Guest Editors' Introduction

If one of the roles of the news media is to reflect society to itself, what do we see in the mass media mirror? Many of us see something that looks at least a little like the world we live in – a world in which our activities, our needs and wants, perhaps even our thoughts, are represented in the news media. Others, however, see a world that’s alien and unrepresentative of them. When they are represented in the news media, they are depicted as the “other” – as different from “mainstream” society. It is not difficult to be depicted as “different” and hence deserving of different news treatment – membership of any minority grouping will confer that status. In Australia, that could mean belonging to an ethnic minority, perhaps a religion, being a person with a physical or mental disability, being old, or poor, or even a victim of crime.