This special report features an interview with a gay couple from China who has lived in Sydney for the past ten years. Through their personal stories, we will explore the changes in Australian government policy towards the LGBTI community over the last decade, highlighting Australia’s progress towards a more diverse and inclusive society.
WATCH: ABC News interview on the 2023 Mardi Gras Parade @ABC News (Australia)
Recent events, such as the Mardi Gras parade 2023, the largest LGBTI parade in the southern hemisphere, demonstrate Australia’s growing tolerance towards the LGBTI community in the post-epidemic era. However, this was not always the case, with homosexuality being criminalized throughout Australia prior to 1975, leading to various forms of persecution and imprisonment.
Progress towards equality:
In 2013, Australia passed anti-discrimination laws, prohibiting discrimination against LGBT groups. The same year, the capital territory government passed a same-sex marriage bill, but it was deemed invalid by the Australian Supreme Court, who declared that the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage should be left to Congress. This setback was followed by further opposition to the promotion of same-sex marriage in 2015, which hindered progress towards legalizing it.
However, in September 2017, Prime Minister Turnbull successfully launched a postal referendum, with over 60% of voters expressing their support for legalizing same-sex marriage. On December 7, 2017, the Australian Senate and House of Representatives officially passed the same-sex marriage bill, marking a historic victory for the LGBTI community.
A Newsworthy Feature
For general audiences, this report on the lives of sexual minorities is novel and attractive. The news value of this report is human interest. People want to read stories about other people, so a human interest angle can be especially useful in helping you put a human face on a bigger story that needs to be personalized.
For sexual minorities, this report is closely related to the LGBTI group, so the news value is relevance. This report will resonate emotionally and psychologically with the public.The content of news reports is closely related to the interests, concerns and experiences of readers, and is highly relevant and practical. If a news story is closely related to readers’ lives, it can arouse readers’ interest, resonance and discussion.
Chosen Publication: Star Observer
The Star Observer is an Australian publication that provides free monthly print and online news catering to the LGBTQIA+ community. The magazine is widely distributed in Sydney and Melbourne, with copies available at various locations such as cafes, libraries, cinemas, theaters, bookshops, medical practices, community centers, gay-friendly pubs, nightclubs, retail shops, gyms, and sex-positive venues. So, I thought The Star Observer was a good fit for this story.
Sources of Information
To demonstrate hyper textuality and multimodality, the article will feature various materials including:
- Audio and pictures: Authentic interviews with gay couples of a decade in Australia.
- Australian LGBTIQA+ Policy Guide.
- Australian Human Rights Commission.
- Mardi Gras Party – Sydney WorldPride 2023.
- Hyperlinks to relevant reports.
How to interact with my audiences?
- A question poll at the end of this article: Is this article useful? Or something else.
- Embed audio or video of the respondent’s partner: Do you have the biggest difficulty living together? When was the decision to confirm the de facto relationship? Do you think Australia is a country that is tolerant enough?
- Vivid interviewer photos.
- Hyperlinks to my sources.
Good topic! The LGBTI march was a recent event in Sydney,adding the value of Proximity and timeliness. The article’s research on progress towards equality is enriched by interviews with Chinese gay couples who have lived in Sydney for ten years. This not only captures the reader’s attention but also resonates with the LGBTI community. Your research for the publication is also very detailed. In addition, you have made skilled use of embedded media, hyperlinks and the poll provided at the end adds an interesting interaction to the article. However, it is recommended to select the ‘Open link in a new tab’ option when setting links to avoid obscuring the original page when readers click on the link. Overall, your proposal demonstrates a profound understanding of LGBTI. Well done!
This is going to be a great newsworthy story, well done! It is timely that your story mentions the recent Mardi Gras parade in Sydney. I love the featured image you chose since it’s eye-catching and straight to the theme, and I am really looking forward to your interview with foreign gay couples living in Australia, which will be a very original and valuable story in line with the theme of “A more diverse Australia”. Your choice of news publisher is very relevant and I appreciate you providing us with such a unique platform. In addition, your references to relevant policies and news are informative, but I would like to make a suggestion to add some data to the article that would fit the theme, such as finding the proportion of foreigners who have settled in Australia, etc. Overall, this will be a very interesting feature, looking forward to the full article!
This post about the life of a gay couple I thought was fascinating and fit the newsworthiness you mentioned. Posts include challenges and insights into the lives of same-sex couples, which helps viewers develop a stronger sense of empathy. Based on this topic, you also described Australia’s anti-discrimination policy, which can better illustrate Australia’s inclusiveness and diversity. I believe that the audience will resonate a lot when they read this news story. Thanks for a good description of the chosen publication. But I think you have fewer interviewees, and the interview part can be more specific, which is good for the audience to think from multiple angles. Overall, well done!
This post about the life of a gay couple I thought was fascinating and fit the newsworthiness you mentioned. Posts include challenges and insights into the lives of same-sex couples, which helps viewers develop a stronger sense of empathy. Based on this topic, you also described Australia’s anti-discrimination policy, which can better illustrate Australia’s inclusiveness and diversity. I believe that the audience will resonate a lot when they read this news story. Thanks for a good description of the chosen publication. But I think you have fewer interviewees, and the interview part can be more specific, which is good for the audience to think from multiple angles. Overall, well done!
This post about the life of a gay couple I thought was fascinating and fit the newsworthiness you mentioned. Posts include challenges and insights into the lives of same-sex couples, which helps viewers develop a stronger sense of empathy. Based on this topic, you also described Australia’s anti-discrimination policy, which can better illustrate Australia’s inclusiveness and diversity. I believe that the audience will resonate a lot when they read this news story. Thanks for a good description of the chosen publication. But I think you have fewer interviewees, and the interview part can be more specific, which is good for the audience to think from multiple angles. Overall, well done.