Since WWII there have been over 7 million migrants that have settled in Australia. The large mass of land is often considered to be the most culturally diverse in the world. We are an example of a globalized world, speaking over 260 languages (Australian Government 2013).
Yet, for the most part, the media does not reflect this. Entertainment media such as Neighbours and Home and Away have rarely depicted Australia as multi-cultural and when we do see alternate and ethnic cultures being broadcasted they are often portrayed in a stereotypical light (Kalina 2012).
For a long time before and after the cold war, Russians were made to be villains of most crime, espionage media and now, after September 11, middle-easterners have taken the image of terrorists, also, those of an ethnic background are often portrayed as crooks and homosexual men are stereotyped with feminine attributes while women are so with masculinity.
The media will produce what it knows will sell. If it has been found, through ratings, that a homosexual couple are not as relate-able or esteemed as a heterosexual couple, they will not air the latter. But what does that say of our culture, of who we are as Australians? Even with this ever expanding, globalising world, are we still viewing ‘white’ as dominant?
I guess the really frustrating thing is that it’s now difficult to cast alternate cultures without appearing to tokenise them. Making those cultures seem as though they were only cast so as to maintain the peace.
While media is supposed to represent the culture to which it belongs, it also plays a part in shaping our understanding and ideological assumptions. The media has a responsibility to correctly portray the culture of the modern and globalising world. The consumption of only ‘white bread’ is not healthy and as such it should be a priority that those responsible for the production of entertainment media, seek to adjust the norm, creating a new demand.
Make what the public ‘wants’ to be a fair and diversified media.
Australian Government 2013, A Multicultural Australia, Accessed 09.05.13, available: http://www.amc.gov.au/multicultural-policy.htm
Dreher, T 2014, ‘White Bread Media’, in The Media and Communications in Australia eds. Cunningham, S and Turnbull, S, Allen and Unwin
Kalina, P 2012, ‘Diversity in the Media’, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 March, accessed 09.05.13, available: http://www.smh.com.au/action/printArticle?id=3081292
Pre-cooked Thinking 