Running head: ASSESSMENT ITEM 2 - MEDIA CRITIQUE

Assessment item 2 - Media Critique

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ASSESSMENT ITEM 2 - MEDIA CRITIQUE 2

Assessment item 2 - Media Critique

Article 1: 'Justice system isn't just': Campaigners not surprised by new youth justice report

Commencing with the article's title, it is not correct enough to accuse the justice system

of injustice due to a high number of aboriginals facing the criminal justice system. As we know,

the justice system has been set up with law enforcement's objectives, protection of the public,

arresting the law violators, and crime prevention. Tragically, most aboriginal people in Australia

face social and economic disadvantages that can be attributed to the high number of youths

facing the criminal justice system. For example, the Aboriginals people of Australia encounter

intergenerational family dysfunction issues characterized by domestic violence, alcohol and drug

abuse, unemployment, poor school attendance, and poor health. Some of these elements impact

the aboriginal communities, which youths form part of. The engagement of aboriginal youths in

such activities as alcohol and drug use implies that they are more likely to engage in illegal

activities due to inviting the criminal justice system into action. For example, witnessing family

violence in the early stages of life increases an individual's chance of being involved in the

justice system as an offender. Thus, Aboriginal youths become vulnerable to facing the criminal

justice system as most have been victims of family violence or have witnessed one as opposed to

non-indigenous people.

According to Ms. Kearney, indeed, the high rates of aboriginal's overrepresentation

should be addressed. Contrary to Ms. Kearney's tactic of addressing the issue, i.e., via a

systematic change, the best technique would find the issue's sources rather than address it. Ms.

Kearney attempts to attack the problem instead of querying the source of the problem than

handling it. The source of the problem is the impacts of colonization by the Europeans, i.e.,

racism, entrenchment to poverty, disruption of culture, among others, are the ones that ought to
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be addressed instead of pointing fingers at the criminal justice system. Therefore, it depicts that

the social-economic disadvantages experienced by the Aboriginal youths are attributed to the

increased number of Aboriginal youths under justice supervision. The author's viewpoint is that

the federal government is the greatest contributor to youth detection of the Aboriginal.

According to the author, the federal government spends a substantial amount of money in the

youth sector meant for detection-based supervision costs, which the author feels should be

allocated to the grassroots organizations to serve the youths. The author is right to some extent.

The government ought to re-visit those legislations and policies that cultivate the rising numbers

of Aboriginal youths being remanded. To back up this point, between 2017 and 2018, two-thirds

of 442 children on remand in Victoria remand were denied a custodial sentence. As a result,

aboriginal youths are remanded eight times more than non-indigenous children. Instead, the

government should devise means for urgent alternatives and a blanket ban on bail being denied

to those youths, especially younger than fourteen.

Article 3: Why I'm looking forward to celebrating Australia Day

As evidenced by the author's tone and ideologies, Celebrating Australia Day should be

treated as a day meant to unite the Australians regardless of their history or origin. The author

greatly condemns that portion of the Australian community that terms the day as the "invasion

day," "survival day," or the "day of paying rent" for the stolen land. Instead, all Australian

community members ought to welcome it with pride, joy, and celebrations. The author

comments that Australia was not invaded; rather, it was settled. Via this statement, the author

discounts the fact that inhabitation and settlement of Europeans in Australia is characterized by

massacre, theft of land, stealing of children, erosion of culture, and the Aboriginal people of

Australia witnessed all these. Furthermore, the author provides false information that there was
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no military resistance or conflict involved during the Europeans' settlement in Australia. This

statement obscures that from the beginning of the settlement and inhabitation of Europeans in

Australia, heavy resistance was exerted to the Europeans, which resulted in brutal massacres to

break the Aboriginal's resistance.

Aboriginals have substantial reasons for objecting to Australia Day as it reminds them of

a dark past. The impacts of colonization, including inequity, racism, and disruption of Aboriginal

culture, are absolutely nothing to celebrate. For example, inequality was vivid when the

Aboriginal and non-indigenous had different rights; Aboriginals were denied access to certain

areas, Aboriginals were barred from attending schools or visiting a hospital, etc. After the first

European settler settled on Australian soil, the author assumes that nothing else followed apart

from settling. To date, the impacts of European settlement in Australia is being felt, and

Australia Day, to the Aboriginal, is a reminder of a painful past. This day cements practices of

inequality and discounts the fact that the Aboriginals are the original occupants and custodians of

Australia.

According to the article, it's evident that a poor relationship exists between indigenous

and non-indigenous people of Australia. On the one hand, the Indigenous people strongly reject

the day with reasons related to the invasion of Aboriginal lands and colonization. On the other

hand, the non-indigenous people regard it as a day of celebration of allowing anybody to live

anywhere. To the Aboriginals, this is a race-based day and the day conceals massacres among

other wrongs that Aboriginals faced and which impacts them up-to-date. To the Aboriginals

readers, the ideas expressed herein triggers a feeling of lack of recognition and negligence of

non-indigenous Australia people discounting their history and torment they underwent in the
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past. On the other hand, to the non-indigenous people, it depicts Aboriginals' resistance to

embracing the Australia day who lacks a reason for doing so.