On the confected outrage over THAT t-shirt

 

Grace Tame knows the value of publicity. It's what makes her such a damn good activist and advocate. She was awarded the 2021 Australian of the Year for her work campaigning for survivors of child sex abuse and removing the Tasmanian 'gag' laws that enabled her abuser to get away with child sex abuse for years. She concluded her 2021 acceptance speech with the words:

"Hear me now. Using my voice, amongst a growing chorus of voices that will not be silenced. Let's make some noise, Australia."

Ms Tame is still making noise and more power to her for doing so.

Her appearance at the Australia Day morning tea with the Prime Minister, his fiancée and various other invited dignitaries, wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words Fuck Murdoch caused a sensation. Good. That's precisely what she intended. Predictably, reactions to her appearance have been somewhat over the top, with words like "controversial" and "sensational" being thrown around like confetti.

The ABC news website published the photo of her being greeted by the PM and Ms Haydon but later smudged out the word Fuck, presumably to save the delicate sensitivities of ABC readers and viewers. 

The pearl-clutchers in the conservative media gathered all the outrage they could muster and poured it into condemnation of her statement.

The Daily Mail Australia accused Ms Tame of hypocrisy, and splashed their report with a 2019 photo of her speaking at a News Corp awards night. The Daily Mail UK criticised the PM for even allowing the t-shirt through the door of The Lodge, with conservative education pundit Kevin Donnelly writing: "It is a staggering misjudgement of decency and respect for Prime Minister Albanese to greet and smile at Grace Tame wearing this offensive T-shirt."

Nine News pursed its lips and merely reported that Ms Tame "used a morning tea with the Prime Minister to criticise billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch."

They all, either deliberately or accidentally, missed the point.

The word Fuck is not nearly as offensive as Murdoch's greed and manipulation. His political influence in Australia, the US and the UK is based on a culture of bullying and threats. Murdoch is known to be a climate-denier, as well as an entrenched misogynist. Many years ago, when asked whether his daughter, Elisabeth, was in line to inherit the media empire, Murdoch replied that she had better things to think about ... like deciding who to marry. 

In an attempt to maintain control of his media empire from beyond the grave, the 93-year old Murdoch and his eldest son and heir apparent, Lachlan, took Lachlan's siblings to court last December in a bid to prevent them from having any part of the media company after Murdoch's (eventual) death. The court ruled against Rupert and Lachlan, saying that they had acted in "bad faith" and that the media empire will be divided equally among his four eldest children after his death. Father and son will no doubt appeal the ruling, but I'd have paid money to be a fly on the wall at the Murdoch family Christmas dinner last year.

You can judge a man by the company he keeps

Yes, Rupert Murdoch is a scourge on media integrity. He is a threat to democracy.

So is the word Fuck more offensive than the hold that this greedy, immoral, manipulative person has over an independent media and free democracy? No. 

In a wonderful twist, the t-shirt design has gone viral. It can be ordered from a range of websites and on pretty much any item of clothing one prefers. The confected outrage over the word and/or the sentiment has resulted in the opposite effect, known generally as the Streisand Effect. 

The last word, however, goes to Grace Tame, who told the Guardian Australia:

“[The T-shirt is] clearly not just about Murdoch, it’s the obscene greed, inhumanity and disconnection that he symbolises, which are destroying our planet. For far too long this world and its resources have been undemocratically controlled by a small number of morbidly wealthy oligarchs.

“If we want to dismantle this corrupt system, if we want legitimate climate action, equity, truth, justice, democracy, peace, land back, etc, then resisting forces like Murdoch is a good starting point.”

She said she “never” had reservations about wearing the shirt to the event. "It’s one of my favourite shirts.”

“Speaking truth to power starts at the grassroots level with simple, effective messages."

 



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