By Amanda Lawrence
In a recent edition of Triple J's Morning Show, presenter Sarah Macdonald introduced a new series on "The A-Z of Political Activism", Triple J's attempt to "find new ways to protest".
According to Triple J, we are living in the age of "anti-activism, where the flares don't fit any more, the music sounds tired and, let's face it, we all know the demos don't change anything anyway".
This is by no means a new way of thinking. Throughout the '90s young people have been painted as "generation X". We've been called "slackers" and "cynical", and our so-called apathy is meant to be a rebellion against our hippy, activist parents.
We're supposed to be the TV and Pepsi generation, which has embraced technology and individualism and rejected the notion that people can change the world for the better by uniting in collective action.
Instead, as argued on Triple J, the legitimate form of protest in the '90s is "political hactivism", or "causing trouble in cyberspace".
But apart from the very obvious question (what percentage of the world's population has access to the internet?), there's a certain "which side are you on?" issue for Triple J.
For a national youth radio network which flaunts its alternative cred, Triple J is starting to sound very much like the mainstream bullshit it was supposed to be a rejection of.
There's very little argument that the world ought to be a better place. The question is: can it be changed, and if so, how?
According to Triple J, it can't be done at all. It was tried in the '60s and failed, they say; now the best we can do is tamper with the Liberal Party's web site, maybe, or perhaps send outraged e-mails to the CEOs of a few multinationals (oh yeah, that'll work!).
Of course, there are some progressive messages still making their way onto Triple J. And it is one of the few media outlets to give space to youth issues from young people's point of view. A few DJs, like Adam Spencer, also plug demonstrations on air.
But Triple J is increasingly sounding conservative on social issues. They've become famous for having segments (full of insipid questions) with One Nation's David Oldfield and David Ettridge and with government ministers like Alexander Downer. In early November, they even ran a week-long series on the joys of marriage and motherhood!
During the national anti-racism campaign, when the majority of the those active were young people and high school students, Triple J joined the ranks of those who screamed, "Get those kids back in school". Sarah MacDonald's interview with one of the campaign's national organisers, Resistance member Wendy Robertson, very quickly became an interrogation of Resistance's "motives" for calling the walkouts.
Rather than being a force for individualism and apathy, our "national youth radio network" should get real.
Young people today are at the forefront of many struggles for change, from Indonesia to France to Australia — and that's not going to stop, Triple J or no Triple J.