The wrath of New Zealand's Favorite Tabloid

Hot on the heels of one of our fellow students justifiably vitriolic comments regarding Stuff.co.nz (or at least it would've been if I'd finished this post on the day I began it), here's another example which says as much about the overall state of New Zealand's homegrown news media, as it does about this medium being a ripe source of inferential racism to really sink our analytical teeth into.

The story in question appeared in the New Zealand Herald on 15th March, it involved a 19 year old Polynesian lady, Christina Victor, who was wrongly accused of theft by some Glassons staff who reckoned she "looked dodgy". After a lengthy inquisition which taxed her nerves no end, they admitted there was no evidence whatsoever she had stolen the near-new pair of shoes she was wearing, and let her depart without any hint of an apology for the wrongful accusation. The Herald's "investigation" into the incident (God they love using that word) did not procure an apology from Glassons regional manager, who stated the companies own investigation was in progress and he would provide no further comment.


While its always good to see this kind of story reported in the news media, I couldn't help but recall a similar story of somebody offended by racist behavior which appeared in the Herald several months ago. There was a definite differentiation between these stories for two reasons, the latter happened to involve a young white male and... was subsequently placed on the front page of the paper! That's right, a young adult turned away from a backpackers for being Kiwi, with a far more prominent portrait splashed across the front page and lengthy write up involving everything from his mothers absolute frustration at the ordeal, to assertions that the practice constituted reverse-racism. The next days issue was filled with letters to the editor where the readers (who got their letters published) decried how anyone could ever consider a Kiwi to be "booze-loving", "intimidating" or "uneducated", and several follow-up articles continued these sentiments into the next week or so. The portrayal of Ryan, the Kiwi, as having been unnecessarily victimized by a foreign owner of a backpackers, obviously attracted far more attention from the Heralds own editors and readership than Christina, of an ethnic minority, being unnecessarily victimized by Kiwi staff at Glassons.

The irony in this case is both considerable and absurd in equal measure. The notion that people who call themselves "Kiwis" are this thin-skinned when discriminated against by people of foreign descent, yet have absolutely no problem making racist judgements on a day to day basis really... well, it doesn't just grind my gears, it should really grind the gears of anybody whose even mildly adverse to blatant hypocrisy in any form. I also remember another Herald story a while back regarding an advert on TradeMe for a flatmate, one of the criteria being "not Asian or Indian". Sure enough, while the article didn't seem to be framed in any way that might give support or dissent, the next days reader feedback from readers was most definitely on the side of the party which had written the advert. Selective publishing of letters to the editor, along with a marked differentiation in the level of coverage given to stories dealing with race relations, suggests racism is abundant in much of New Zealand's news media. Clearly "Kiwis" have more value, and therefore more right not to be marginalized, stereotyped or - God forbid - discriminated against on basis of "race", than anyone belonging to an ethnic minority. Considering the expansive influence our news media has upon public attitudes and perceptions of an issue, one would hope the inherent bias within such organizations would be suppressed enough to provide fair and balanced reporting. I've seen some pretty ridiculous "news reporting" on Fox before, but when you really think about it, the fundamental concepts are just as visible in our homegrown news media.



Disclaimer: I know Ryan Turney and his family, he's a friend of my brother and we recently holidayed with them on Great Barrier Island early this year, about two weeks before the discrimination incident. In no way do I trivialize what happened to him, in fact I was pretty annoyed by it myself as all the Turney's are very far removed from any of the aforementioned supposed Kiwi stereotypes. Yes, he did not deserve to be treated that way, but as we all know neither does anybody else regardless of ethnicity, class, gender, et al. My gripes are solely against the media on this one. JF

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11590670

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11606044