Debate is raging today about a label that Peter Dutton has applied to the ABC and The Guardian that they are “hate media”.
Regular readers will know MB’s frustration with the bias of these outlets when it comes to subjects such as the impacts on Australia of immigration, energy, and foreign relations.
I would describe these obvious biases more as “cancel media” because they refuse to engage in these subjects at all, or use only sources that agree with a preconceived editorial viewpoint.
This is not hate per se, but it is biased. And it does often spill into hateful name-calling and labelling such as “racist, denialist etc”.
Moreover, the systematic cancellation of well-reasoned opposing views does create anger and, if entrenched, “hate” at being erased from public representation.
Therefore, although jingoistic, describing “cancel media” as “hate media” is neither entirely wrong nor inappropriate.
The words of Dr Martin Luther King come to mind:
“Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
