The sinking of HMNZS Manawanui has brought out three of the nastier human traits: The belief that everything is black-and-white, the readiness to rush to judgement, and the targeting of people who are already down. Sorry, make that four. We must not overlook plain old-fashioned bigotry.

Social media – the alter-ego of the disaffected – was the obvious avenue through which these baser instincts were given air. They were amplified, however, by some media who used faux outrage to repeat them.

Among the worst was the Daily Mail Australia, whose story of “vicious trolls” targeting the ship’s commanding officer quoted exactly what they had said online and reinforced the message with screen shots of their posts.

At the forefront of the attacks were Commander Yvonne’s Gray’s gender and sexual orientation, (prompting Defence Minister Judith Collins to call out misogyny) and direct blame for hitting a Samoan reef was implicit in many of the comments. Bigotry was not far below the surface in comments questioning why a New Zealand-born officer was not in command (Gray was born in the United Kingdom). Even Norway (where the ship was built) took a hit. Continue reading “The trolls stood on the burning deck” →