Are the NZ media trying to cause protests?
I should really stop reading NZ news but the algorithm on You Tube got me with this one.
"Politicians need treaty on Treaty", by Newsroom where three people constantly acknowledging they are not Maori report on the coalition government, where two of the leaders are Maori, predominantly presenting the only view held by Maori as the policies of the Maori Party who won 3.08% of the vote in a country where Maori are 17.8% of the population.
That is stupid. Anyone with half a grasp of mathematics can see that it is obvious that many Maori either don't hold the beliefs of the Maori Party or find other beliefs more important to the extent that they voted for them instead.
To paraphrase National MP James Meager, the left do not own Maori, the poor or the workers and no party and no ideology has a right to claim ownership over anything or anyone. Especially along racial lines. I am sure that Laura Walters, Marc Daalder and Tim Murph would be horrified to be accused of racism yet they just blithely assigned an ideology to an entire race of people.
Then, based on their assumption of all those 'right thinking' Maori they continued with their attacks on the government and the promotion of the singular view that Maori will be incensed by the racism of the government in removing the Labour Party's attempt at the United States separate but equal doctrine.
And hell, maybe some will. But I think they are a lot more likely too, and the situation will be far more volatile, if the media keep on throwing petrol on the fire which is what reporting without balance and fairness is. I asked in April, What is wrong with the New Zealand Media. I don't think they have figured it out yet, but hey, race riots make great news.
Update
Apparently it is working as well. I have just read this in the news. Chong is a Councillor in New Plymouth, New Zealand who has just had his car shot at in what he believes to be a continuation of threats about his stance against Maori Wards.
Fighting back tears, Chong told a two-thirds full council chamber "don't shoot the messenger" before saying that he would not be fronting any resistance to a Māori ward next year because he feared for his safety.
"I won't be saying anything because I believe you've won. You've won because of the tactics I've received over the past five years.
"I'm now scared. I've had my life threatened several times in letters. I now can't walk by myself at night because I've been told I will be king-hit and I'll wake up in a hospital. I've had people say they will grab my dog, chop it up into quarters and leave it on my doorstep. I've had my daughter hassled."
RNZ, 7th August 2024
Admittedly, it was happening before the Newsroom report so not derivative but since the one sided promotion of view has been going on for a while now I think it shows a good example of the cultural climate in New Zealand at the moment.
