Aboriginal sunrise protest

FIGHTING IN SOLIDARITY TOWARDS TREATIES (FISTT)

SUNRISE (CHANNEL 7) TV, PRUE MACSWEEN, BEN DAVIS On Tuesday, March 13, 2018,

The producers, hosts and commentators of the Sunrise morning show set – up and conducted a so – called ‘Hot topic’ “debate” that was not only intellectually dishonest, inaccurate and lazy, but also irresponsible and harmful due to the mainstream platform the show has and the misleading misrepresentations made to the public on the Stolen Generation and current child removal policy & practice concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

On Friday, March 16, 2018, in responding to a public protest against the March 13 ‘Hot topic’ segment, Sunrise chose to cover up and attempted to silence the dissent occurring less than 10 feet away. The actions of Sunrise are intolerable and we call upon Channel 7 to issue a public apology regarding the March 13, 2018 ‘Hot topic’ segment, and their unethical response to the public protest outside of their studio on March 16, 2018. Problematic behaviors “Debate” and representation Sunrise segments have consistently run discussions on race and Indigenous issues without the participation of Indigenous experts. Stacking commentary panels and debates with non – Indigenous commentators creates an unfair racial bias, evades dissent & a fair debate and silences the perspectives of whom the discussion is centered upon.

We call upon Channel 7 to engage with our appropriate selected Aboriginal topical experts to publicly counter the bias so evident within the ‘Hot topic’ discussion. We call upon Channel 7 to ensure that our Indigenous representation is included in all future discussions regarding Indigenous people and issues. Intellectual dishonesty and misleading & harmful misrepresentations During the March 13 ‘Hot topic’ segment, sweeping statements and racist implications were made undermining the capacities of Aboriginal families to take care of children, and the vilification of Aboriginal culture. Channel 7 also aired comments that undermined the gravity and trauma of the harms inflicted upon the Stolen Generation. We wholeheartedly condemn this behavior and demand that Channel 7 refrain from making blanket statements regarding the aforementioned.

For the reasons outlined above we call on Channel 7, Sunrise hosts Samantha Armytage and David Koch, commentators Prue MacSween and Ben Davis to issue formal apologies to the public. If Aborginal peoples do not receive a response from Channel 7 within 7 days from the date of the panel (13 March 2018), we will put a call-out to concerned people of the public to mobilize and protest against the Channel 7 studio until an adequate response and dialogue is initiated.

Online petition UNSW Indigenous Student Collective – 11 thousand signatures:

https://www.change.org/p/seven-network-receive-a-public-apology-fromsamantha-armytage-on-behalf-of-sunrise-andherself?recruiter=127671355&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=face book&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial.nafta_milestone_share_ask_vi ctory.control.nafta_share_post_interaction.notify
Jane Salmon