Costumes of Empathy

Australian newspapers mediate the response of the prime minister to communities stricken by disaster. From 1967, newspapers have reported ritualised visits by the prime minister to sites of natural disaster along with associated press conferences. A historical overview of national and metropolitan newspapers reveals that through word and image, dress is presented as a meaningful performative element of these rituals and increasingly acknowledged as such. It also reveals a shift toward an expectation that the prime minister dress in a way that projects empathetic engagement with communities. While confined to only some newspapers and prime ministers, this shift arguably is significant in the evolution of newspaper depictions of disaster and political authenticity. Donyale R. Griffin-Padgett and Donnetrice Allison’s concept of restorative rhetoric, Gunn Enli’s notion of performed authenticity and Jeffrey C. Alexander’s theory of cultural pragmatics inform this finding.