Propaganda Technique: Ad Hominem
A Latin phrase that has come to mean attacking one’s opponent, as opposed to attacking their arguments.
Sky News Adam Walters:
reference: Building Queensland’s future (Queensland Premier, the Hon. Steven Miles MP) ADAM WALTERS 34:00 after 10 minutes of ‘youth crime’ discussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knCIykkV2_E
“There wasn’t a single reference to youth crime in
your speech.”
Stephen Miles:
“It was a speech about housing.”
Annastacia Palaszczuk
When the media does not like a politician, they use derp photos of them. Ugly, emotive, unprofessional imagery to play into audience stereotypes. An article used the word ‘flaccid’ to describe the premier’s response to ‘youth crime’. One’s mind boggles at the use of a word that is commonly used to describe the hardness of a penis?
Katarina Carroll
Next the Police Commissioner became the target, with derp photos and an intense focus on her femininity suggesting she is too soft for a leadership role. Contrasting imagery of the replacement showed strong jawlines and dark eyes, further highlighting their personal differences and suggesting his different ‘tough’ personal qualities will fix the problems caused by her ‘soft’ personal qualities.
Steven Miles
The most intense campaign of all was saved for the interim premier, nicknamed “Giggles” by Sky News who relentlessly pushed an untrue story. The Sky journalist claimed that Miles laughed about a victim of ‘youth crime’, to discredit him in the eyes of the community. Multiple propaganda techniques were used in unison to ridicule Steven Miles, the lie picked up by other media outlets despite evidence showing he did not laugh at a victim.
No laughing matter: the context missing from a Sky News report on Steven Miles and youth crime
An article by Amanda Meade from The Guardian
This article unpacks what happened from the press conference about housing, through the process of Sky News falsely generating a rumour and creating a media storm around the nickname ‘giggles’. This name was used throughout the 2024 election to make Steven Miles appear like he did not take any topic seriously.
If you’d prefer the short version, the premier was laughing at how the Sky News reporter continued to ask a question about ‘youth crime’ in a housing conference.
At worst he was inexperienced and drawn into a cheap tactic from the Sky representative. He did not laugh at a victim of crime.
Media clips making fun of Steven Miles
This section highlights a collection of media clips showing how Sky, News Ltd and Seven used the false story claiming that Steven Miles laughed at a victim of ‘youth crime’ to attack his character and ridicule him to the Queensland voters.
Propaganda Technique: Ad Hominem
A Latin phrase that has come to mean attacking one’s opponent, as opposed to attacking their arguments.
Do you have more examples of Ad Hominem or other propaganda techniques being used in media which also uses the term ‘youth crime crisis’? We would love to add it to this page so others can learn from your research too!
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