Same Love stoush

Furore over Macklemore’s marriage equality anthem, as more mastheads endorse a yes vote.

No law's gonna change us
We have to change us. Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
Australia let me hear you …

— Channel Nine, NRL Grand Final, Macklemore, 1 October, 2017

Hello, I’m Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch.

And that of course was American rapper Macklemore performing his hit, Same Love, at last night’s NRL Grand Final and declaring at the end of it:

Equality for all …

— Channel Nine, NRL Grand Final, Macklemore, 1 October, 2017

Rousing stuff.

And, thanks to the massive media storm surrounding it, the song again hit No. 1 in the Australian music charts, five years after it was first released.

Thus, scoring a spectacular own goal for the No campaigners who tried to stop it being sung:

JUANITA PHILLIPS: The track is about same-sex marriage. That prompted an angry response from Tony Abbott who called for it to be banned

— ABC News, 28 September, 2017

PETER OVERTON: A song Tony Abbott and others say has no place at the football

— Channel Nine News, 28 September, 2017

Yes, the argument about whether Macklemore should be allowed to sing his Yes song in the midst of a bitter debate about same-sex marriage raged on and on last week, dominating the news and giving every TV chatterbox the cue to slug it out:

WALEED ALY: Pricey, on a scale of regular angry Pricey to explosive outraged Pricey what sort of a Pricey are we dealing with tonight?

STEVE PRICE: What a dumb, stupid decision by the NRL to invite this American bloke to come out here, Michael Moore, and sing a song about same sex when we’re supposed to be sitting there enjoying the football …

— Channel 10, The Project, 27 September, 2017

And, not surprisingly, it was media critics of the Yes campaign who were kicking up the fuss:

CAROLINE MARCUS: People actually don’t like being told by celebrities how they should vote, how they should think …

TOM CONNELL: But shoved down the throat, really? This song?

CAROLINE MARCUS: Yes!

TOM CONNELL: Is that what it is? It’s shoving down the throat?

CAROLINE MARCUS: And I like the song, but to play it at the Grand Final, yes.

SAMANTHA MAIDEN: Let’s not, Tom. Let’s move on from that metaphor.

CAROLINE MARCUS: Yes, oh yes, Sam, thanks, come on.

— Sky News, The Morning Shift, 29 September, 2017

With hours of TV and radio to fill, there’s nothing like a good argument to keep viewers awake.

But it wasn’t just the commentariat who wouldn’t let it go:

TONY ABBOTT: When people go to the Grand Final this weekend all they really want to do is watch the footy.

— Channel Nine News, 28 September, 2017

SCOTT MORRISON: I’m a fan of footy and I think people want to go to the footy on Sunday and watch footy.

— Channel Nine News, 28 September, 2017

Yes, yes, we know, sport and politics don’t mix. After all, it’s not as though a politician has ever used sport to sell himself.

Maybe John Howard just liked Wallabies jerseys.

Um ... and Australian tracksuits.

Yes, and cricket.

And Tony Abbott has always been a Manly fan, who’s happy to throw a ball around if there are cameras there and votes to be won.

But Mr Abbott has not just been worried about that song. Last week he was in print again to warn:

Cultural values at stake

Australians are beginning to sense the same-sex marriage campaign isn’t quite as innocent as it sounds

— Daily Telegraph, 28 September, 2017

Meanwhile, another former PM John Howard was taking out ads to warn of the dangers.

And News Corp’s big-hitting columnists.

Miranda Devine, Andrew Bolt and Piers Akerman were keeping up their barrage about so-called bullying by the Yes campaign.

So how much effect has all this had on the punters? Not much.

Last week’s News Corp poll suggested the Yes vote was losing ground.

But next day an Essential poll in The Guardian found exactly the opposite.

And in the meantime, with the Yes vote leading Nos by 2 to 1, Australia’s newspaper editors are surprisingly all in favour.

In the Top End, the NT News made its position clear straight out of the gate:

DO IT NOW

The time for talking is over … It’s time to end this farce.

— NT News, 9 August, 2017

In Tasmania, the last state to decriminalise homosexuality, Hobart’s Mercury also came straight out for change:


— The Mercury, 10 August, 2017

And while The Daily Telegraph, has chastised the quote “moral bullying” of the Yes campaign, 10 days ago it grudgingly conceded:

The Daily Telegraph believes that on balance the Yes vote should carry the day

— Daily Telegraph, 22 September, 2017

Last Friday, The Courier-Mail in Brisbane also came down on the same-sex side:

Weighing up the views of both sides, The Courier-Mail believes that the Yes vote should prevail.

— The Courier-Mail, 29 September, 2017

And on the eve of the AFL Grand Final, after six pages of footy coverage, the Herald Sun in Melbourne found space to support what it called “A vote for true equality”.

The Herald Sun supports a yes vote to change the Marriage Act.

— Herald Sun, 29 September, 2017

We’re still waiting to hear what The Australian thinks. But we’re pretty sure it will fall into line.

And The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne’s The Age have also both advised readers to vote yes.

And with another month to go, we can’t wait till it’s all over.

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