“MÄORI NEWS IS BAD NEWS”

That’s certainly so on television

Ray Nairn* Angela Moewaka Barnes* Belinda Borell* Jenny Rankine* Amanda Gregory* Tim McCreanor*†

Abstract

A television news bulletin tells us, in effect, what we should think about and the preferred way in which we should think about it. Analyses of New Zealand media have consistently shown that news about Mäori is both relatively rare and that it prioritises violence and criminality. Researchers conclude this encourages New Zealanders to see Mäori as threatening the social order and burdening our society. We examined the few Mäori stories broadcast in a large rep- resentative sample of English-language television news bulletins and found the same negativity. As our sample included Mäori-language news bulletins from the same days we know there were other Mäori news stories available, so we conclude that the prioritising of negative stories about Mäori in English-language media is a matter of choice. Focus groups with Mäori and non-Mäori media consumers demonstrate the impact of the relentlessly negative portrayals of Mäori in New Zealand media.

Keywords

Mäori, television, news, coverage, comparative

* Whariki Research Group, SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland † Corresponding author Email: [email protected] MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 39

Introduction agenda setting (Poindexter, Smith, & Haider, 2003) most of those researchers had to rely on Mass media1 representations of indigenous critical readings of the published materials and peoples, especially in newscasts, have regularly social-historical sources as they were unable to been shown to be both minimal and negative demonstrate that the analysed items were not (Abel, 1997; Colvin, 2010; Due, 2010; Hartley, the only “Mäori news” available. As a result 2004; Henry & Tator, 2002; Walker, 1990). of the sampling technique adopted in our pro- Writing about the Australian situation, Gargett ject which collected news bulletins from all (2005) has argued that this is about power rela- television channels in Aotearoa on pre-selected tions and the ways in which the mass media sampling days, we are able to present an account construct and maintain social norms: “The vio- of both fi rst and second levels of agenda-setting lence of colonialism is repeated over and over that Poindexter et al. direct us to. again as the media continue to write Indigeneity Central to construction of indigenous peoples [sic] as deviant” (p. 4). as a threat is the surveillance of their organisa- tions and practices; what Fiske (2000) refers to as “white watch” and Harding (2006, p. 231) Media representations of Mäori calls “keeping aboriginal people ‘in their place’” (Nairn et al., 2009). Consistent with that sense Implicit in the formulation of Ranginui Walker of threat are representations of indigenous peo- (2002) that we have borrowed for the title of this ple as primitive and violent, an end achieved by paper is the conclusion that media in Aotearoa telling stories about actual violence (Budarick New Zealand want readers and viewers to think & King, 2008; Harding, 2006) or stories in about Mäori as poor citizens who, in a range which violence is latent but available for read- of active and passive ways (McCreanor, 2008), ers’ interpretative work (Daniels, 2006; Due, threaten the comfortable, familiar Päkehä 2010; Simmons & LeCouteur, 2008). Mass dominance. Walker drew his conclusion from media have been shown to utilise other negative more than two decades of media critique and personal characteristics in their constructions commentary in which he evaluated, analysed, of indigenous people: laziness, improvidence, and illustrated the ways in which mass media, and grasping opportunism (Furniss, 2001; particularly newspaper, practices systematically Thompson, 1954a). McCallum (2007, p. 7) maintained and legitimated Päkehä dominance described such news items as “routine but not and Mäori subordination in Aotearoa (Walker, regular”: they were not common but those 1990; Walker, 1996). Like earlier research- that appeared were commonly framed in these ers (Thompson, 1953, 1954a, 1954b) and his pejorative ways. As instanced by Haami (2008), contemporaries (Cochrane, 1990; McGregor Mäori have been active critics of these denigrat- & Comrie, 1995), Walker analysed published ing representations: or broadcast stories to show how Mäori were represented—the second-level agenda setting. Mäori have been critical of their “arche- More recent analyses (Moewaka Barnes et al., typal” portrayal on television; as characters, 2005; Nairn et al., 2009; Phelan, 2009; Rankine and in storylines, which promote negative et al., 2008) add more detail while establishing stereotypes and perceptions of Mäori . . .. that little has changed in media representa- Preoccupation with negativity, physical con- tions of Mäori. However, to identify fi rst-level fl ict, social oppression, or clashes of identity give a “two-dimensional” view of Mäori. (p. 24) 1 Here we use the term “mass media” to mean colonial, settler press and broadcast services. 40 MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

The media representations described support, and wellbeing in Aotearoa”. and are legitimated by, expressions of dislike Within the mediascape of Aotearoa, Mäori and distrust among the non-indigenous (Liu journalists and their allies have pushed the & Mills, 2006) especially among the elite (van boundaries (Archie, 2007). Radio stations have Dijk, 1991). been established and, in most instances, succeed in providing powerful new services for Mäori The world of news… is viewed in the cultural communities. Mäori journalists have actively analysis of journalism as a complex lattice of fought for a Mäori Television Service (MTS) to meanings for all involved in journalism, a tool provide a Mäori controlled and led alternative kit of symbols, stories, rituals and world views, to the mass media channels (Paul, 2005). Now, which people use in varying confi gurations to in news and current affairs MTS is able to pro- solve different kinds of problems. (Zelizer, vide an alternative to equivalent programmes 2004, cited in Matheson, 2007, p. 31) on TV1, TV3 and Prime that, audience fi gures suggest, has strong appeal to both Mäori and In Aotearoa, the establishment of the independ- Päkehä viewers (Gregory et al., 2011; Mäori ent Mäori Television Service (MTS) provides Television, 2010). Because this alternative news a unique opportunity to compare media bulletin exists, viewers can identify the fi rst- performance on news coverage between Mäori- level agenda of the English-language bulletins, language bulletins and those provided by mass as we do in this paper. To that end we exam- media channels. An initial approach to such ine a representative sample of television news comparative work involves identifi cation of coverage of Mäori stories gathered from MTS, the fi rst- and second-level agendas of broadcast TV1, TV3 and Prime and identify the fi rst- and items. As Poindexter et al. (2003) explain: “The second-level agendas in Mäori stories in the fi rst-level agenda setting told us what to think English-language bulletins. about; the second-level, as a result of selection, emphasis, or exclusion of attributes, told us how to think about [the item]” (p. 527). Method While active audiences may develop their own oppositional readings of broadcast items, they We obtained a representative sample of tel- cannot “think about” stories or events that are evision by identifying 21 sampling days: a not broadcast—a consequence neatly captured random selection of 3 of each of the days of by the phrase “what to think about”. For this the week from the 6 months November 2007– article we adopted the agenda approach to the April 2008, to create 3 “constructed weeks”, mass television news items because it supports an enhancement of the 2 constructed weeks an examination of what is present in, and absent recommended for this purpose by Lacy, Riffe, from, broadcast bulletins without requiring the Stoddard, Martin, & Chang (2001). Unlike more detailed examination required to establish our print sample, where the clipping service the preferred reading of each item (Richardson, identifi ed relevant items through a keyword 1998). Our two-level analysis is informed by search (Rankine et al., 2011), we obtained items broadcast by MTS on the same days as entire television news bulletins: One News, the Mäori stories broadcast in the representa- Tonight, 3 News, Nightline, Prime News, Te tive sample of English-language news bulletins. Käea, and Te Karere, giving us a total of 123 To ground our interpretation of the fi rst-level bulletins that broadcast some 2,100 news items analysis in viewer understandings we drew on within the collection period. Each bulletin was fi ndings from audience focus groups conducted viewed by one of two researchers to identify as a part of the larger project, “Media, health stories that had a signifi cant focus on Mäori MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 41 people and Mäori issues. Where the designation implied or acknowledged abuse of, or violence of items was uncertain, inclusion or exclusion against, Mäori children. Those seven stories, was debated and decided by the entire team. ordered chronologically, with date and bulletin in parentheses were: 1. The opening of a Mäori-led conference Findings intended to address the issue of Mäori child-abuse (25/11/07, Prime News) Our selection process identifi ed a minority (278) 2. The rejection of Chris Kahui—accused of the news items as Mäori stories, all but 28 of murdering his baby twins—by a com- of which were broadcast by the two Mäori lan- munity to which he had been released on guage bulletins (Te Käea and Te Karere). The 28 bail (4/12/07, Prime News, One News, 3 items, 1.59% of the 1,757 news items carried News, Nightline) by the fi ve English-language news bulletins, told 3. A Mäori man is sent to trial for the killing 17 distinct stories about Mäori people or issues. of Nia Glassie, a Mäori toddler (5/12/07, On 8 of the 21 sampling days, no English- Prime News) language bulletin carried any items of news 4. Mother and friends mark what would have about Mäori or related topics. This minimal been the 3rd birthday of Jhia Te Tua, a offering, tantamount to an absence, is a striking Mäori toddler killed in a drive-by shooting instance of what Gerbner (1972, p. 44), speak- (3/4/08, 3 News, Nightline) ing about representations of women, termed 5. Several accused enter guilty pleas at deposi- “symbolic annihilation”. tion hearings about the drive-by shooting that killed Jhia Te Tua (9/4/08, One News, 3 News, Prime News, Nightline, Tonight) First-level agenda setting 6. A child with a Mäori name is taken to Starship Hospital with serious injuries There are two parts to our analysis of what (11/4/08, 3 News) viewers are guided to think about by these 7. The jury at Chris Kahui’s trial are shown Mäori stories. First, as in earlier analyses of an excerpt from his initial police interview media coverage of Mäori stories (Cochrane, (29/4/08, One News, Tonight) 1990; McGregor & Comrie, 1995; Thompson, 1953, 1954a, 1954b; Walker, 1990), we outline Of these seven stories only three; the rejec- the content of broadcast items. Then we address tion of Chris Kahui (Te Karere and Te Käea), the issue of the broadcaster’s choice of those the Nia Glassie killing (Te Käea), and Kahui’s items by providing brief descriptions of items trial (Te Käea), were also reported in a Mäori- from Mäori-language bulletins that could have language bulletin in our sample. This apparent been included in the English-language bulletins difference in fi rst-level agendas of English- and alongside or instead of those actually chosen. Mäori-language bulletins was exemplifi ed by Establishing that there were alternatives to the the non-inclusion of the only story reported by broadcast items underpins our assertion that all English-language bulletins we monitored— the fi rst-level agenda was intended rather than the entering of guilty pleas by some of those resulting from a paucity of Mäori stories to tell. accused of the drive-by shooting that killed Jhia Where possible we group stories by content. Te Tua (5)—in either Mäori-language bulletin. Stories linking Mäori to child abuse and Two further stories, neither of which was other violence dominated the Mäori stories in reported on a Mäori-language bulletin, offered the English-language bulletins. Sixteen of the viewers opportunities to rehearse ideas about the 28 items (57%) related to seven stories about violence, actual or implied, of Mäori. The fi rst 42 MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

was a men’s march against domestic violence on 3. The Honourable Parekura Horomia says White Ribbon Day (25/11/07, 3 News) in which some children skip breakfast to stay slim Mäori men and a banner: “Te Whare Tangata (11/4/08, 3 News) Te Ao Märama” (The house of mankind, an enlightened approach) dominated the early Only the last of these stories was reported on a visuals effectively framing the issue of domestic Mäori-language bulletin (Te Käea) where it was violence as a Mäori story (Poindexter et al., an addendum to an item concerning the Labour 2003). The second story concerned the visit of Party’s Mäori Council recommendation that a young Mäori men who had been attending Te Treaty Commissioner be established. Just over Tomo, a course described by the newsreader as half (9/17, 53%) of the Mäori stories broadcast “designed to get young Mäori men away from on English-language bulletins were also broad- gangs”, to the Parliamentary offi ce of Mäori cast on at least one Mäori-language bulletin. MP Shane Jones (23/2/08, Prime News). To identify the fi rst-level agenda set by this entire Three items reported the deaths of promi- collection of stories it is necessary to establish nent Mäori men: that there were other Mäori stories that could 1. The poet, Hone Tüwhare (17/1/08, 3 have been broadcast as well as, or instead of, News) these. To ensure we compared like with like we 2. Barry Barclay, the fi rst Mäori to direct a did not consider the numerous sports stories feature fi lm (19/2/08, One News) included in the Mäori-language bulletins as 3. Tämati Paräone, described as “the eld- there were no Mäori stories in the sports sec- est surviving member of the 28th Mäori tion of the sampled English-language bulletins. Battalion” (14/3/08, One News) Further, only items that were broadcast on the days that these news stories were broadcast on Each of these stories was carried by only one the English-language bulletins were considered. English-language bulletin although all were Mäori-language bulletins broadcast 127 other reported by both Mäori-language bulletins. Mäori news items that met these criteria. Even Items about two further stories each appeared if it is accepted that news editors might not see on two English-language bulletins. An aerial all these other stories as “national news” many protest by supporters of two helicopter pilots of them did present important events or topics. jailed for stealing large quantities of pounamu Here is a small selection of items carried by Te from Ngäi Tahu (3/4/08) was reported on Käea and Te Karere on the relevant days. 3 News and Nightline though neither Mäori- • Carvers at Te Wänanga o Aotearoa cre- language bulletin mentioned the event. Carter ating a pou commemorating those of the Holt Harvey’s closure of their mill at Te 28th Mäori Battalion who died in WWII Kopu, near Thames (9/4/08), was reported on fi ghting (24/11/07, Te Käea) One News, Tonight and Te Käea. The three • Launch of two books describing the help remaining stories were each carried on a single early settlers received from Mäori peo- English-language bulletin: ples (24/11/07, Te Käea) 1. A piece of Tame Iti’s art is auctioned at • Tumu Te Heuheu is given an honorary a köhanga reo fund raiser (24/11/07, 3 doctorate for his work for Mäori and for News) international conservation (25/11/07, Te 2. The Stolen Generations Group looks to Käea) apologies included in NZ Treaty Settlements • Mäori Studies at Auckland University as a possible model for Australian Prime shocked to learn that access to its courses Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to them will be restricted (4/12/07, Te Karere) (1/2/08, One News) • The Rüätoki community taking the fi rst MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 43

steps to ease their children’s trauma • Department of Conservation (DoC) caused by the police raid (4/12/07, Te has leased Te Paki farm (in the farthest Käea) North) to a Päkehä (3/4/08, Te Karere) • Dissension within the iwi has Te Arawa • A workshop to help city Mäori learn and Settlements Bill put on hold (5/12/07, Te observe tangihanga protocols has been Käea) prepared and run (3/4/08, Te Käea) • A carved pou is erected at Miropiko, site • The new arrivals area at Auckland of an ancient fortifi ed village above the International Airport has been opened Waikato River, in Hamilton (5/12/07, Te (3/4/08, Te Karere) Karere) • Mäori artefacts found in southern • Mäori, as exemplifi ed by the Mäori war- Hawkes Bay given to the Crown without dens, are shown to be the most prolifi c consultation with Ngäti Kahungungu volunteers in the community (5/12/07, (3/4/08, Te Käea) Te Käea) • A dawn ceremony to bless the widening • Te Ata Tino Toa calls on everyone to fl y of State Highway 20 by Te Puea Marae, the Mäori fl ag for fi ve days leading up to Mängere (9/4/08, Te Karere) 6 February (17/1/08, Te Käea) • GPs and nurses are retiring or going • Te Arawa and the Maketü swimming overseas and this has consequences for club work together to improve safety in Mäori people’s health (9/4/08, Te Käea) the water (17/1/08, Te Käea) • It is desirable that all New Zealanders • The appointment of a Mäori, Edward know about the meaning and purpose of Paul, to the District Court bench is cel- the Tino Rangatiratanga fl ag (9/4/08, Te ebrated in the Whakatäne Court (1/2/08, Karere) Te Käea) • The Mäori Council of the Labour Party • Ngäi Tahu and the Crown are working recommends the establishment of a together to monitor fi sh stocks around Treaty Commissioner (11/4/08, Te Käea) the South Island (1/2/08, Te Käea) • Te Papa Tongarewa now holds so • Mäori parents agree that advertising of many repatriated Mäori heads it has unhealthy foods should be banned from been called the country’s largest urupä programmes aimed at children (19/2/08, (11/4/08, Te Käea) Te Karere) • Child Poverty Action Group lobbies • The Mäori Party disputes a Human government to provide tax relief for low Rights Commission report that said income families (29/4/08, Te Käea, Te discrimination is decreasing in New Karere) Zealand (19/2/08, Te Käea) • Marlborough Sounds coastal environ- • Schools are short of experienced teach- ment working group includes local iwi, ers for new entrants, a lack felt in Kura Biosecurity NZ, Ministry of Fisheries, Kaupapa (19/2/08, Te Käea) DoC and marine farmers (29/4/08, Te • Amendments to the just-passed Karere) Waitäkere Ranges Heritage Bill arose • Ngäti Whätua ki Öräkei has made 450 through a consultation process instigated educational grants (29/4/08, Te Käea) by the Mäori Party (23/2/08, Te Käea) • The Crown and Mäori work together at The existence of such stories, and we have the fi rst meeting of the Waikato River not included stories broadcast on the 8 days Guardians Establishment Committee when no Mäori stories were broadcast on (14/3/08, Te Käea, Te Karere) English-language bulletins, establishes that 44 MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

those responsible for the latter programmes by “fi t into” Päkehä colonial culture, practices and unrefl ectively following normal practice chose imperatives. Bad Mäori are routinely portrayed to present Mäori stories that, in effect, directed as aggressive, demanding, and irresponsible viewers to think about events and situations people who do not fi t in New Zealand society in which Mäori people are mostly dangerous (McCreanor, 2008). In television portrayals, the and unattractive. This is consistent with the Mäori violence discourse often utilises shots of conclusions of earlier researchers (Comrie & haka bereft of the cultural context and meaning Fountaine, 2005; Moewaka Barnes et al., 2005; actuating the performers. Such media portray- Thompson, 1954a, 1954b; Walker, 2002). als, dominated by close-ups of vigorous Mäori men bearing and wielding weapons—taiaha, patu, mere, pükana—are readily seen as expres- Second-level agenda setting sions of barely contained aggression and anger. The White Ribbon Day March item exem- Identifi cation of second-level agendas requires plifi es how visuals cue such discourses. The more detailed analysis of how items are con- opening shot of the march has it apparently led structed to create the most immediately available by a large Mäori man who dominates the long reading (Poindexter et al., 2003; Richardson, shot (LS), his size enhanced relative to other 1998) through the use of language and visuals marchers by his proximity to the camera. The and the emphasis on or exclusion of particular camera cuts to a low angle, close-up (CU) of characteristics and elements. Space does not balloons and a young Mäori boy holding one, permit such detailed analysis of all 28 Mäori before the camera draws back to a mid-shot story items so we have focused on the 18 items (MS) in which a nearby Mäori man seems par- linking Mäori to child abuse and other vio- ticularly large compared to the boy because of lence that dominated our sample. Central to the low angle. Shots of the banner “Te Whare our analysis are the discourses through which Tangata Te Ao Märama” (The house of man- inter-group relations between settler and Mäori kind, an enlightened approach) are intercut in this country have been and currently are with a CU of a Mäori man blowing a conch; an constructed (McCreanor, 1989, 2008; Nairn instrument that media have increasingly linked & McCreanor, 1990, 1991; Phelan & Shearer, to land occupations, protest marches, and chal- 2009; Tuffi n, 2008; Wetherell & Potter, 1992). lenges. These images occupy the fi rst 13 seconds These common-sense discourses enable and of the item’s 26 second fi lm of the march and, encourage particular representations of Mäori not only create the impression that domestic and of events in which they are involved that, violence is primarily a Mäori issue—something concurrently, revitalise the discourses while confi rmed by focus group members (Gregory apparently confi rming the rightness of those et al., 2011)—but also, by cuing the physical representations (Nairn et al., 2009). size and implied power of Mäori men, it offers The majority of the items we have selected strong cues to their threatening presence and for this analysis rely on two such discourses: presumed penchant for violence. one representing Mäori, especially Mäori The item about the visit of the soon-to-be men, as inherently violent, and the other graduates of “Te Tomo” to Shane Jones’ offi ce being the “Good Mäori/Bad Mäori” discourse foregrounds (Mäori) gangs: the newsreader (McCreanor, 2008). The latter allows the referring to “gangs” twice in the introduction speaker to categorise Mäori, individuals or and, unique in our sample, the banner identify- groups as either Good (people, citizens, groups) ing the reporter and each of the three sources or Bad (people, citizens, groups) according to carried the tag question: “Gang solution?” As the extent to which they collaborate with or with news coverage of Mäori hikoi, protests, MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 45 and land occupations, the item opened and of two ranks of large, white, burning candles closed with a haka that lacked a clear cultural of which the farthest two, having been recently context such as rituals of encounter (Salmond, extinguished, were still smoking while a third 1975). As described above, deculturated haka was being snuffed out. For the last phrase, the are readily seen as declarations of strength—a camera drew back to an MS of a woman in reading encouraged by coverage of confron- white church vestments who snuffed a fourth tations in which haka dominate the visuals. and fi fth candle (7 seconds) all the while one The frequently revivified linking of haka to could faintly hear names being read. Seventeen implied violence and, on occasion, apparent seconds later the candles returned (3 seconds) lawlessness, engages smoothly with this item’s and this time a Mäori man snuffed more candles emphasis on Mäori gangs (Walker, 1996) and to the reading of names. Nearly a third of the Päkehä fears triggered by patch-wearing Mäori broadcast item, 19 of 63 seconds, was focused gang members (Walker, 2002). on this ritual. Extinguishing a candle kills its In the stories about abuse and other violence light and the burnt wick symbolises what has towards children another device encouraged been lost; for viewers the image was intensi- viewers to see Mäori, particularly men, as vio- fi ed, fi rst by the precision of the number (15) lent and irresponsible persons who are unable of Mäori children who had died and, second by or unwilling to care for others. The device con- the erroneous statement that these children had trasted, implicitly or explicitly, the victims’ died “since 2006”—some 20 months at most helplessness or attractiveness with the abuser’s rather than occurring between 1996 and 2006. physical maturity and behaviour expected of The candles, excerpted from the context of the adults. Often (11 of the 16 items) the con- initial worship, offered viewers a particular trast was built around a photo of the child. interpretation of the Project Manager’s state- For example, the photo of the Kahui twins ment: “We’ve [Mäori] got the highest rates [of in “stretch-n-grow” suits sprawled asleep on child abuse] in the country”. a blue and white check blanket emphasised Further, newsreaders and reporters consist- their helplessness before the unidentifi ed killer, ently foregrounded abuse and killing of children while a photo of Nia Glassie in her matching in these items: “A Mäori child abuse summit”, sunfl ower print dress and hat spoke of childish “man accused of killing his twin baby sons”, vitality extinguished. “charged over the death of Rotorua toddler”, Prime News (25/11/07), employed images “slain Wanganui toddler”, “two of the men from the service that began the Hui of Hope— accused of killing 2-year-old toddler…pleaded an ongoing Mäori-led project to stop child guilty to her murder”, “admitted to Starship abuse—to create a deeply affecting image of the Hospital with serious injuries”, “twin boys plight of child abuse victims. Held in late 2007 admitted to hospital with head injuries”. The at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the hui moral charge was intensifi ed by enlisting the began with a roll call of Mäori children killed victims: through photos, shots of unused toys, by abuse between 1996 and 2006. Each child and candle fl ames, encouraging viewers to view was represented by a lit candle and this image the adults accused of their deaths as callous and provided the emotional core of the Prime News worthless, bad Mäori. That moral judgement item. After a two sentence introduction, the became even more compelling when the accused newsreader (voice over—VO) told viewers: “15 appeared unkempt, unrepentant, or displayed candles, one for each Mäori child killed since a defi ant pride. These were the only kind of 2006 [sic] were lit, and then extinguished”. Mäori story that appeared regularly across For 9 seconds, until he said “…were lit”, the the sampling period. Over the same period the screen was fi lled by an extreme close-up (ECU) English-language bulletins reported only one 46 MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

story of such violence by non-Mäori, the kill- drama of the protest and the priority given ing of a 2-year-old toddler by a paroled convict the protestors’ critical account of the theft and who was the babysitter. sentencing. In contrast, representations of Mäori in Mäori-language news bulletins were more Discussion varied and lacked the relentless negativity of the English-language bulletins. More detailed Mäori stories make up a tiny proportion (less analyses of Mäori-language news is needed than 2%) of the news items in our representa- to establish whether, or to what extent, items tive sample of English-language newscasts and broadcast by Te Käea and Te Karere continue the majority of these items encourage viewers to be shaped by common-sense spun from to think about Mäori violence towards and colonial discourses (Rankine & McCreanor, abuse of babies and children in their care as if 2004). Given that conscientisation is grounded that were a defi ning characteristic of the people. in the naming of the world (Freire, 1970), such Representing Mäori parents and whänau as child analyses are likely to show that items are con- abusers is consistent with analyses (McGregor, structed using both new, counter-hegemonic 1993, 2002; McGregor & Comrie, 1995; Nairn resources and settler racist common-sense & McCreanor, 1991) that showed Mäori crime as those involved participate in their own was considered newsworthy, because the stories decolonisation. feed into a hegemonic narrative in which Mäori We argue following Gerbner (1972) that the are cast as inadequate, poorly socialised primi- paucity of Mäori stories in English-language tives unworthy of full citizenship. For whatever news bulletins effectively erases Mäori as reason, the fi rst-level agenda described here responsible citizens, amounting to an assault was consciously chosen. There were other on Mäori health and wellbeing. That absence Mäori stories available but not broadcast, so is a serious threat to New Zealand’s ability we conclude that English-language television to build an equitable society in which Mäori is, like other media, committed to promoting participate fully both as tangata whenua and the hegemonic, racist narrative that excludes as responsible members of society. and denigrates Mäori. The other 12 items did Unfortunately, the negative effect of the not offer balancing alternative portrayals. Most fi rst-level agenda is greatly intensifi ed by the positive of those 12 were items about the deaths second-level agenda, the way viewers are of three Mäori men, each of which was framed encouraged to think about the few Mäori peo- by the achievements or status of the individual ple and events they are shown. In our sample, allowing viewers to differentiate each man from as in so much earlier research, the second-level the unattractive bad Mäori of so many other agenda encourages viewers to see Mäori as Mäori story items. Similarly, the Mäori woman violent, criminal, and irresponsible apart from who sketched the snowballing impact of the isolated exceptions (Nairn, Pega, McCreanor, Kopu Mill closure (One News, Tonight) was Rankine, & Barnes, 2006). That assessment is shown as a responsible, thinking citizen but, not ours alone, focus group participants were as she was an unnamed vox pop, her presence very clear (Gregory et al., 2011) that Mäori could do little to counter the more common were represented negatively: negative representations of Mäori. In the items about the protest over sentences given two heli- Wendy: …See with Mäori everything is bad. copter pilots who stole Ngäi Tahu pounamu, Education is bad, poverty, family violence, the Mäori victims of the theft spoke into an child abuse… (Gregory et al., 2011, p. 55) unsympathetic context created by the visual MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 47

Dave: When the majority of the minority com- What our analyses have shown and focus mit something, for example like the majority group members confirm is that, in English- of Mäori do a lot of violent crimes in the soci- language television news bulletins, Mäori are ety, then nobody interest [sic] to learn about both symbolically annihilated and demonised. Mäori culture. (Gregory et al., 2011, p. 56) And it does not have to be like that. First, Te Käea (MTS) and Te Karere routinely broadcast The media created knowledge of Mäori utilised Mäori news stories in which Mäori people fi ll by focus group participants has wider general- diverse roles and events are placed within the ity as shown by a recent report from Research appropriate cultural context. That means there New Zealand—“How the New Zealand public is no justifi cation for limiting Mäori participa- view the causes of child abuse” (Kalafatelis, tion in English-language news stories to the 2011)—in which 51% of those surveyed viewed current offerings that are so damaging for all child abuse as a cultural issue. That explanation living in Aotearoa. Second, there are excellent of child abuse appears to be a direct refl ection resources (Archie, 2007) to assist journalists of the English-language bulletins’ preference and others involved to produce television news for negative news items. Both the focus group that is not prescribed by the derogatory com- participants and those responding to the survey mon-sense and everyday production practices illustrate Hartley’s point that: in complex, plu- that produce the unacceptable, racist represen- ral societies we cannot know most of our fellow tations described above. citizens directly and are forced to rely on the stories “both factual and fi ctional” told by our media (Hartley, 1996, p. 207). It follows, when Acknowledgements the predominant representation of a particular group is negative, that becomes the reality for We acknowledge and thank Dr Sue Abel for her most media consumers. insights in the very early stages of data analysis. 48 MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

References Haami, B. (2008). Urutahi koataata Mäori: Working with Mäori in film and television. Auckland: Abel, S. (1997). Shaping the news: Waitangi Day on Renee Mark. television. Auckland: Auckland University Press. Harding, R. (2006). Historical representations of Archie, C. (2007). Pou korero: A journalist’s guide aboriginal people in the Canadian news media. to Maori and current affairs. Wellington: New Discourse & Society, 17(2), 205–235. Zealand Journalist’s Training Organisation. Hartley, J. (1996). Popular reality: Journalism, Budarick, J., & King, D. (2008). Framing ideology in modernity, popular culture. New York, NY: niche media: The Koori Mail’s construction of Arnold. the Redfern riots. Journal of Sociology, 44(4), Hartley, J. (2004). Television, nation, and indigenous 355–371. media. Television & New Media, 5(1), 7–25. Cochrane, J. (1990). Media treatment of Mäori issues. Henry, F., & Tator, C. (2002). Discourses of Sites, 21, 5–29. domination: Racial bias in the Canadian English- Colvin, G. (2010). The soliloquy of whiteness: Colonial language press. Toronto, Canada: University of discourse and New Zealand’s settler press 1839– Toronto Press. 1873. PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, Kalafatelis, E. (2011). How the New Zealand pub- Christchurch. lic view the causes of child abuse. Wellington: Comrie, M., & Fountaine, S. (2005). Knowing through Research New Zealand. news: The information content of TVNZ news. Lacy, S., Riffe, D., Stoddard, S., Martin, H., & Chang, Paper presented at the Third International K.-K. (2001). Sample size for newspaper con- Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, tent analysis in multi-year studies. Journalism University of Cambridge, 2–5 August. and Mass Communication Quarterly, 78(4), Daniels, G. (2006). The role of Native American print 836–845. and online media in the ‘era of big stories’: A Liu, J., & Mills, D. (2006). Modern racism and neo- comparative case study of Native American liberal globalization: The discourses of plausible outlets’ coverage of the Red Lake shootings. deniability and their multiple functions. Journal Journalism, 7(3), 321–342. of Community and Applied Social Psychology, Due, C. (2010). A discursive analysis of media repre- 16, 83–99. sentations of belonging in Australia. PhD thesis, Mäori Television (MTS). (2010). Mai i Aotearoa ki School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, te ao whänui. Pürongo-ä-tau—Annual report Australia. 2010. Auckland: MTS. Fiske, J. (2000). White watch. In S. Cottle (Ed.), Ethnic Matheson, D. (2007). The interpretative resources of minorities and the media (pp. 50–66). Milton Aotearoa New Zealand journalists reporting on Keynes, UK: Open University Press. Maori. New Zealand Journal of Media Studies, Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New 10(2), 91–105. York, NY: Continuum Publishing Company. McCallum, K. (2007). Indigenous violence as a Furniss, E. (2001). Aboriginal justice, the media, and ‘Mediated Public Crisis’. Proceedings of the the symbolic management of Aboriginal/Euro- 2007 Australia New Zealand Communication Canadian relations. American Indian Culture Association Conference, University of and Research Journal, 25(2), 1–36. Melbourne, 5–6 July, Melbourne, Australia. Gargett, A. (2005). A critical media analysis of the McCreanor, T. (1989). Talking about race. In H. Redfern riot. Indigenous Law Bulletin, 18, Yensen, K. Hague & T. McCreanor (Eds.), 1–7. Honouring the Treaty: An introduction for Gerbner, G. (1972). Violence in television drama: Pakeha to the Treaty of Waitangi (pp. 90–118). Trends and symbolic functions. In G. Comstock Auckland: Penguin Books. & E. Rubinstein (Eds.), Media content and con- McCreanor, T. (2008). Discourse, media and health trols. Washington, DC: US Government Printing in Aotearoa. In K. Dew & A. Matheson (Eds.), Offi ce. Understanding health inequalities in Aotearoa Gregory, M., Borell, B., McCreanor, T., Moewaka New Zealand (pp. 85–96). Dunedin: University Barnes, A., Nairn, R., Rankine, J., … Kaiwai, H. of Otago Press. (2011). Reading news about Mäori: Responses McGregor, J. (1993). Crime news as prime news in from non-Mäori audiences. AlterNative, 7(1), New Zealand’s metropolitan press. Auckland: 51–64. Legal Research Foundation. MAI JOURNAL VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 49

McGregor, J. (2002). Crime news: The cutting edge. Rankine, J., Nairn, R., Abel, S., McManus, A.-L., In J. McGregor & M. Comrie (Eds.), What’s McCreanor, T., Moewaka Barnes, A., et al. news: Reclaiming journalism in New Zealand (2011). Content and source analysis of news- (pp. 81–95). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press. paper items about Mäori issues. Journalism: McGregor, J., & Comrie, M. (1995). Balance and Theory, Practice and Criticism, (under review). fairness in broadcasting news 1985–1994. Rankine, J., Nairn, R., Moewaka Barnes, A., Gregory, Palmerston North: Massey University. M., Kaiwai, H., Borell, B., McCreanor, T. (2008). Moewaka Barnes, A., Gregory, M., McCreanor, T., Media & Te Tiriti Waitangi 2007. Tamaki Nairn, R., Pega, F., & Rankine, J. (2005). Media Makaurau/Auckland: Kupu Taea: Media and and Te Tiriti o Waitangi 2004. Auckland: Kupu Te Tiriti Project. Taea. Richardson, K. (1998). Signs and wonders: Interpreting Nairn, R., & McCreanor, T. (1990). Sensitivity and the economy through television. In A. Bell & P. insensitivity: An imbalance in Pakeha accounts Garret (Eds.), Approaches to media discourse of Maori/Pakeha relations. Journal of Language (pp. 220–250). Oxford: Oxford University Press. and Social Psychology, 9(3), 293–308. Salmond, A. (1975). Hui: A study of Maori ceremonial Nairn, R., & McCreanor, T. (1991). Race talk and gatherings. Wellington: Reed. common sense: Patterns in Pakeha discourse Simmons, K., & LeCouteur, A. (2008). Modern racism on Maori/Pakeha relations in New Zealand. in the media: Constructions of the ‘possibility Journal of Language and Social Psychology, of change’ in accounts of two Australian riots. 10(4), 245–262. Discourse & Society, 19, 667–687. Nairn, R., McCreanor, T., Rankine, J., Moewaka Thompson, R. (1953). Maori affairs and the New Barnes, A., Pega, F., & Gregory, A. (2009). Zealand press. Journal of the Polynesian Society, ‘Media surveillance of the natives’: A New 62(4), 366–383. Zealand case study—Lake Taupo air space. Thompson, R. (1954a). Maori affairs and the New Pacifi c Journalism Review, 15(1), 131–148. Zealand press, part II. Journal of the Polynesian Nairn, R., Pega, F., McCreanor, T., Rankine, J., & Society, 63(1), 1–16. Barnes, A. (2006). Media, racism and public Thompson, R. (1954b). Maori affairs and the New health psychology. Journal of Health Psychology, Zealand press, part III. Journal of the Polynesian 11(2), 183–196. Society, 63(3–4), 216–227. Paul, J. (2005). Challenges lie ahead for MTS in the Tuffi n, K. (2008). Racist discourse in New Zealand and Aoteoroa public sphere. Pacific Journalism Australia: Reviewing the last 20 years. Social and Review, 11(1), 42–46. Personality Psychology Compass, 2(2), 591–607. Phelan, S. (2009). The newspaper as political antag- van Dijk, T. (1991). Racism and the press. London: onist: Editorial discourse and the othering of Routledge. Maori perspectives on the foreshore and seabed Walker, R. (1990). The role of the press in defi ning confl ict. Journalism, 10(2), 217–237. Pakeha perceptions of the Maori. In P. Spoonley Phelan, S., & Shearer, F. (2009). The “Radical”, the & W. Hirsh (Eds.), Between the lines: Racism and “Activist” and hegemonic newspaper articula- the New Zealand media (pp. 37–46). Auckland: tion of the Aotearoa New Zealand foreshore Heinemann Reed. and seabed confl ict. Journalism Studies, 10(2), Walker, R. (1996). Maori and the media. In Nga pepa 220–237. a Ranginui: The Walker papers (pp. 142–160). Poindexter, P., Smith, L., & Haider, D. (2003). Race Auckland: Penguin Books. and ethnicity in local television news: Framing, Walker, R. (2002). Mäori news is bad news. In J. story assignments and source selections. Journal McGregor & M. Comrie (Eds.), What’s news: of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 47(4), Reclaiming journalism in New Zealand. 524–536. Palmerston North: Dunmore. Rankine, J., & McCreanor, T. (2004). Colonial cov- Wetherell, M., & Potter, J. (1992). Mapping the erage: Media reporting of a bicultural health language of racism: Discourse and the legitima- research partnership. Journalism, 5(1), 5–29. tion of exploitation. New York, NY: Harvester Wheatsheaf.