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Ryan Bridge: The problem of labelling in the media · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Outrage at the weekend over the Human Rights Commission. This
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: is from some corners, at least. The chief Human Rights
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Commissioner has been announced as doctor Stephen Rainbow, and he
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: was once accused accused of being transphobic or anti trans.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And it's one of those terms that can quickly change
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the tone or the perception of an article that you're reading.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: And I remember this from the University college campus protests
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: over in the States. You would read the CNN copy
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: on the story and it would say they were pro
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Palestinian protesters. You would read the Fox News version and
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: it would say that anti Israel. Who decides what you are?
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: If you're pro one thing, does it automatically make you
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: anti the other? Women's rights campaigners? And this was the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: point that I think was being made about doctor Stephen Rainbow,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: the women's rights campaigners. Do they hate or are they
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: anti trans people? Or are they just pro women's rights
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: as they would claim that they are. And equally, just
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: because you want to cease fire and Gaza, it doesn't
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: mean you're antisemitic, does it. There seems to be a
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: polarization happening here. This or you're that, or you're all
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: your or you're nothing or it's black and white, and
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: we do it in the media all the time. We're
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: probably the most guilty of it, I have to say,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: and whoever is shouting the loudest I think tends to
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: get dominate the news cycle. But then again, what's that
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: based on? Like tweets? Is that really how you decide
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: or define what someone feels about an issue. I always
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: found it odd when it came to abortion, which is
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: a very divisive issue. Obviously, people feel very personally about
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: this issue. Are you pro life or anti abortion? Are
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: you women's choice or pro abortion? Is anybody really pro abortion?
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean. You might want women to choose,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: but surely nobody's actually pro abortion. I've really got no
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: idea how to resolve this problem of labeling in the
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: media other than when somebody's labeled anti something. Nowadays, I'm
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: inclined to find out why, how and if, to my mind,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: at least their motivations aren't just pro something else. For
• 2:13
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