Last weekend six people were murdered in Sydney's bundai Junction Westfield in the hours that followed the attack the media slowly started to piece together what had actually happened at one point the first of the victims became known Dr Ashley good suddenly news Pages across social media across websites were running top stories about Ashley good.
Using photos of her from her social media a day later her family issued this statement when I first saw that statement it made me think about an interview that I had listened to years earlier that had really stuck with me it was terang trer today's guest speaking to Shameless media about the traumatizing role that the media played.
After his sister Nikki was murdered terang thank you so much for joining us on the daily o today thanks Sara I just wanted to talk a bit with you about the way that media deals with tragedies because in the hours after Ashley good was murdered in bond Junction her family asked the media explicitly to remove photos that they had published of her.
And her child without their consent when you first saw this when you saw the way that the media was covering this how did you feel how did you respond what did you think about it I saw it and I thought the same thing I think whenever this happens whenever there's a tragedy of any kind of you know violence perpetrated by man is that the media has.
To jump on it to be first so they will find a photograph without regard for firstly whether it's a photograph that any of the deceased actually wanted out in the public domain and secondly without regard for whether there should be a photograph in the public domain anyway when we saw Dr Ashley Good's family say that they didn't want it it.
Was seemingly like it didn't matter that what their wishes were in that moment and that's really really heartbreaking not only for her family but also for what it says about a media that is so quick to act in a way that goes against the wishes of a murder victim's family you have personal experience with this you are you know one of the people who.
Know what it's like to be on the other side of this to be grieving and then to have the trauma of that grief compounded by the way that the media responds or engages with you tell me a bit about your experience with the media shortly after your sister's death oh it was just horrendous there was immediate victim blaming from the very beginning there.
Was uh so much around what she did that could have contributed to another person's choice to use violence against her right secondly there was information about my sister that she didn't want out in the public domain right there was commentary about her body image her weight other things happened that just shocked me to my core there was a.
Mistake made uh by the court uh which allowed for certain pieces of evidence to then be released into the media and so there were certain mainstream media Outlets that continued to publish it until they were you know explicitly ordered not to and it just it shocks me that we can live in a climate where this kind of uh salacious appetite occurs and.
The media has is able to operate that actually enables misinformation to spread right it enables uh myths around causes of violence to spread it does a disservice to people living with you know for example the way that the media reported in the case of my sister's murder did a disservice not only to my sister or my family or you know Nikki.
And my parents but to all victim survivors living with domestic abuse and violence in the home right it undermined the experiences of so many resilient predominantly women but so many resilient people who are living with constant coer of control and abuse and violence the way that it was reduced to uh my sister's decision to to leave him.
Was just so reductive and unhelpful in terms of understanding what are the causes of violence in those gender based violence situations what do you see as the media's responsibility in a situation like this I think foremost media has a responsibility to act ethically to provide an Avenue for Education awareness truth you know and.
To not have to be first and then we get to the thing that I feel so strongly about which is the way that victims and their families are treated by the media and the fact that Dr Ashley Good's family had to make that request multiple times in order for it to be listened to uh particularly in the context of one of the single most violent.
Situations in recent Australian history you know that that they had to really go out of their way to be listened to that speaks volumes about a media that has such power that they don't have to give regard to victims at all you mentioned there this this race to be first and you know I think it's one thing for listeners to be on I guess the.
Consumption side of that to be reading the stories and to be either accepting or not accepting how those stories came to be but you have an entirely different experience having been the person who journalists were approaching and while your family was gving and dealing with that trauma having to you know answer journalists questions or or not answer.
Their questions what was it like dealing with journalists at that time it was horrible there were a handful of exceptions where it wasn't right and they're the ones that years on I think about because if I actually think about the experiences as a whole they were mostly negative being hounded by.
Sms's and phone calls if you wouldn't pick up once then 5 minutes later they'd ring again and again and then they'd ring from a private number and then they'd ring from another mobile number when they couldn't get information from us quickly enough to publish they'd turn to social media right and they'd go what's publicly accessible through.
Facebook or through Instagram or through past posts and they'd create a narrative around that they literally fabricate stories out of nothing that had no basis in fact you know and it was sort of like it's terrifying when you think about it because it's like no one wishes a tragedy on anyone but let's say something happens something horrible.
Happens to someone and then they have absolutely no control over it the media is meant to you know although they'll say that they're there to tell the stories of you know people who've um who've suffered tragedy but unless they're getting what they need in order to get the Clicks in order to generate headlines then they're not that.
Interested Shang you spoke earlier about the fact that your family and certainly Nikki didn't get any control control over the way that her story was told what would you want to tell listeners who want to learn about her that you wish the media had told back then what a beautiful question Zara it also requires me to um to think and say nice things.
About my sister I think I think there's no shortage of nice things being said about my sister in the public now I would like people to know that she was very annoying I would also like standard brotherly response there yeah I she was she was tremendously annoying uh but cute uh but more annoying no I think I think you know one of the things about.
The way the media reports and and I and we we saw this with the way that so many women who were killed in Bondi how they were spoken about by extension to a man in their life you know whether it was their father their brother or some you know it was just by connection right and one of the things that I want people to know.
About my sister is that she was a person in her own right that Nikki was a human being who uh you know when people say that they know Nikki's story often they know a headline or a few news articles which is the story of her Killer really right it's his choice to take her life she loved art and performance and theater and friendships and community.
And that was who she was right that she was kind of spirit and generous with her time and her energy and that she was a human being who mattered right but those aren't the stories the Australian media tells right we if we were to honor all the victims of male violence in particular even since like 9 years ago when my sister was murdered we would.
Have bratanic lents of just beautiful stories about so many wonderful human beings and yet we have more stories about how men who kill might have been good blokes or might have had promising football careers Etc and it's really worrying that that's the way way that the media in Australia in particular operates that's what's missing in a lot.
Of Australian media is actually caring I do hope that we can be part of the change and you know the advocacy that you do in calling out bad or irresponsible news reporting is going such a long way I think to helping everyone else try and understand these things critically so thank you for your work in that area and terang thank you.
For speaking to us today I so appreciate it and thanks so much Lara
