Some in our community believe that any decent opportunity you get in media or with government should be taken. The logic is that either you take it and engage or refuse and waste the opportunity. This view, apart from demonstrating gross ignorance about what engagement is, betrays the element of power we have in creating and modifying our own opportunities. The truth is as a minority community we dont have any significant power in determining how the media reports about us. But we do have an element of power by virtue of the fact that the media needs us to make a story. The way the media game works is that a story about a particular person or group needs a response from that person or group to be seen as credible. In all the reporting about Muslims and Islam, responses are needed from Muslims. Here, we can either simply jump at every opportunity or we can try to wield that power by making our response conditional on things that assist us. For instance, if you, as a media spokesperson, made it a policy to only do live interviews, those wanting your comments would give you that more often than compared to if you simply took whatever they gave. This would come at the expense of pre-record opportunities, but most of those are not worth it anyway. Winning a greater degree of control at the expense of some opportunities of publicity is a good thing. Similarly, if enough people invited to #qanda last week insisted that a Muslim/s be on the panel, the producers hand would be forced, because otherwise they have no show. What would they do? Go with a Brandis in Bankstown without any Muslims? No, that would make them look silly. Here I might share a recent experience which shows how producers are willing to modify programs in order to get you on when they want you. One of the major commercial TV channels - Ill leave out specifics because the correspondence was private - was planning a news special. It was too be a (pre-recorded) forum discussing ISIS, terrorism, raids, how Muslims are being treated, etc. The initial idea with which the producer contacted me was that Julie Bishop or Scott Morrison would be on the panel and there would a large audience with various people from different community groups including Muslims. She was inviting me to be part of the audience. My first response - after seeking more details about who was invited - was to say thanks, but Ill pass. I explained why: i) bad format because too many people with different opinions; would because like an Insight show (no, thats not a compliment!) and ii) with government ministers on panel and Muslims in audience the former get a better hearing. She replied with (inadequate) reasons as to why things would be otherwise. I ignored. She came back with we really want someone from your organisation. What would get you over the line. So I told her frankly on what conditions I would participate: i) it would have to be live, not pre-recorded, ii) format change to be less Insight like and more QandA style, i.e. only 5-6 panelists, iii) to be on the panel, not in the audience. Alternatively, I said, if its our views you want Id be happy to do a ten-minute live interview. First she tried to organise the latter, then she passed me on to another show on the same channel, which I was not willing to go on. Finally, however, she tried to implement the forum idea as per my suggestions and, to my surprise, succeeded. She organised a live forum hosted by their top journalist with a 4-member panel including a senior minister, police commissioner, myself and one other Muslim community member. 60-100 people would be in the audience asking questions. This I accepted, and it was set to go. The show, of course, did not end up taking place as you know (because you never saw or heard of it!). Why? No government minister was willing to accept and the police commissioner too, on finding out that I was on the panel, refused the invite. So without either, they deemed it not worthy of going ahead, and I understand that. In any case, the point is not about the result but about how we can wield the little power we have to engage more astutely. This may be a unique example of major modification, but in my time Ive seen many example of lesser but still important modifications made because we demanded it.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 17:25:38 +0000
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