Bogan Heroics

After a shooting last week in King's Cross (details here) one of the witnesses chosen by channel 9 to air on their news has become a web sensation.

Clare Werbeloff made a statement to reporters while the incident was unfolding - her words were:

"There were these two wogs fighting. The fatter wog said to the skinnier wog: `Oi bro, you slept with my cousin'. And the other one said: 'Nah man, I didn't for shit, eh' and the other one goes: 'I will call on my fully sick boys, eh'. And then pulled out a gun and went chk-chk boom!"

I'm not going to embed the video or give her any more attention than she deserves.

First of all - the fact that everyone is making fun of a shooting where a man was injured and in a critical condition is abhorrent. She, and ignoramus half-wits like her, are already too well represented in mainstream media.

Secondly, using the term 'wog' is extremely offensive - would that eyewitness account have been used if the men were 'niggers' or 'abbos'?? Who at channel 9 decides what is an acceptable term for a nationality?

The ABC style guide states (regarding ethnicity):

"Refer to ethnic origins only when you’re certain they’re relevant. It’s not appropriate to “tag” whole ethnic groups in reporting crime or other anti-social behaviour."

and on discrimination:

"We need to be careful in our choice of language not to contribute to discrimination."

- Of course anyone expecting good taste or accurate reporting should not be watching channels 9, 7 or 10, but surely some basics on reporting ethnicity is obvious, no?

Yesterday the Herald Sun website reported on the popularity of the video on YouTube - in particular a dance remix of the grabs from Clare and other witnesses.

Unfortunately with the rise in citizen media, 15-minutes-of-fame can become a few weeks, a tell-all book and a t-shirt. We all remember 'naughty Corey' - the boy who had a party and ended up in the Big Brother house.

Basically, by choosing that piece of video for the story channel 9 chose to (a) focus on the ethnicity of the perpetrators, (b) bring a colloquial term that is rude and derogatory back into the mainstream and (c) highlight all that is wrong with Australian culture.

Well done.

Edit 24th May:
Shock! Horror! Gasp! Ms Werbeloff has come out as a phony - unfortunately her time in the sun is being extended with a supposed interview with A Current Affair tomorrow night.
Unfortunately all of the above is still relevant and is only exacerbated by the insistence of the major stations hanging on her every move.