Perfect Match: The Media and Pauline Hanson

The election of a conservative federal government in Australia in 1996 heralded the outbreak of an almost unprecedented campaign identified by mainstream media as 'the race debate'. This 'debate', we have been informed, emerged from a new era of 'freedom of speech' as a result of the change of government. Perhaps more accurately, it might have been termed the 'racist' debate for it has unleashed attacks on sections of the Australian community identified almost exclusively on the basis of their ancestry. But even the term 'debate' needs to be seriously questioned given the standard of reporting that has 'informed' most Australian media consumers.