the white rose society

2025-04-15 22:21:34

9 Principles for Journalists Reporting On Neo-Nazis

You may have landed here because you want to talk about neo-Nazis without helping them. Excellent.

You have an important role in combatting the rise of these groups. You must remember at all times – however they present themselves – the underlying ideology of all neo-Nazis is murderous.

Remember: They are a cult that want journalists to help launder their image and legitimise their movement and beliefs.

Above all – don't be fooled

Neo-Nazis look “normal”. They have families, friends, work colleagues. They shop at the same places you do. They go to the gym. They go to university. They work on building sites and in offices. They have respectable careers. This isn't “Romper Stomper” – most do not have shaved heads, swastika tattoos and broken teeth.

Don't be fooled.

Remember: All neo-Nazis share the same murderous beliefs. They want an extremely conservative white-only Australia. Anyone else “must go,” a euphemism that oscillates between deportation and mass murder. Never lose sight of that.

1. Do not assist their media strategy.

Neo-Nazis have a simple strategy when it comes to media:

If they can't get an opportunity to appear in the media, they create one.

They perform public stunts to create opportunities. They confect outrage (singing “Waltzing Matilda” in Adelaide on Australia Day, pretending to be “regular blokes” getting kicked out of the Shrine of Remembrance etc).

They revel in and celebrate the attention they receive whether it is positive or negative. They do this because reporting on their actions almost always leads to more support for them. That's why you're here and that's why this guide exists.

The attention is all they are after.

That doesn't mean “Don't report on them.” It means “Don't do their dirty work for them.” The rest of this guide will show you how to best do that.

2. Ask yourself: what is the story they do not want me to tell?

The best way to answer this question is to ask “What is the story they do want me to tell?“, which are stories like:

• Scary black masked militants – this makes them look competent and scary
• “We represent fed-up mums and dads” – this legitimises their views
• “We're just everyday Australians”
• Their latest shocking pamphlet – this advertises their group, views and operations
• Their most recent stunt – this advertises their group, views and operations
• How the curious can contact them and join their group – mentioning their Telegram presence helps increase their membership
• Free speech issues (for the white man only) – this legitimises their views
• How to donate to their cause through crowdfunding

These groups are deeply invested in reputation management and “optics” and they want to recruit journalists to help them.

Neo-Nazis hate being embarrassed and made to look weak, so instead, tell these stories:

• Grooming of children and young adults under 18
• The role of women in their groups (vehicles for breeding, isolation from their families, financial coercion and other tell-tale signs of family violence)
• The wedge they drive between recruits and their families
• Their desire to marry minors (leader Joel Davis says marrying 14 year old girls should be legal)
• That despite the surge in media reporting on antisemitic incidents, neo-Nazis get very little coverage in the media
• Their cult-like structure and tendencies (membership fees, pledges, 'tiers' of membership, rituals, banning of certain behaviours)
• The ways their adherence to these beliefs and involvement in the movement negatively impacts their position and standing in their families, workplaces and wider community
• That there are credible threats of violence made by these groups
• That they have links to extremist groups overseas
• Quote their racist chants and comments from protests – display their actual rhetoric, not their polished media answers.
• Report on Jacob Hersant's father working for Israeli Defense Force contractors
• Report on them 'running away' at protests – make them look weak
• Report on police 'protecting them' from other groups at protests – make them look weak
• Report extensively on previous legal troubles by members
• Interview their parents – many of them are young and still live at home

Remember: These are not “One Nation”-era racists. They are not complete idiots. They aren't upset about “Cheer” cheese. They understand they can gain power and influence and are willing to exploit opportunities to do so. Do not help them.

3. Do not interview them.

We understand interviews are handy filler on tight deadlines and the desire to 'get the story from both sides' – but it actively makes things worse.

There is no gotcha. There is no smoking gun. There is no nuance. Even if you 'control the narrative', they still win. They will clip their interview and use it to generate more support and make themselves out to be heroes fighting against the “Jewish media”

They are well-practiced in making themselves look polished and reasonable. They couch their extremist ideas in 'acceptable' talking points around immigration and the like.

Remember: By interviewing them you are giving them a stage and a megaphone for their message. You can't win.

4. Blur their banners and their flags. Do not advertise for them. Recognise their euphemisms.

Ask your photogs to blur out banner messaging.

Do not report their presence on Telegram or other social media – it makes it easy for 'interested' parties to find and join their group.

Do not name the organisation if at all possible. Instead use generic names “right-wing extremist group”, “neo-Nazi organisation” etc.

When they say “Mass deportations now” they don't just mean recent migrants. They mean every one of their perceived enemies. When they say “Australia for the white man. Everyone else must go” – they don't mean on holiday. They mean 'by any means necessary up to and including death'.

5. Call a spade a spade

When it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it's a duck.

Neo-Nazi and other right-wing groups realised they had more success when they minimise the “unpalatable” parts of their ideology. They may disavow Nazism and fascism, but they do not mean it. They may couch their 'ideas' in more palatable terms or with more palatable movements (ie they try to present themselves as being supportive of Australia's war dead) – but they are still the same murderous ideas at heart.

Call them what they are. Neo-Nazis. Right-wing extremists. Violent racists. Failures.

6. Do not denigrate anti-Nazi/anti-fascist responses.

There is no equivalence between neo-Nazis and anti-fascists. They are not 'two sides of the same coin'.

Virtually everything Australian journalists know about Nazi groups comes from anti-fascist researchers and organisers.

Anti-fascists have consistently shown up with limited resources to respond to these threats. They are groups and individuals helping Australians understand and identify the threat posed by neo-Nazis.

Despite being hung out to dry by the media on many occasions, anti-fascists continue to help the media. Support them, don't denigrate their efforts.

7. Do not look to laws and police as the (only) solutions

• Increasing police presence and enacting more laws is largely ineffective.
• Legislation is not agile enough to keep up in the digital age.
• Police are unable or unwilling to utilise laws already in place against these groups. New laws don't change that.

Symbols bans just cause these groups to find new symbols. For instance, while the Swastika is banned, the symbol the NSN use for their Victorian branch logo is a questionably-legal single lightning bolt, taken from the Nazi SS insignia, and the notched shield of the Waffen SS Panzer division. If that's banned, it will become something else.

Anti-hate laws are rarely prosecuted and if they are, it's for straight-forward cases. When cases do proceed to trial, the judicial system seems unaware of, or downplays the role of ideology as motivation for the crime. More laws aren't the answer. Court appearances serve as advertising for the groups, too.

De-radicalisation programs are under-funded, under-resourced and run by people who aren't qualified to run them. Parents are advised to report to the National Security Hotline, which takes a heavy handed approach. Police seem more interested in gaining intelligence from young members rather than helping them to escape their situation.

8. Community is the answer to neo-Nazi threats

Communities have the ability and responsibility to respond to neo-Nazis, but they need your help.

Talk about:

• The lack of resources available to families whose children have fallen prey to the grooming tactics of neo-Nazi groups
• The unclear pathways for people seeking help – current advice is to report to the “National Security Hotline”
• The lack of resources for communities in combatting neo-Nazi groups
• The impact of neo-Nazi groups on communities
• The imbalance in how some groups are demonised for 'antisemitism' while literal neo-Nazis pass by unscathed
• Identify and name the reasons fascism emerges – anti-immigration rhetoric from politicians, economic conditions, wishy-washy responses to racist behaviours etc
• Encourage targets to stand together. An anti-immigration stunt by neo-Nazis is also an anti-LGBTIQA+ stunt. It's also an antisemitic stunt. It's also an misogynistic stunt. It's also an anti-disability stunt.

9. Ensure safety

Your sources, their families and friends, may be victims and survivors of cultish reputation management. By speaking openly your sources chose courage over fear, but they are vulnerable to harassment campaigns and violent attacks. Make sure they are prepared appropriately.

You and your sources should:

• Consider your safety BEFORE things go too far along
• Lock down your social media accounts.
• Staying off social media after a publication goes live
• Plan for them to come for you and your identity (ie doxxing).
• Make sure everyone involved understands the risks
• Consider concealing identities. A 'pseudonym' is not enough.
• Have safety plans in place for all phases of your reporting:
  
  • Safe houses or a plan to 'get away' for a few weeks
  • Security details
  • Mental health support

  
  

Further resources:

Feel free to share this with your colleagues.

The White Rose Society welcomes inquiries from media and journalists and we encourage you to contact us if you need advice.

Whitney Phillips' 2018 report “The Oxygen of Amplification” examines how news media inadvertently amplifies extremist messages by reporting on them. Through interviews with journalists, the report reveals the struggle to balance informing the public with the risk of normalizing harmful ideologies. Phillips identifies “information laundering” tactics used to spread radical content and proposes “better practices” for journalists to minimize manipulation and harm. Ultimately, the report highlights the need for journalists to adapt their strategies in the evolving digital landscape to combat the spread of extremism.

Online Harassment Field Manual Whether you’re experiencing or witnessing online abuse, this Field Manual offers concrete strategies for how to defend yourself and others. We wrote this guidance with and for those disproportionately impacted by online abuse: writers, journalists, artists, and activists who identify as women, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQIA+. Whatever your identity or vocation, anyone active online will find useful tools and resources here for navigating online abuse and tightening digital safety.

The Oxygen of Amplification

New Data & Society report recommends editorial “better practices” for reporting on online bigots and manipulators; interviews journalists on accidental amplification of extreme agendas

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