Erik Jensen to deliver Stephen Murray-Smith memorial lecture on anger, journalism and the politics of empathy

Award-winning journalist, author and founding editor of The Saturday Paper Erik Jensen will deliver the Stephen Murray-Smith memorial lecture, hosted by State Library Victoria on 13 October 2020.

In a stirring lecture, titled The man with no face, Mr Jensen will describe how a photograph of asylum seeker Hamed Shamshiripour, taken after he died by suicide on Manus Island in 2017, reframed his view of what journalism is for.

Speaking to his regret at not publishing the image, Mr Jensen will explore what he calls “The Australian Faceless” – the way our politics constructs systems to shield us from the people it harms.

Mr Jensen will reflect on the parallels between Hamed Shamshiripour, Emmett Till and George Floyd, and the role journalism has in interpreting and emboldening anger.

“Anger is a discrediting force, because to embrace it would be to embrace change,” Mr Jensen said. “We judge anger to keep us safe from the things we have already done.”

The annual lecture commemorates the contribution of Stephen Murray-Smith to Australian intellectual life and journalism, and promotes research and debate on the topics that impact us culturally, societally and politically.

Mr Jensen’s lecture will air online via the State Library Victoria website on Tuesday 13 October at 6.00pm. The event is free to attend but bookings, open from 9.00am Monday 28 September, are essential. 

Book via the Library website.