“We in the media must ask if we are truly honouring a world worth living in. Too often we are the poison in the bloodstream of our society.”
So said the Indigenous journalist, academic and Q+A host Stan Grant last week, explaining his decision to take a break from the media. “I feel like I’m part of the problem and I need to ask myself how or if we can do it better.”
The urgency of Grant’s question cannot be lost in the storm of recrimination around his treatment. Journalism only exists to serve the public, and every serious journalist feels this in their bones, just as we all know how often we fall short, and the things that trip us up: competition, point-scoring, bias, attention-seeking, clickbait, failure of empathy and, yes, prejudice.
