The editor of the Australian literary magazine Meanjin has apologised for the cover design of its latest issue, which scribbled out its Indigenous title to create the #MeToo hashtag.
Jonathan Green acted quickly to apologise for what he said was his own “blindness” to the cover treatment of the word Meanjin, which is the Turrbal name for the land that became Brisbane.
Green, who is also a presenter on ABC Radio National, said he had tried to create an “arresting” cover to illustrate a feature about the #MeToo movement.
“I was wrong to do it,” Green wrote on the Meanjin website on Monday.
“Meanjin is the Turrbal word for the land consumed by what became Brisbane. It has been the title of this magazine since its foundation in 1940.
Yay ... new @Meanjin in hand. pic.twitter.com/28Yl4yyeQa
— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) June 4, 2018
“To put it simply, the word is more than just the name of a magazine, and it shouldn’t have been mine to obliterate in a design flourish.”
Green told Guardian Australia it was too late to do anything about the cover because it had already been printed and distributed, but it was a valuable lesson that will “stand out there” as a reminder of our need to be more sensitive.
On Monday, not long after the pink cover of the quarterly magazine was posted on Twitter by Green, it was called out by several Indigenous women, including journalist Amy McQuire, who said it felt “weird” to see “Meanjin” crossed out because the “destruction of land, cultures and language is fundamentally tied to violence against Aboriginal women”.
Meanjin was the aboriginal word for Brisbane. It means 'spike,' and was the name for the finger of land extending from the city proper. This word has meaning. Appropriation of our Ancient and Sacred dialects for catchy headline copy is disrespectful in my opinion. pic.twitter.com/RxrjdTASyx
— Moreen Lyons 👣🌈 (@moreenmary) June 4, 2018
Two non-Indigenous writers who contributed to the winter edition, Clementine Ford and Anna Spargo-Ryan, later added their voices to the apology and pledged to donate their fees to a cause for Aboriginal women.
Founded in Brisbane in 1940, Meanjin (pronounced Mee-an-jin) is now published by Melbourne University Press, and is funded by the university and through subscriptions and sales.
Green said it was a reminder of his privilege that he failed to see what is now so obvious.
“It’s a reminder that the human stocks of this magazine could be enhanced by a broader range of backgrounds and mindsets in the editorial process.
Hey, Twitter friends. I would like to make the following statement, with @clementine_ford, in relation to the @Meanjin cover. Clem is currently on a tweet ban but this statement comes from us jointly. pic.twitter.com/y80RZzn6Tt
— anna s-r (@annaspargoryan) June 4, 2018
“Meanjin is a constant publisher of Indigenous voices and concerns. This is work of the greatest importance to us as a publication, a publication that does what it can to place Indigenous thoughts and history at the heart of the national cultural conversation.
“I should therefore have known better. We work with words; the power of this erasure should not have been lost on us.”
Green’s contrition was mocked by some News Corp journalists, including the Australian’s Chris Kenny and Janet Albrechtsen and the Daily Telegraph’s Tim Blair.
And in the nutty world of identity politics, balkanized groups vie for top victim spot: Meanjin’s #MeToo snafu https://t.co/qdI6EHbhE6
— janet albrechtsen (@jkalbrechtsen) June 4, 2018
