” Malay Mail. 24 Sep. 2009. 4 Oct. 2009 .

[4]“IsmaU-Listen： National Consultations on Eliminating Prejudice against Arab and Muslim Australians.” Australian Human Rights Commission. Mar. 2003. 4 Oct. 2009 .

[5]Maynard， Roger. “Sydney Beach riots ‘Fuelled by Racial Prejudice’.” Gardian.co.uk. 20 Oct. 2006. 4 Oct. 2009 .

[6]Mitchell， Christopher Harshawardhana. “Sam Newman in Racist ‘Monkey’ Trouble.” Blogspot.com. 24 Sep. 2009. 4 Oct. 2009 .

[7]“Vilification and Race Hatred in Australia.” The News Manual. 12 Oct. 2009 .

[8]Ziffer， Daniel. “It's Your Fault Sam Newman is Still on the Box.” Theage.com.au. 23 Sep. 2009. 4 Oct. 2009.