Is it even Christmas if the Herald Sun hasn’t run a front-page story about a non-existent war on Christmas?
According to Australia’s most-read daily newspaper on Thursday, the Diversity Council of Australia (DCA) had told employers “not to mention Christmas” in their end-of-year communications.
“Workplaces are being urged to introduce ‘inclusive floating cultural holidays’, send ‘holiday greetings’ and hold ‘end-of-year holiday season’ events to ensure non-Christians are not discriminated against at Christmas time’,” the Hun reported.
The story was based on new workplace guidelines that are meant to help businesses be more inclusive of multi-faith workers.
It was also — according to the DCA — wrong.
The advisory council said in a statement published shortly after the article went to print, that it was “disappointed with the inaccurate headline and article that has appeared in the Herald Sun and other papers”.
“At no stage has DCA ever urged bosses not to mention Christmas.”
“We are simply saying that it’s worth remembering that many Australians do not celebrate Christmas religiously, either as followers of non-Christian religions, or as individuals with no religious affiliation, and there is a lot organisations can do to make them feel included at this time of year.”
DCA director Mariam Veiszadeh also took to Twitter to express her disappointment in the reporting.
“It’s the same old folks engaging in the same old tired misleading & deceptive media tricks. Very disappointing indeed. Let’s lift the standards,” Veiszadeh wrote.
In most ‘news’ media outlets, a prerequisite for reporters would be “an ability to read and comprehend” – not so for Murdoch. There opinion rules.
It’s one of the qualities that set his rags aside – and mark them as a scourge on the civilised society in which they operate.
Why should News Corp publish investigative reporting when they can simply confect a headline? The latter is far more cost effective. And it still plays to their fast dwindling readership.
The Hersld Sun’s story is as predictable and boring as the DCA’s statement, which treats everyone as children who need to be reminded to ‘remember’ what they are supposed to say and do.
Like most Crikey readers I’m not Christian and never have been and nor do I care less if people endlessly refer to Christmas at work. I actually like it, it adds fun and merriment. So do all the Indian and Islamic colleagues I work with. (Not once have I seen anyone ‘diverse’ wince in the face of the oppression that the xmas tree in the foyer has no-doubt brought upon them!) Although I do work for a workplace which actually has felt the pressure and is now not daring to refer to any “end of year function” as a “Christmas party”. Not that that sort of thing, of course, was the intention of the good-hearted mere suggestion to “remember” our newly required language and behaviour re “inclusiveness and diversity” – but we all know that real behaviour change is the result of “reminders” from ideological systems that don’t like criticism.
Boring but harmless DCA versus malicious and misleading Murdoch….Rupert has fairy tales for any and every season.