Decolonising journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Using a Tiriti-led framework for news practice

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Journal Title
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Language
Date
2023
Authors
Ross, Tara
Abstract

In 2020, newspaper conglomerate and owner of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest news website, Stuff, issued an historic public apology for its racist portrayal of Indigenous Māori after an internal investigation showed it had contributed to stigma, marginalisation and stereotypes against Māori. This study explores what has changed since Stuff’s apology and, by deploying an analytical framework grounded in Māori worldviews and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the founding treaty signed between Māori and British colonisers), demonstrates how an Indigenous lens can help news organisations better identify and rethink Western-centric journalistic norms to develop more inclusive and equitable practice. The study analyses Stuff’s then largest newspaper, The Press, via a content analysis of two constructed weeks, one before Stuff’s apology (n=480 articles) and another post-apology (n=430 articles), along with a topic modelling analysis of 5091 articles published between 2016 and 2021. Analysis grounded in Kaupapa Māori and te Tiriti shows some improvement in news coverage – as well as opportunities for more equitable representation by incorporating Indigenous tikanga (custom) in reporting practice. It also finds ongoing problems, indicating more fundamental and transformative action is needed for news media organisations to meet their commitments to anti-racism and de-Westernising the field.

Description
Citation
Ross T (2023). Decolonising journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Using a Tiriti-led framework for news practice. Journalism Practice.
Keywords
journalism, representation, race, Māori, Indigenous, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, content analysis, racism
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
Tāngata whenua | Indigenous people (Aotearoa); Māori people; People, Māori
Pāpāho | Pāho; Paoho; Pāoho; Whakapaoho; Broadcasting; Mass media
ANZSRC fields of research
47 - Language, communication and culture::4701 - Communication and media studies::470105 - Journalism studies
45 - Indigenous studies::4511 - Ngā tāngata, te porihanga me ngā hapori o te Māori (Māori peoples, society and community)::451121 - Ngā tirohanga Māori (Māori perspectives)
45 - Indigenous studies::4507 - Te ahurea, reo me te hītori o te Māori (Māori culture, language and history)::450707 - Te ahurea Māori (Māori culture)
45 - Indigenous studies::4519 - Other Indigenous data, methodologies and global Indigenous studies::451907 - Indigenous methodologies
Rights
2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.