“The problem is not autism itself or autistic people. The problem is a society-wide, albeit mostly unintentional, failure to accommodate needs of autistic people, embrace our way of thinking & treat us equitably.” Excellent piece @SatPaper by Grace Tame. https://t.co/2UwKUJ5taL
The indomitable Miriam Margolyes OBE has a message in support of the Jewish Council! She calls for all of us Jews to “shout, beg, scream for a ceasefire”
@Craig_Foster is an absolute legend. What a perfect example of accountability. Make an error, own it, apologise for it, repair it, and move on. You, sir, are the kind of role model this country needs.
Sam Kerr’s case has created immensely important conversations and exposed gaps in Australia’s knowledge, including mine.
I am not at all surprised to have got this wrong, apologise to Sam for reaching the wrong conclusion and am very pleased to be able to improve my advocacy.
How in the ever-shitting fuck do we live in a world where the male lead was just nominated for an #Oscars2024 but not the female lead OR the female director in a film specifically about women being ignored and harmed by misogyny, systemic oppression and patriarchy?
#NewsCorpse
@TheGoodGuysAU These guys do not care about Aus Consumer Law re reasonable durability. They won't replace a 2.5 year old fridge that died. In Darwin. During a heat wave and wet season humidity. Is 6 months out of warranty reasonable for fridge that cost over $1k?
As many of you will already know, every year, all proceeds from the sale of (either version of) Tim’s sentimental Christmas song ‘White Wine In The Sun’ over the Christmas period (Nov-Jan) go to an organisation which supports children and adults on the autism spectrum: @AutismSpectAust.
This video, uploaded last year, is the latest version of the song, from Tim’s special, BACK, which was filmed at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2021. More details on https://t.co/yxvGlWJDGP including a link to the YouTube playlist with two other versions.
The abuse and rhetoric on this site is really ramping up. I am now being called ‘pure evil’. Wonder why? Because I fight for equity, fairness and action on climate change? For women’s rights, including reproductive rights, for compassion towards everyone & for freedom of belief?
As many witches now know, Australia’s media don’t always lie outright.
Sometimes they lie by omission; sometimes by the usage of passive words and sentences to minimise or soften the intent or implication of their reporting; and/or sometimes by commenting on both sides of an issue which doesn’t have equal sides.
The latter strategy is what they’re all using today, and with such synchronicity it’s impossible for their extraordinarily similar stories to occur by accident.
That is, they’re all, in unison, claiming that one or two letters sent to Penny Wong by one or two small groups which identify as Zionist are equal to the huge and very public protest marches plus all kinds of written complaints sent by thousands of both prominent and less-well-known Australians to the federal government in recent days.
The @australian is (as usual) particularly bad on this subterfuge today (see below) as they’re not even attempting even-handedness. And they’re also attempting to indicate that a single violent note apparently sent by a member of the public to a Jewish group yesterday carries weight in condemning all Palestinians while the enormous numbers taking to the streets yesterday in protest at the conflict in Gaza somehow … don’t.
But even @ABCaustralia on @BreakfastNews have spent the entire morning repeating two stories (one about the single Zionist letter to Penny Wong, followed by the other about the protest marches) as if those stories are equal in importance when such a claim is so spurious it’s laughable.
In addition, they still make no mention at all that vast numbers of Jews (perhaps a majority) also deplore the Israeli violence and do not agree with Netanyahu’s current butchery of civilians.
This is how the media works.
They’ll kind-of report the truth, sure, so they have plausible deniability when accused of not doing so. But they’ll also juxtapose issues as if they’re similar in importance when they’re not; minimise what they say on some issues but not others; and add their own opinions into every story as if they are, in fact, truth.
This is one reason why it’s so important for MFW to report on Palestine as well as on more local issues (the hissy-fits on this in our DMs notwithstanding).
Leaving aside the moral issues involved in being public witnesses to the current mass-murder in Palestine, our descriptions of how the media lie shine a light on everything that’s wrong with our media system in Australia (and so many other places) and thus helps highlight everything we have to get angry about, and fix.
They’re lying, nasty, non-credible fuckbaboons. They shame themselves as well as hurt all of us. Everyone who plans these stories so as to confuse and deceive the people they claim to serve are scum, as is everyone who works for them knowing that this is their increasingly-normal modus operandi.
What’s more, they hate with a passion anyone who calls them out on their bullshit, which is why they regularly state how much they detest Twitter and why they do everything in their power to discredit and shut down individuals and groups like us who see straight through them.
Don’t fucking fall for it.
Fight back.
Now, more than ever, it really fucking matters.
#ToYourBrooms
Bought a new sports @Apple watchband for my Apple watch so I could wear it to my SUP fitness class. The band failed and the watch fell into the lake in which I was paddleboarding – witnessed by all. @Apple says they need the watchband to prove that it failed. Guess where it is?
There’s been confusion among witches about exactly what we want from @BenFordhamLive and @2GB873 after their disgraceful outing of a survivor of sexual misconduct earlier this week without her consent.
This tweet seeks to clear up the issue.
It surprises some witches to learn that although we do sometimes say we wish a particular identity were sacked (and our #BinBen hashtag implies this) we don’t, in fact, want anyone summarily dismissed from their job. At least, not until they’ve been given a decent chance to make amends.
Because our aim isn’t vindictiveness or punishment: it’s media reform. It’s having people like Ben Fordham and Alan Jones understand the harm they do and commit to not doing it again. And it’s having media bosses implement truth as an objective and the abolition of #PunchDownProfit tactics, so as to make media fair and fit for purpose for all, not just the rich and powerful.
So when Jones made his disgusting comments about Jacinda Ardern, we conveyed 3 clear requirements to him and his employers. He’d issued an apology (of sorts) because of the outrage caused, but it wasn’t sufficient for MFW because Alan was a serial offender who’d attacked women many times then merely apologised and done it again … and over and over again.
He actively refused to accept our terms to call off the campaign, and paid the price for that.
At the time he didn’t deserve our trust or acceptance of his words without those parameters, and neither does Ben Fordham.
So just like back in 2019 (and with other media offenders since), MFW have 3 crucial actions we need to see to make proper amends for misogynist and other oppressive hate, and to allow us to discontinue that particular campaign. These are:
1. For the individual and/or their employer to make a significant donation to a women’s charity as nominated by the woman named by Fordham, or by our MFW witches if she declines to nominate;
2. For the individual and/or their employer to change their editorial and management processes significantly so this misogynist hate can’t occur again, and to make those new processes public for all of us to see; and
3. For the employer to implement comprehensive in-house staff training by approved providers in intersectionality and women’s issues (among other topics as nominated by MFW and other experts) so all their staff (both on- and off-air) are thoroughly up to date with best practice in these areas.
We’re making these requirements known now for 2 reasons.
First, because we don’t want to be known as an organisation which seeks to harm people’s lives without giving them a chance to redeem themselves and reverse the harm. That would make us little or no better than those we deplore.
And second, because if this campaign continues to go well, Fordham or 2GB may attempt an apology for what they’ve done this week. Yet such an apology won’t be accepted by MFW unless it covers the points set out above. Because nobody gets off the hook unless attempts to redress their harm are - as far as we can tell - both sincere and effective in compensating for that harm.
As we said yesterday, witches, this campaign still has a long way to go. It took 9 months for Alan Jones to depart, so we don’t expect any fast action or result on 2GB’s part this time.
But if all witches stay the course and commit to:
- contacting advertisers regularly via lists at https://t.co/igA7ByRwpQ;
- highlighting #BinBen by using the hashtag and boosting campaign content; and
- if at all possible, donating to MFW to help fund our hard workers and tech needs;
we know we can collectively do this.
But it will take a shitload of us working together to achieve media reform in this space.
Finally, be aware that success in this campaign will also help achieve ongoing media reforms for all media operators including Murdoch, Costello and even the ABC, since they’re all watching MFW with interest ATM, lest they be next.
Over to you.
#ToYourBrooms
Just finished watching Deadloch. Best series ever! I really hope Season 2 of #deadloch is shot here in Darwin. Waddayareckon? @katemclennan1@katemccccartney
I’m appalled and saddened that Stan Grant, a brilliant broadcaster and thinker, has been forced from the ever-crucial contest of ideas. If this country can’t have a civil debate about recognition, racism and the legacy of colonialism then we are lost. I hope he returns soon.