Sky News has been slammed online as “disgraceful” and “racist” after one of its news anchors used an interview with Northern Territory teen Keegan Payne to interrogate him about an alleged theft.
Keegan Payne, 19, made the catch of a lifetime on the weekend when he was fishing with his siblings on the Katherine river. Reeling in a massive barramundi, his sister noticed it had a red tag — meaning he had just won the Northern Territory‘s annual Million Dollar Fish competition, and was about to be awarded $1 million.
Since then, Keegan has been interviewed by heaps of news publications, and become a bit of an inspirational Aussie hero after it was revealed that the teen works two jobs and lives with his family of eight. When asked about how he’s going to spend the money, he said he was going to help his family, take them on a holiday, and buy a new boat and car.
On Thursday, Sky News was the latest publication to interview Keegan, but the interview took a bizarre (read: wildly offensive) turn when host Peter Stefanovic, after smiling and applauding Keegan, abruptly changed tune and questioned him about his criminal history.
“There is a claim online that you stole a Polaris Ranger and a Polaris quad that you and your friends stole and damaged from a business a few years back – first of all, is that true?” Stefanovic asked just moments after hyping Keegan for his catch.
After a startled and awkward pause, Keegan hesitantly responded: “Yes.”
He then admitted that he and the children he were with “weren’t thinking at the time” and were “still young at that age”.
However, Stefanovic continued to push this line of questioning and asked Keegan if he “regretted” it.
When Keegan said yes, Stefanovic went so far as to push Keegan for an apology and repayment to the business — and then Sky News published an article with *this* cooked headline: “Million dollar prize winner confesses to stealing a car; promises to re-pay the debt on live TV.“
I wish I was surprised, but this is the same news publication that blamed the spread of COVID-19 on the Sudanese community, and has staff who dress up in racist costumes.
Sky News has since been slammed on Instagram for the horrific interview, with many accusing it of being racist because of the stereotyping and racial profiling First Nations people endure.
The social media account for the Racial Justice Centre slammed the interview as harmful to Aboriginal people.
“This interview was clearly racist and hurtful!! If this young man approaches us for legal help, we will take action against you,” the comment said.
“This interview has caused hurt to the First Nations community and we will hold you accountable! We demand you issue an urgent apology and remove the offensive racist part of the interview to mitigate harm, immediately!!”
Aussie netball star Donnell Wallam called Stefanovic a “gronk” and asked him if he would like to “give back the stolen land you live on.” AFL player Daniel Rioli called the interview “embarrassing” and “sad”.
“This is such embarrassing journalism, and so sad to watch,” he wrote.
“His past as a young boy being questioned on live TV, when instead they should be celebrating a massive achievement. What an absolute set up.”
Youtuber and influencer Mitchell Orvall congratulated Keegan and suggested Sky News “bring up everything the media has to apologise for”, but said “we’d need to clear our calendar for the next decade.”
Other commenters were similarly infuriated by Stefanovic’s line of questioning.
“The way that this young man handled this interview is so admirable. The fact that he was put in this position is so disgusting,” one person wrote.
“This is gutter reporting. Shame on you and whoever told you that you should bring it up,” wrote another.
“This interview was disgraceful! How dare you bring up this young man’s past and humiliate him live on air when he’s in the middle of celebrating a wonderful achievement,” said a third.
One person even asked: “Do you run a background check on all your guests, or just the deadly black ones?”
Many have called on Sky News to delete the post, but it still remains live at the time of publishing, as does the article about Keegan.
Neither Sky News or Peter Stefanovic have issued a statement to the backlash.
