The reverent treatment Stan Grant’s Q+A sign-off received from News Corp will surprise anyone who’s read anything else it’s produced on the veteran journo in the past fortnight.
The wonderful thing about a good media campaign is that soon enough it becomes self-sustaining. Take a look at the most recent content merry-go-round at News Corp, which has has reached it’s logical conclusion: its target, Wiradjuri, Gurrawin and Dharawal man Stan Grant, has stood down, allowing some chin-stroking and reflection in the papers about how this happened, and what it all means.
With grace and remarkably little rancour, the veteran journalist signed off from his final show for ABC flagship Q+A last night. He spoke of love and hope, invoked the Wiradjuri concept of Yindyamarra — “It means that I am not just responsible for what I do, but for what you do” — to express sorrow at whatever he must have done to inspire the level of hatred he’s recently received, and said the mainstream media “must ask if we are truly honouring a world worth living in”.
The News Corp tabloids have given the speech appropriately reverent coverage. A “powerful statement”, said the Herald Sun, while The Daily Telegraph reflected on what it saw as an “impassioned, sincere message to both his supporters and critics, reflecting on his Indigenous culture and the racist abuse that drove him off the air”. The primary framing from this section of the media has emphasised the role of “online racist abuse” in Grant’s decision to step away from the media. And well it might.
Read more about News Corp’s reaction to Stan Grant stepping down.
Become a subscriber to get full access to the website, as well as our premium newsletters.
Already a subscriber? Log in to keep reading.
