Melbourne lock downs9/27/2023 ![]() ![]() In her view, the coverage of the protests and the subsequent condemnation from many in the community were just more failings of mainstream journalism. I met a young woman who called herself Estelle at the Shrine of Remembrance on Wednesday. " are about democracy versus medical tyranny," says a protest supporter who runs a website accused of promoting numerous conspiracies. Some say the ongoing public health orders are part of an international plot. ![]() Others do not believe COVID-19 is really a major public health emergency. Some of those on the streets of Melbourne were openly hostile to journalists. Nonetheless, it's clear Mr Fernando's livestreams have provided a platform for several groups that have coalesced around these protests. Many joining protests have switched off mainstream news "He's doing a very uncritical kind of feed of one side of the story," she said. She said it was also important to note that, despite the impression of a "journalistic cape", Mr Fernando was not performing the journalistic duty of applying critical thinking to the evidence and weighing it up. "So there's a selectivity in what he chooses to convey to people." "So, for example, in the recent riots he was quite big on filming police ostensibly being aggressive but didn't seem to want to film the protesters being aggressive back. "It is accompanied by a narration, so he's kind of narrating the events, and he's also choosing what to film and what not to film," Dr Barnet said. "When you see it in this manner you can make up your mind."īelinda Barnet, a senior lecturer in media and communication at Swinburne University, said Mr Fernando's livestreams were not purely "raw and unfiltered, on-the-ground information". "I think it's really important that people see unedited continuous video," he said. He sees himself as a chronicler, but he does broadcast far-right posts and tweets and has a large, far-right following. Rukshan Fernando broadcasts a stream that typically attracts tens of thousands of viewers. So they avoid mainstream media and turn to livestreams when protests are taking place. However, these views are represented in the so-called mainstream media, but carefully and with context. Protesters say their views are being silenced. ![]() The legitimate right of protest has been squelched, they say, and people are being forced to live in a society divided between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. In that world, they saw police actions this week as close to outright tyranny. Through social media, app messaging groups and online livestreams, they have had a very different experience of this week's protests. That is because they are in their own information universe. However, many protesters and their supporters do not see it that way. The decision to use the shrine to protest against mandatory vaccinations and COVID-19 lockdowns outraged veterans and many in the community. What started with large numbers of angry construction workers has been largely subsumed by anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown activists.Īnd online groups are filled with messages espousing right-wing, extremist rhetoric. And, on Wednesday, protesters made their stand against police at the Shrine of Remembrance. ![]()
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