Women Speak Tasmania

Category: Media Bias

  • The Mercury corrected the photograph. What about the story?

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    Women Speak Tasmania initiated the petition at the centre of the controversy. Yet the Mercury reported on the campaign without contacting the organisation — a recurring omission that raises questions about how women’s rights advocacy is represented. On 13 October 2026, the Hobart Mercury published a story by Sue Bailey headlined “Therapy ban bill fight:…

  • What the ABC Left Out of Its Binder Story

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    The ABC has reported on new Australian research examining whether wearing a breast binder affects exercise performance. The subject is important. So is the physical safety of a practice involving prolonged compression of the chest. But the way the ABC frames the story deserves scrutiny. The article begins with “trans joy”, describes binding as “life-changing”,…

  • ABC Reporting on ‘Anti-Trans’ Content: When Framing Goes Beyond the Evidence

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    The ABC has reported on a University of Melbourne study claiming a link between exposure to “anti-trans” content and mental health harms among transgender people. The subject is important. But so is the standard of evidence, particularly when a national broadcaster is reporting claims involving self-harm, suicidality and young people. The problem with the ABC…

  • How Tasmania’s Major Newspaper Frames Women’s Rights

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    On 20 May 2026, Tasmania’s major newspaper published an article that raises serious concerns about fair and accurate reporting on one of the most contested public issues in the state. Journalist David Killick opened his article in The Mercury with the following sentence: “Tasmania will not be changing its discrimination laws despite lobbying from anti-transgender…

  • ABC Hobart Breakfast: One-Sided Interview on Anti-Discrimination Law Reform

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    Recently, the important public debate about reforming Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 to add biological sex as a protected attribute reached Tasmania Parliament and then mainstream media. Women Speak Tasmania has been campaigning for this change to better protect single-sex spaces, services, and fair sport for women and girls. However, when ABC Hobart Breakfast covered the…

  • ABC Northern Tasmania’s Rec Hub Interview: Was the Debate Really Explored?

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    On 28 April, ABC Northern Tasmania Breakfast aired a segment on the new all-gender toilets and change facilities at Launceston’s Northern Recreation Hub in Mowbray. The issue was introduced as controversial, with listeners’ concerns about privacy, safety, hygiene, and female-only facilities briefly acknowledged before Mayor Matthew Garwood was interviewed onsite. However, while the segment gave…

  • Editorial Activism and the Loss of Public Trust

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    Local newspapers once played a vital role in Tasmanian communities. They were not simply businesses or platforms for headlines — they were forums where ordinary people could debate local issues, raise concerns, respond to public decisions, and feel connected to civic life. Increasingly, many Tasmanians feel that role is disappearing. As a women’s rights organisation…

  • Women Speak Tasmania’s Experience with Media Framing in Our Discrimination Case

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    At Women Speak Tasmania, we are committed to advocating for the sex-based rights, safety, and dignity of women and girls, while also emphasizing the importance of child safeguarding and parental involvement in critical matters affecting young people. Our work often intersects with complex and sensitive debates on sex and gender, and we believe these discussions…

  • Another Case of Bias? Ryk Goddard, Rodney Croome, and the Silencing of Medical Voices

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    On 20 June 2025, ABC Radio Hobart’s Breakfast host Ryk Goddard once again left listeners questioning the impartiality of our national broadcaster. The issue at hand was the Australian Doctors Federation’s Open Letter, co-signed by more than 100 health professionals, including Tasmanian State Liberal Party candidate Dr Julie Sladden. The letter called for an urgent…

  • The Advocate Again Misrepresents Women Speak Tasmania

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    Women Speak Tasmania (WST) is once again the target of biased coverage in The Advocate, this time in relation to our rescheduled forum at the Devonport RSL. The April 11 article, titled “Controversial group sets sight on another venue in quest to hold forum,” repeats activist talking points, including comments from Rodney Croome who accused…