Media coverage of Yothu Yindi’s former lead singer offends Yunupingu family

Oh FFS, this is idiotic – we live in a modern world, a multimedia world, and the media are supposed to NOT name or show a photo of the lead singer of this band? IN stories which if anything champion the cause of reconciliation and absolution of Terra Nullis by celebrating his achievements? This is PC gone way too far.

it’s not ‘PC’ it’s their beliefs, which are certainly no sillier than any religious beliefs anywhere in the world.

Completely disagree, Jack B. Nimble. It harms no one to respect the family’s wishes and follow customary law. It’s nothing to do with political correctness, it’s respecting and ancient and living culture.

It’s not PC, jack, it’s cultural RESPECT. They didn’t request he not be named entirely, just not his first name.

Would it be more ideal from a media perspective to show his first name and image? Of course. But doing so against ATSI beliefs and against a request of the family is just another shove in the face for Indigenous Australians.

I’d like to make love to your corpse, Jack. Oh, silly PC me. I meant fuck your dead body.

No Jack, this is honouring the traditions, beliefs & wishes of the family & his wider community. Just because they don’t align with your traditions & beliefs doesn’t make them any less important & relevant.

Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity for the media & wider community to be educated on how to present news of and refer to Indigenous Australians.

From all reports I have seen, Mr Yunupingu’s life & achievements have (quite rightly) been celebrated and this unfortunate occurrence has happened because of ignorance, however well meaning it was.

Not an unreasonable request at all.

It’s sad that we (including myself) are culturally illiterate when it comes to Indigenous culture, and didn’t know to think twice.

What a load of garbage. A celebrity has died, he should be treated the same as all other celebrities. Anyway, Yunupingu wasn’t that much of a talent anyway. His only hit – Treaty – was written by a white man (Paul Kelly) and he rode a wave of left wing ratbaggery in the Aussie music industry at the time started by Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil. Treaty only reached number 11 on the charts, anyway. Rather than being a bold new direction for music and Indigenous rights, it was a flash in the pan which was quickly forgotten.

I’m pretty sure media are also meant to capitalise “Indigenous” in reportage of Indigenous issues.

The last two weeks have totally highlighted how incredibly shitty Australia is at Indigenous issues. We’re culturally illiterate, and completely uninterested in learning.

It is about showing respect for our indigenous people.

What a shame in 2013 so many in media still have no idea what that means.

All class Jack B and Hoin. And you wonder why Indigenous people feel discriminated against? It’s ignorance like this that perfectly illustrate the disconnection.
As a kiwi living in Australia, even I know that it’s culturally insensitive to show images or name deceased Indigenous folk, how mainstream media doesn’t know this is a national disgrace.

@Sam de Brito What the hell?!?! That is offensive and grotesque and completely irrelevant. You are very strange, distrurbed human. I hope that you get the help you need.

Also Mumbrella, when did it become acceptable to promote necrophilia?

I’m not sure offence is ever a reason to stop doing something.

Personally I am offended by lots of things. The church, V8’s and the word “flip flop”. But should the world change because of me?

Its a hard subject though, because it feeds into the feeling of disenfranchisement by the Aboriginal community. Who is right? Does the right of the masses to be informed outweigh the right of one family not to be offended?

Personally I say yes, but then again, he was just in a band so really no biggie if we just shut up about the whole thing.

Since when does causing offence prevent media from publishing names and images? Many people are offended by many different things depending on their beliefs. Do we have to cater to all of them? If so, then nothing would ever be published.

Dear Hoin,

Mr Yunupingu was more than a celebrity or even musician. He was a schoolteacher, cultural leader and former Australian of the Year. Through his music he introduced a lot of white Australians and international people to Indigenous culture.

As for whether he was a successful musician, with a highest charting single placing at ‘only’ #11 consider this:

Jeff Buckley, Australia’s favourite singer/songwriter, based off Hottest 100 votes, could only manage #35 with his biggest ‘hit’ (Everybody Here Wants You).
The Smiths, one of the most influential bands of all time, could only hit #52 (This Charming Man).
Muse, that band that everyone goes on about for combining BritPop so effortlessly with electronica? The best they could do was also #11 (Resistance).
The White Stripes – you know Jack White with his sister/wife Meg? Their biggest hit was only a #17 minor placing (Seven Nation Army).

Those are all Australian chart placings. Over in the UK, Westlife – that Irish band fronted by talent show host Brian McFadden – they have had 14 #1 singles, making them ’empirically’ the second most successful, and by your rationale, best band in British music history (after The Beatles, with 17 – they could overtake them easily).

The point I’m making is that chart success or otherwise is not always a good indicator of musical ability or wider cultural influence.

That, and you are an idiot.

It’s a bloody difficult one. My experience today highlight this.

As things are, the person we are discussing is an old mate from a long time ago.

So, I wanted to post on Facebook and, of course, I did not use his image or full name, in keeping with the customs … like many have said above, its about respect.

But I then listened to some of his music on Spotify and felt compelled to share with my FB friends … and over came an image from Spotify.

So, I was buggered while trying to do the right thing.

This issue was first a big one around Namatjira and was a huge issue around Mabo. In both cases, the family needed to perform some ceremonial stuff to support the spirit of the deceased.

So, strangely, I think that some of the more offensive comments above are possibly not as far off as we would think – there needs to be some work done around this issue in working out a balance between the cultural needs and the plain fact that we live in the social media age.

Anyways, RIP to the man … he was a game changer

It is amazing that we have resorted to pixelation just to keep the peace.
Pity about the passing…he cannot be offended anymore. If others think there is a problem with releasing the details keep the info to yourself.

Ignorance breeds ignorance. Thank you to Jack B. Nimble. Also an honorary mention to Hoin – yes Paul Kelly was one of seven co-writers of Treaty.

Being asked to respect the culture of the grieving family is NOT ABOUT OFFENCE – its ABOUT RESPECT.
You can see the request as a personal affront to your worldview, or perhaps an opportunity to learn, or hell, even a way to examine your own reaction and inner discrimination!
To compare Indigenous cultural practice with your dislike of flipflops and V8 willmrt shows a gross misunderstanding of what constitutes a cultural identity …and the simple fact that there are many ways to live on this planet – and we have more than one cultural identity in this country…..and really mate, how hard is it to RESPECT something you dont quite understand but MEANS THE WORLD TO SOMEBODY ELSE…
Rest in Peace and Strength to your family.

I would have thought at least the ABC would have considered this – it’s pretty common knowledge. But agree with Jimi, it’s a tough one in this day and age whereby you can google the name and images pop up.

And as for the comment by @Sam de Brito; seriously, does anyone moderate this page?? Seems to be a free for all lately. It’s fine to have an opinion, but surely you can communicate in a civil fashion.

Moderation? They’re too busy promoting their conference and sending out LAST CHANCE emails.

He’s so famous I’ve never heard of him, then again I live in England

Once your dead, thats it your dead

Printing or not printing names/pictures isn’t going to bring them back so who gives a s**t ?

I’ll never understand why this request has annoyed so many people? The family had asked for this as its a cultural custom and it’s easy to do so it should just be done, it’s the respectful way to behave.
Media can still report using a surname and an image of the rest of the band or a landscape pic of where he lived, it’s not that hard. No ones asking for the earth, just for a little bit of respect during what is a hard time for them
This is a good lesson to us all in cultural respect, it’s not a big ask, it doesn’t stop the reporting of facts. It shouldn’t be a big deal, should just be done. Why do people get angry about this being requested.

Equally offended by Jack B Nimble & Hoins ignorant comment as I am by Sam De Britos. If in fact it is the Sam De Brito who writes for the Sydney Morning Herald, then I would have hoped for a more intelligent response to the ignorant comments made by Jack B Nimble & Hoin.

Oooh….SNAP!

Odd, that as of this afternoon, yothuyindi.com posted a tribute with his full name and pictures. If his band mates were unaware of the offence I’m not sure we can totally blame the media. Most of them changed their articles as soon as they were informed, didn’t they? Hopefully out of this comes greater awareness of Aboriginal culture.

Imagine if the family of a Bali bombing victim asked for their picture not to be shown. Nobody would refuse.

Simple question for all those thinking news outlets should just publish the full name and photo. If a family of a digger KIA asked for no publication you’d expect the news outlets to respect that request yes? So why not this request from this family? If you see a difference in the validity of the request from either family, why is that?

Nico, as of 10:55pm there is no reference by name or photo on the website, though there is a lovely tribute. I do notice however that the band bio (written in 2004) is still there referencing his name. Maybe in their mourning of the passing of their ‘brother’ it was a priority that was overlooked.

You’ve basically done the same thing but becuase “blurred” it out it’s all of a sudden okay?

You’re all a bunch of hyocrites who are cashing in on this guy’s death.

Hardly Scoby.

Indigenous culture doesn’t prohibit discussion of the person, their life and their achievements and neither should our culture. But as a mark of respect you avoid referring to them directly (i.e. use of the full name). For example, he would commonly be referred to by his initial and surname, or by his people (e.g. or M. Yunupingu or Yolngu Yunupingu).

Of course, this extends to images of the person. A ‘direct’ image includes their visage. Often the image used would have been the land of their people or a representation of it. Pixilation is merely an acceptable modern technique to not show a direct image.

Some extreme nastiness here. Let us all show respect A for the dead and B for others’ opinions. I direct my comments to the very sick Sam.

The point I was trying to make is that to not respect the death rites of another culture is as perverse as me saying I’d like to shag your dead grandma. It is so beyond the pale to tell another culture how they should mourn, I used a graphic example. Our disrespect for Indigenous culture is simply inhumane. We discount the pain of others simply because they don’t follow our rules.

WEll Sam…as a journo…you knew what you were trying to say and instead of offering it as you just did…you posted a vile and oscene reply…poor form

It seems that you had a Steady Eddy moment yourself Sam. Only you had a chance to think about it before you hit send

I’m surprised that mainstream media outlets (especially the ABC!) didn’t realise the respectful way to refer to Mr Yunupingu already.
But Sam De B, really? Was that at all necessary?

Cultural humility and RESPECT for others’ cultures – sorely missing in this land, as evidenced by Hoin and Jack B. Seems Sam was a little too heavy on the irony for most of you.

So if aboriginals want us to respect their culture and beliefs, how about they start respecting ours, like not calling Australia Day by the offensive term Invasion Day?

And John, may I humbly suggest that we start that process by referring to our indigenous population as aborigines (the noun) and not aboriginals (the adjective), or by the seemingly preferred term of ‘indigenous’.

Well the answer is simple. In future if someone indigenous dies – don’t mention their name or show any images. Not too difficult to do.

I understand the request not to show the deceased individual’s image. However, this raises practical issues for visual media, which have to show something. You don’t write a story about the prime minister and not include the prime minister’s image. You can run a story about Nelson Mandela without using his image at some point. I’m not sure how the journalists are meant to navigate this important cultural consideration while still doing their job.

Not including the individual’s full name also raises some questions about how a journalist is meant to identify who has died. Normal convention suggests that by naming the individual it will clarify that another individual with a similar name isn’t the deceased but is in fact still alive. Again, clearly there is a cultural sensitivity issue that must be navigated, however it places the journalist in a difficult position that I’m not sure they can successfully get out of.