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I have been experiencing some media attention over the last few weeks, which at times can be quite fun depending on who you talk to. QUT decided to release another piece about the Seachange work I have done and despite my questioning on its newsworthiness, it has garnered interest from mainly ABC radio and some pockets of regional press. I won't bore you with the details of the release. I should point out though that the original press release given by QUT is only a smidgeon (about half of a chapter) of my thesis. But publicity can sometimes be a good thing.
Unless of course if the journalist or press you are communicating with has some type of political agenda. Fortunately, this is not a problem I have had to face in the three years or so since my research become a media item. Until this week...
Meet the Cairns Post....
I received a call sometime this week asking if I wanted to talk to them. I reluctantly said yes. Often it is the case that newspapers will simply take the QUT release and plonk it into the paper itself, but sometimes they want to talk directly to you, in order to get some sort of unique take in relation to their community. I don't mind this too much, but there is a tendency at times for them to think you know everything about their own 'neck of the woods'. Which I clearly do not.
The Cairns Post journalist seemed nice enough, but it was clear throughout the interview that he had an agenda. He continually asked me about Kuranda, a small pocket community near Cairns which has in recent times attracted a number of urban escapees and dare I say 'Greenies'. He led me on a question journey which led to one query that stood out above the others 'what would happen if a community protested development?'
I answered frankly and honestly, but it was merely a throw away statement in relation to what happens for local councils when development is stopped.
"If a group protests to a point where they are stopping a development from coming, that's going to be a problem for the development of a local economy."
From here the journalist then decided to base an entire story about this idea that 'Greenies should go home'. His angle was that my research had somehow suggested or confirmed that Seachangers were ruining the future of Kuranda by stepping up and stopping development. This is not what my research suggests. In fact, in a conference paper I presented at Manchester last year, I used the people of Kuranda as a case study reference point to show how social movements can be maintained in the wake of capitalist development and commercialisation. Luckily for me, one of the concerned members of Cairns emailed asking for confirmation that I had been misread. From here I decided to draft the following letter to the editor;
Dear Sir\Madam,
I would like to respond to the story that was circulated after being interviewed about my research by Mr. ***** of the Cairns Post and published on the 26th of January, 2010. The title of the article "Greenies Go Home" was never a suggestion made by my research, any presentation I have given or by any comments I have made in the previous two weeks since a release was made by QUT. Mr ****** has clearly identified a political angle which he wishes to highlight in his story and has twisted comments I have made to suit.
My research into Seachange has never suggested that 'blocking future progress on green grounds' is loving their community to death. In fact, my comments made through the QUT release suggest only that development causes some Seachangers to reconsider their location and find other more 'authentic' communities. The comment I made in the article stating that if communities protest and halt development, then that poses a problem for the future of local economies, was made in response to the question, what impact does protest have on areas. My response was geared towards the delicate balancing act that local councils need to address as is highlighted by the next comment that councils need to be wary of culturally and aesthetically destroying an area.
My research has never made comments to suggest that Treechangers/Seachangers should neither leave nor allow development to flourish if they desire to keep their authentic setting. In fact in a conference presentation I gave at Manchester University in 2009, I used the Kuranda community (as well as the Maleny) to show how social movements can be saved from commercialisation.
After reading your article however, it would almost appear that I am arguing against Treechangers when in actuality, my research argues on similar grounds to the National Seachange Taskforce's findings (as well as international scholars on the subject), that councils have responsibility to ensure natural aesthetics are not sacrificed for the lure of significant development. Local economies can be hindered by this, but other measures can also be employed to obtain economic growth.
For the moment, I don't believe that the editor of the post has published my letter, but this example should be enough to show us readers of papers that we cannot always trust that which we read. It also shows, at the extreme end, that at times, media expresses a particular angle which they want people to consume and internalise. There is much more to this idea/theory, but in this small case study, we can see it in effect.....
