On journalism ethics

I decided I'd study journalism and law when I was part of the blockade of an immigration detention facility at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane in 2020. I have been participating in community volunteering and activism since then and I will continue to do so.

It was back in 2020, before I started studying, that I committed to certain values that would embody the work I do – those of transparency, honesty, independence, and accountability.

I did not commit to 'objectivity' and 'balance'. I won't pursue neutrality or try to balance two sides where one side is the oppressed and the other is the oppressor.

I live and work on the occupied lands of the Jagera and Turrbal people, whose lands were destroyed and people brutalised to create part of what is now known as Australia. That cannot be forgotten or ignored.

I was privileged to be taught in journalism ethics by Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist Dr Amy McQuire. She writes 'On Objectivity' in her book Black Witness:

Let me make it clear: 'objectivity' is a colonial notion that bypasses the voices of Black Witnesses by making their legitimacy conditional on the backing of White Witnesses and authoritative accounts of those who are perpetrating violence.

'Objectivity' is a rope handed to the colonisers to continue strangling the oppressed, to restrict them of air with which to speak.

‘Objectivity’ means lying about your own positionings because every single article we see today is biased. Bias affects the way a story is framed, and the way a population is represented.

By abiding by or striving for false notions of 'objectivity', which deny the reality that everyone is biased, you obscure another journalistic cornerstone: that of transparency.

I'm a journalist because I'm an activist, and I'm an activist because of access to free and truthful information. I intend to share that information, honestly and with conviction.

The people who read my work are mostly those in my community. The people who guide and support me, push me out of my comfort zone, and cry with me when the world seems so bleak. The people who give me hope.

I love my community and they are the reason I committed to this work. I will not turn my back on them by equating them to those occupying their lands, bombing their kids in tents, burning our planet, exploiting us, and chipping away at our humanity.