Earlier today we joined those calling out eternally-garbage newspaper The Daily Telegraph for the poorly thought out at best and inflammatorily damaging at worst, inclusion of this infographic in today’s issue, which appeared to include same-sex attraction as a damaging “health concern” being faced by Australian youth.
After a day of rightful indignation from other media, queer representatives and the likes of the Australian LGBTI Media Centre voicing concerns, The Tele has this afternoon released it’s official response to the outrage, and as to be expected, it’s not great.
In the age-old manner of 21st century media “apologies”, editor Christopher Dore has mostly put the blame on us, the news-reading public, for our poor interpretation skills, noting how the graphic “has been misinterpreted”.
Ahhhh of course, it’s all our fault you see! How very, very silly of us to assume that the Tele’s inclusion of same-sex attraction LITERALLY SMACK BACK IN THE MIDDLE of several negatively-connotated and legitimate health concerns, was in no way meant to imply that they were at all related.
Also a huge fucking LOL at the line “there is no judgement expressed at all in the story, other than about diet” coming from the rag whose staple is literally judging, humiliating and otherwise tearing down
anyone or
anything that doesn’t benefit cashed-up old white conservative cis men and their supporters.
Using the excuse of “we simply published official statistics” without owning up to how depicting them in the way that they have unavoidably alters the intention towards this being construed as “being same-sex attracted is bad”, is irresponsible, childish and quite frankly, a huge crock of shit.
Young people, and especially young queer people, have enough to deal with growing up in an increasingly expensive, carbon-polluted, maniac-led world. They don’t need research, ostensibly provided to help young people and their health, twisted into this kind of hate and thrown at them in a highly-circulated newspaper.
Not for the first time: For shame Daily Tele. For fucking shame.
Picture: Twitter / Patricia Karvelas.
