The Sydney Morning Herald's Apology for Myall Creek and the Culture War over Colonialism.

The Sydney Morning Herald issued an apology for its role in supporting the accused mass murderers during the Myall Creek massacre trial in 1838. The newspaper had campaigned for the perpetrators to escape prosecution and opposed the death sentence for seven of the men. The apology included quotes from the paper at the time that demonstrated its racism. The Herald's defense of the culprits was part of a wider phenomenon of settler colonialism, where newspapers in different colonies were extracting news from each other and defending the violent displacement of indigenous peoples. This settler victory was accomplished through a code of silence and the reluctance of governors to confront settler anger. The Herald's racial vilification also took root in Britain. [Extracted from the article]