‘Shock Jocks’ important says Judge

Staff Writer

Who would have thought.

In a week where Derryn Hinch has again found himself in the news for 'naming names', a Senior Supreme Court Judge has come out in support of talkback radio and 'shock jocks'.

Fairfax have reported that the Chief Judge at Common Law, Justice Peter McClellan, said that judges tended to live in more affluent areas less affected by crime, and ignoring emotional views on crime risks creating a perception of elitism.

''My partner and I were robbed in our apartment only last year,'' he said. ''But we do not live where drive-by shootings have occurred or gang activities put people in fear. It is thought to be safe to walk our streets in the evening and to use public transport at night over the short distance from the city to our home.

He said that the courts often distinguished between informed community expectations and ''uninformed'' views, referring to talkback radio and the tabloid press.

But he warned: ''There is a risk that the construct of 'informed community values' may be code for something else: the values of a particular section of the community. One that is well-educated, well-off, mostly untroubled by crime, or at least violent crime, and generally unrepresentative of the community at large….(and this)…..may create a divisive perception that the 'elite' think they know better than those for whom crime is not only a statistic but a reality.''

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