Maori and Media: The Basics

Out of 1757 Stories on ONE News, 3 News and Prime, only 1.8% referred to Maori, which are 15% of our population. Of this small percentage, 56% were about one single topic: child abuse.

This means that someone forming their opinion or image of Maori people only based on the surrounding Media, as many people do, would have a negative image that link Maori people to crime, drugs, domestic and child abuse and poverty. This is a vicious cycle as it perpetuates a stereotype and encourages a 'self fulfilling prophecy'.

Mainstream Media and Maori.

Mainstream media have a history of excluding, marginalising and stereotyping Maori, Maori issues, and te ao Maori. It also has a history of not reporting treaty issues fairly or properly.

This is improving, some media practitioners and organizations are doing better job than others, but much still needs to be done to create a fair and balances representation of Maori combat the negative images perpetuated by the media.

Commonalities between Indigenous Races around the World

Indigenous people are too often at the bottom of social indicators in their country. They also share the experience of being colonized. These two factors are not unrelated. The resurgence of indigenous groups reclaiming their resources has created conflict with the state. Too often, mainstream media has represented such claims, not as justifiable requests for land and resources illegally taken but as “taking something away from “us”. 

Us being the dominant ‘majority’ that doesn't include the indigenous minority. The mainstream media has power in determining the majority perception about indigenous people: not definitely and absolutely, but it certainly offers influence and reinforces the status quo. It can encourage or undermine fair and progressive rights and often chooses the latter.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous People by Rodolfo Stavenhagen said: These findings are of special concern to the special rapporteur and highlight a systematic negative description of maori in media coverage, an issue that should be addressed through the anti-racism provisions of New Zealand’s Human Rights Acts.