It appears Channel Seven’s studios are becoming a popular place for a protest, with yet another one being planned for next week by an angry African community in Melbourne.
Titan Debirioun is seeking an apology from Channel 7 over a story on its Sunday Night program last weekend about African gangs in Victoria’s capital, which was labelled by some viewers – including media personality Meshel Laurie – as “racist”.
White men murdering their wives and children are the biggest threat to Australian lives. This is racist bullshit. https://t.co/cH1DZ3d8JD
— Meshel Laurie (@Meshel_Laurie) July 7, 2018
Debirioun has issued a post on Facebook that included an event link for the planned protest, which is scheduled to go down next Friday afternoon at Channel 7’s Melbourne headquarters, and already has a confirmed attendance of 500 people.
“The media continues to vilify and demonise our community year after year. It seems that we’ve been downgraded from people into juicy headlines guaranteed to raise viewership,” he wrote in the post.
“We understand that a minority of our community has been involved in criminal activity. We do not at all condone their actions; however, they are not a representation of our community as a whole.
“Seven has attached themselves to one side of the story and refuse to offer balanced journalism. As a result, our whole community has now been forced to live in a society, where all of us have been declared guilty of the crimes of a minority in the court of public opinion.
“We demand answers, justice, an apology and most of all, for our voices to be heard.”
A Seven spokesperson told B&T that Sunday Night stands by every element of its report.
“It was a fair and factual report that gave context to an ongoing and important issue in Melbourne,” the spokesperson said.
“Sunday Night spent many months talking to and working with both the Victorian Police and members of the South Sudanese community in preparation of the report.”
This won’t be the first time Channel 7 studios have been faced with an angry mob this year, with a large group gathering outside its Sydney HQ in March to protest a segment aired on the brekkie show about Aboriginal adoption.
