Opinion

Misunderstood bikies

The United Motorcycle Council of NSW has launched the most extraordinary public relations campaign you and I are ever likely to encounter. Well, maybe some of the political spin doctoring of recent years is up there too. The campaign arrived on my desk yesterday in the form of a plastic folder containing seven pages titled Reporting Guide for Journalists and prepared by a Brisbane spin firm, and I have more detail of that in my column in The Herald today.

The United Motorcycle Council has been formed in the aftermath of the Sydney Airport bikie brawl this year to fight anti-bikie legislation, and yesterday's offerings make it clear that spin is very much part of that fight. The council's member clubs are Hell's Angels, Finks, Rebels, Nomads, Bandidos, Comanchero, Lone Wolf, Black Uhlans, Life and Death, Vietnam Vets, Outcasts, Phoenix, Brotherhood, Bikers for Christ, God Squad, Ambassadors and Diggers, and if that seems like a contrived mix you may benefit from the guide's definitions:

"A motorcycle club is a social club created for people with a common interest in motorcycle riding. The nature of the club membership can be likened to that of other community activities such as specialist sporting clubs, Rotary and Lions clubs."

The Hell's Angels and the Rebels, for example, are motorcycle clubs and they're also patch clubs.

"A patch club is an organised club of dedicated motorcyclists who join together as members with a common identity represented by a patch - the recognisable brand of that particular club. Patch clubs exist for the purposes of companionship, education, rider training and socialisation of motorcycle riders."

I am not making this up.

As much care should be taken in the choice of language and photographs when reporting matters relating to motorcycle clubs, the guide tells us, as when reporting matters relating to ethnic and racial minorities and people with disabilities.

Specifically, the bikies ask journalists to not use:

the words alleged and suspected as in "alleged Rebels member" or "suspected bikie" because these words imply that being a member of a motorcycle club is a criminal act;

the word gangs, because it is loaded with connotations of violent and illegal activities, and the word outlaws because club members "are not outlaws but members of a community-based club";

the words links and connections, as in to a motorcycle club, unless the claim is substantiated within the report. The inappropriate use of these words in relation to motorcycle clubs in reports about organised crime "creates the impression in the mind of the reader that there is no difference between the two".

The patch clubs' policy of not commenting to the media should not take away their right to fair reporting and the criminal activity of some club members "is no reason to convict all club members by association".

Poor devils! What say you? Are bikies copping a raw deal in the media?

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Posted By: Jeff Corbett on 16/06/2009 5:18:30 PM | Comments (38)

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They are kidding, aren't they? Is it April 1st? Would the fact that criminal 'bikie' gangs make and distribute drugs, flout the law, intimidate the community through their dress, behaviour, demeanour and mode of transport, have anything to do with their 'image problem'? Any group that does not want to appear criminal or anticsocial should simply avoid adopting the 'bikie gang' image. If outfits like 'Bikers for Christ' or the 'God Squad' are silly enough to LOOK like bikie gangs, and then wonder why they are tarred with the same [negative image] brush, they get what they deserve. I have no objection to the existence of bikie gangs, or the lifestyle they pursue, as long as they obey the law and don't impinge on others' rights. Easy.

Posted by Abundance, 17/06/2009 10:52:33 AM

Last year I saw about 100 members of one of these "social clubs" ride through Toronto aside in two columns. Another member rode ahead to intersections and blocked them (despite the lights) till the whole group could pass as a body. Apparently they consider that the traffic rules don't apply to them. I'm all for banning this intimidatory para-military style posing.

Posted by Walker_through_toronto, 17/06/2009 11:06:47 AM

I find this all rather amusing, you see, bikies are saying don't tar them all with the same brush, just because one bad apple wears a particualr colour/badge, does not mean that all wearers of the same colour are bad apples. This flies in the face of alleged bikie behaviour and culture, as they seem to identify the 'enemy' by the badge/colour that they wear. Don't tar all wearers of the same badge/colour with the same brush - unless you're a bikie and everyone wearing a different colour/badge is the enemy.... Also, just a thought - you don't see members of the local gardening club beating people to death at the airport! Perhaps their repuation is their own making

Posted by Monkey Magik, 17/06/2009 11:34:09 AM

I think you've just demonstrated Jeff that the media doesn't give bikers a fair go. You bring all your pre-conceived stereotypes and prejudices to your column, and prove the very point they are making. Plenty of crime is conducted every day by white-collar criminals, but that doesn't mean the entire business community should be branded as criminals. In fact, in the last few months there have been examples of Australian journalists caught with drugs and firearms. That doesn't make you a criminal, does it?

Posted by Media watcher, 17/06/2009 12:16:19 PM

Does our society need extra Laws? I think that the NSW Laws cover, Drug supply/manufacture, assault, murder, intimidation and the list goes on. Add to that the Federal Laws concerning assett confiscation in regards to money/property unlawfully gained. I believe that Bikie gangs are organisations that use stand over tactics to benefit from criminal activity, but why not just use the Laws already in place. There are other groups within society that wear the same uniform and have had many charges and accusations against them, they have paid victims off and inserted clauses not to disclose settlement. These organisations obviously have organised child sexual abuse members, they are the Catholic and Anglican church, do they not fit the criteria of the new Laws? Should Priests be stopped from associating together? Back to the Bikies, two years ago 600 Rebels stayed in Newcastle for three nights, the Police handled the situation well, but they did have the ability to use the Traffic act to breath test all, do rego checks and search because of the intelligence attached to each member. It would have been a massive job, but they didn't need new Laws to do it, and if it was done regularly the Rebels would not get around in large numbers. There are long prison sentences for the major crimes, the Legal system needs to enforce these sentences. Lets face it these Laws are knee jerk reaction from Politicians, and Politicians need to stand back now these Laws are in force, they need to remember the Seperation of Powers. Basiclly i believe the new Laws will cause more trouble and legal arguement than they are worth.

Posted by Buell, 17/06/2009 12:18:12 PM

I'm with Buell - murder, rape, drug distribution, etc have all been proscribed for some time now. If the cops had the courage to tackle known criminals and the courts had the courage to back up the cops who have the courage....things might be different. Sadly they don't - and why would a cop risk their neck to bring down a bunch of criminal bikers when some lilly-livered magistrate will grant bail and put them straight back on the street? If Red-Hot Reese really wanted to put a red-hot poker up the crims, he'd abolish the unaccountable judiciary and introduce regular elections for judicial officers.

Posted by Scott Hillard, 17/06/2009 12:53:03 PM

Regular elections for judicial officers. I'll second that! Lack of accountability in all sectors is a massive problem.

Posted by Slick, 17/06/2009 1:36:04 PM

Bikie gangs are looking at ways to appear presentable or above the law abiding to the common person. This will never happen while everything they do through numbers and appearance instills fear into the community. Bikie gangs need to think outside the square. If they recruited under 18 members and let them do the carnage all that would happen would be a slap on the wrists of the younger ones. A perfect solution for them.!!!

Posted by The Bird, 17/06/2009 1:53:06 PM

I am unable to agree with Buell. Yes the existing legal framework was sufficient to deal with all sorts of crime engaged in by the groups targeted by the new legislation. And yes, the new legislation will be the subject of challenge and the likely result will not be a reduction in crme committed by the members of these groups but to make the crime committed less public. However, the true purpose in my view of the new legislation is for society to make a public statement to outlaw motorcycle gangs and other such criminal organisations and say you and your kind are not welcome in our society. We will not stand by and let you flout our laws and morals. We will not yield to intimidation and force. To my understanding for a group to be prescribed a supreme court application needs to be made by the Police, if a particular motorcycle club is not know to the police it has nothing to fear.

Posted by fedup, 17/06/2009 2:50:13 PM

These guys are either incredible satirists or eternal optimists. If they are so similar to organisations such as Rotary or Lions and can't understand why they are so maligned, I have a simple solution. If any of their members (heaven forbid) are suspected of having engaged in illegal behaviour, the gang leadership should provide full details to the police. In that way their upstanding reputations cannot be tarnished by association with criminal elements, and even better they may be seen as a force for good within the community. After all that’s what the Catholic Church does (errr, hang on, maybe not such a good example). A good start would be to shop the guys who beat a gang associate to death at Sydney airport with the bollards (though I’m sure the NSW government would prefer to make bollards illegal instead). Come on all you UMC of NSW members – dob in your criminal mates, clean up your act and soon we’ll see the Black Uhlans doing Driver Reviver duty on long weekends, and children plying in the local Hells Angel Park. BTW Jeff, I do hope you get your interview with the “Most Reverend Ferret” –gold, pure gold.

Posted by Directuer Sportif, 17/06/2009 5:01:11 PM

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