OPINION
During last night’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup, SBS commentators Craig Foster and Lucy Zelić.
took time out from discussing the day’s upcoming matches to address some absurd criticism aimed at Zelić.
You see, Zelić copped flack over the weekend for ‘over-pronouncing’ some of the foreign names on the World Cup roster. Not incorrectly pronouncing, mind you, but over pronouncing, which from what we can gather means she took the time to make sure she was saying players’ names and their countries correctly.
Viewers have tweeted and commented on SBS’s The World Game Facebook page to call Zelić's pronunciation of foreign names as “insufferable” and “annoying.” As Foster and Zelić pointed out, taking the time to correctly pronounce foreign names is a legacy left from late veteran SBS football commentator Les Murray.
Here is a professional journalist, young, female, and of immigrant background, copping flack for doing her job right. Yes, you heard that right.
It’s hard not to think part of the criticism stems from Zelić stepping in to the role as a newcomer and a woman, helming the sports broadcast as a figure of authority, in what some fans still tribally defend as a male arena. The scrutiny women face in television and in the male dominated field of sports broadcast, is doubled for Zelić, dealing with the racial undertones of the criticism.
Online abuse is not new to Zelić who has previously spoken out about breaking down and crying on the bathroom floor four years ago after a barrage of misogynistic trolling left her wanting to quit journalism.
It’s hard not to think part of the criticism stems from Zelić stepping in to the role as a newcomer and a woman, helming the sports broadcast as a figure of authority, in what fans still tribally defend as a male arena.
“Four years ago I’d only been at SBS for a year and was inexperienced television-wise. I didn’t know how to deal with criticism from strangers and members of the public but because of my love of football I had to deal with it,” she told news.com.au.
“Five years later I have friends in the industry, women but also a lot of men too, it’s just words on a screen now.”
In the emotional broadcast, Zelić had fighting words for critics, explaining how important it was for the wider Australian community to understand what it means to have your name and identity reflected and respected in the public arena.
She said she got messages from Colombian fans telling her they had been living in Australia for 37 years and experienced the pain of having their name constantly mispronounced, and felt ‘touched’ by her ability to pronounce their names correctly. It was a sentiment echoed on Twitter.
“That is why I’m proud – so beyond proud to work at SBS. It’s always been about servicing the minority and respecting the cultures we have in Australia,” she said.
“Part of why I’m almost pleased this has occurred… is because it means now we have to re-educate a different audience and that is why I am pleased because Les had to fight tremendously hard for the game and for immigrants – people like my parents who came to Australia with nothing for a better life. They were able to establish an identity through Les and through the game and within the country.”
It’s not unusual when you’re not white to live with a constant dislocation and bafflement from the wider community – of your name, your parent’s country of birth, your diverse skills and difference.
From having a fake coffee name, to Anglicising your name in order to fit in, the life of a migrant is one of constant dislocation and accommodation to an “insufferable” and “annoying” mainstream, who will still somehow perceive powerless tiny minority communities as threatening and unaccommodating.
Zelić's approach of re-educating the mainstream and having them meet her where she is, instead of the other way around, feels radical and foreign to some viewers generally used to being centred and catered to in media and culture.
Les had to fight tremendously hard for the game and for immigrants – people like my parents who came to Australia with nothing for a better life. They were able to establish an identity through Les and through the game and within the country.
"You're not pronouncing it for anyone except the nation you’re covering and out of respect for them – you’re pronouncing it for them," Zelić said.
It’s a disruption of a power relationship rooted in a colonial model of white Anglo at top, dissecting and (mangling) the rest of the world centred for a white gaze, rather than an equal exchange of diverse cultures, represented with respect as they are.
Thankfully, Zelić’s colleague, Foster went in to bat for her, praising her professionalism and skill in hosting 13 games in four days, after fans were left stranded and unable to access World Cup matches when the Optus host streaming site crashed, forcing the provider to give remaining matches to the multicultural public broadcaster.
“You’ve done an unbelievable job, as a young journalist, in your second World Cup and first one hosting,” Foster said.
“What you have done is not only proper but important for Australia.”
“SBS is about respecting every single culture. Of course, the way you use the language is the most important way to show respect – through the name. If you can’t get their name right – it shows you have no regard. You haven’t done the work, you haven’t tried,” he said.
Foster remembers as a young journalist from the country, being directed by Murray to visit SBS foreign language radio stations to learn how to pronounce the names of players correctly.
“Les also did it for respect for the game - the game broadly and also the players who play the game. It was always very important to him to say: ‘I’m showing respect for the players. It’s not a joke when these players play. I have a job. I’m here because of them.’”
The 2018 FIFA World Cup is airing live on SBS until 16th July. All month, SBS will be covering stories about the sport that truly brings the country and the world together, regardless of gender, age, sexuality or cultural background. Join the conversation with #WeAllSpeakFootball. Find all the simultaneous games on SBS here.
