Blood on the Tracks: Countering symbolic violence—a case study in reciprocal investigative journalism practice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24135/pmm.v1i1.7Keywords:
Australia, Bourdieu, critical reflexivity, First Nations journalists, injustice, investigative journalism, journalist-source relationships, reciprocal journalismAbstract
For six years, Australian journalist and First Nations man Allan Clarke investigated the suspicious death of First Nations teenager Mark Haines. Police assumed suicide despite evidence to the contrary. On the 25th anniversary of Mark’s death, Clarke covered a public call by his family for information about what might have happened, when he was shown the police and other documents by Mark’s uncle. He saw the injustice and committed to the story. Clarke brought a more relational and personal way of working with his Gomeroi sources than an orthodox, arms-length approach dictates. An analysis of Clarke’s practice, using Bourdieu’s theory of practice (1977), reveals a critically reflexive reciprocal journalism that also protected the symbolic power (Swartz, 1997) of journalism. This article adds a critically reflexive model and case study to existing research over decades on the representation and framing of First Nations people and issues, their silencing and exclusion, and on policy, legal and procedural injustice. An identification of the symbolic violence (1997) in journalism practices, and the promotion of reciprocal journalism for some stories offer new ways of working with some sources, and telling stories that contribute to the reckoning underway in the relationship between First Nations and colonial Australia.
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