This led to more than two thousand online responses on Close Up’s Facebook page, with most upset by the comments:  “I am embarrassed about the arrogance and ignorance of Popata”, “He should focus his anger on a better New Zealand of one people”, and “I am totally bored with this victim mentality.” Others took issue about whether Popata should have been given any air time at all.

Close Up followed up the initial story with a panel debate the following evening. In his introduction to the debate host Mark Sainsbury said: “Have we scratched the surface of a racist underbelly or exposed leaders of a cause with little support?”  Two guests were in the same studio – John Ansell who is an outspoken right wing blogger and Morgan Godfrey who is a 20 year old law student and commentator about Māori politics.  Mana party leader Hone Harawira joined the debate via a video link.  The debate deteriorated into Ansell and Harawira knocking heads. When interviewed about his perspective of the coverage of a race relations issue, Godfrey said he was naive to think the discussion would be about politics and race relations, in hindsight he said he would have declined the invitation.

“With John Ansell in the room, I should’ve realised the discussion was never going to be informative and reasoned, of course that was never the intention. The intention appeared to be to get John Ansell and Hone Harawira together, play them off against each other and then have me pipe up occasionally as the token “moderate” or “young person”, says Godfrey.

“Of the panels I’ve done, that was the most venal. It achieved nothing other than to provide John Ansell with a platform to parrot his flawed and offensive views on Maori and New Zealand society.” Godfrey says he was stunned and confused with what was said.  “And, I think understandably, angry with Mark Sainsbury’s unwillingness to shift the conversation towards reason, as opposed to hyperbole, misrepresentations and lies which is where Sainsbury directed the discussion.”  Godfrey believes there is a lot of value in raising the issue that was debated but the way it was done had no value whatsoever.  “Racism needs to be handled better by the media.  The way media frame the debate isn’t helpful at all – they want the various sides to clash as opposed to reconciling them.  Most of the feedback I got was overwhelmingly negative about the debate and that it achieved nothing.  I also don’t think anyone learnt anything from it.”  Godfrey says racism in the media is not uncommon and it annoys him but generally he chooses not to comment on it. 

Māori Television head of news Te Anga Nathan said the channel has in the past featured the Popata brother when there was news value, as when the brothers jostled the Prime Minister at the Treaty grounds at Waitangi Day this year. Nathan says when the hikoi to Parliament over asset sales was happening its news team focused on the whole journey and not any particular participant.  “There’s no point in beating something up and making it controversial.”

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres says Close Up’s approach is not untypical. The media often become fixated on controversial figures making statements rather than setting out to cover the original event which in this case was a hikoi opposed to asset sales. 

“And then it’s easy to invite people’s feedback.  It’s not rocket science that they will get it and then they hype it up to another level by inviting two people representing two extremes on the issue to debate it, and side-lining the only person who was there to discuss the topic in a more detached way.” 

De Bres believes this kind of approach was seen in media coverage of Waitangi Day, this year and in past years. 

“In a way this kind of coverage does more harm than an individual racist statement in a public arena.  Media really need to think whether it is responsible to trigger this kind of reaction in the area of race relations where there is a known level of prejudice in the general community.  At the very least the media shouldn’t feed it.  The effect is to confirm people’s prejudices, and reinforce a long suffering feeling on the part of many Māori that their issues are not fairly represented in the media.”

To encourage public discussion the Commission will host a panel discussion at the New Zealand Diversity Forum 2012, at the Aotea Centre, Auckland, 19 – 20 August: Who watches the digital watchers? A panel discussion on rights, responsibilities and regulation in the age of digital news.  Check the New Zealand Diversity Forum 2012 website or NZ Diversity Forum on Facebook for updates in coming months.

The accused is a refugee from Somalia and journalists described him as “a knife wielding Somali man…”, “Somali man goes on knife rampage” and so on.  Not to be outdone the outspoken radio talkback host, Michael Laws, made the following comments on-air.  “I’ve got something against Somalian refugees.  No, I’ll be honest about it.  I don’t think they should be here….” And so on.  Maybe the callers weren’t phoning in so his comments continued to deteriorate.  “They don’t fit in and they conspicuously don’t fit in and they’re just a bit too much of a problem.”  The Christchurch daily newspaper, the Press, published an editorial cartoon about the incident which has led to complaints to the Press Council.

A Press Council spokesperson describes complaints about cartoons as tricky because they are regarded as opinion or satire and in this case the complaint was laid on the grounds of discrimination.  It will be considered next month. 

Meanwhile deputy editor of The Press, Ric Stevens, says the paper operates under a code of ethics but cartoons are different and looked at on a case by case basis.  “There is a history of cartoons that is vigorous and edgy.  This one is confronting but it doesn’t talk about a specific ethnic group.  It talks more about the issue of whether committing a violent crime disqualifies someone’s right to stay in the country.” 

The director of the Multi Culture Learning centre in Christchurch, Patrick O’Connor, disagrees and describes the cartoon as abhorrent.   “That an individual has allegedly transgressed criminally is irrelevant to that person’s status or nationality. Human beings sometimes behave in unacceptable ways. This is inevitable and such people belong to all cultures and ethnicities.”  The backlash has seen harassment, bullying and verbal abuse against the 200 plus Somali refugees who live in Christchurch.  A spokesman for the community, Hassan Ibrahim, says Somali people are being labelled and feel separated from the whole community.  “They are regarded as second class citizens.  We are considering relocating some to Australia or even the U.K as this is a country that doesn’t respect cultural diversity.”  He says Somali children fear bullying at school and women are scared to wear their traditional dress when shopping.  “The accused was labelled as a Somali man when he should have been referred to as a man with a mental illness.  He remains in hospital getting treatment for his mental illness which has been an on-going health issue for him.”  Mr Ibrahim says the media coverage has reinforced this country’s failure to accept different cultures.  He has discussed the issue with the Human Rights Commission and is urging the Race Relations Commissioner to focus more on educating New Zealanders about cultural diversity.  Commissioner Joris de Bres says this is already a top priority for him and the Commission..  “We do it through the diversity action programme and other things such as sport around the country.  It’s also up to every organisation to do the same.” 

Mr de Bres agrees with Mr Ibrahim about some of the media coverage and points the finger at two particular examples that he believes were offensive.  “The cartoon was in very poor taste and Michael Laws’ comments on RadioLive stereotyped the entire Somali community and caused a great deal of grief.  It has led to one person’s actions resulting in the whole community being given a hard time.  The media needs to be aware that every time they label someone it affects others in that community as well.” 

The Commission received ten complaints about the cartoon and has advised the complainants to take the issue to the Press Council, the appropriate body.

Mr de Bres acknowledges that the Press did follow up by reporting on the reaction and concern from the Somali community which was positive.  “But it still begs the question as to why the media use ethnic references in some cases, but not others.  That needs a lot more thought.  It sparks the kind of reaction that we have seen and there needs to be a very good reason to give such prominence to a person’s ethnicity.  Why do we say someone is a Somali and not that another one is a Pakeha or Dutch?” Mr de Bres will be in Christchurch early next month to talk with refugee and migrant groups about the media reports and other concerns they have.

The cartoon published in the Christchurch Press that led to distress for the local Somali community.

A host on the afternoon programme, Paul Brennan who was standing in for Jim Mora, was discussing niche Barbie doll products with the panel and referred to a ‘suicide bomber Barbie’ doll and then a panellist  went on to talk about a ‘terrorist’ Barbie, with a belt.  The satirical comments led to over ten complaints to RNZ and then the BSA.  In its findings the Authority said panellists were offering commentary and opinion in a satirical manner.  “Comments were light-hearted and intended to be satirical/a joke – most viewers would not have been offended or distressed by them taking into account the context.”  Its ruling also said they were clearly commentary and opinion rather than statements of fact.

As from this month it is also launching a new live daily Maori language show.  Since 16 April the channel’s weekday broadcast hours will be brought forward from 7pm to start at 4.30pm.  Te Reo’s weekend broadcast schedule will run from 7pm to 11pm.  Te Reo executive producer, Eruera Morgan, says the re-launch will no doubt increase the programming opportunities for the channel and the community it serves.  Mr Morgan will also host the new live daily infotainment show, MATAORA, which will screen weeknights from 6.30pm – 7.00pm.  “The show will look at issues affecting New Zealand and offers an engaging and alternative view to daily news and entertainment, with discussion about current events, sports and youth issues.”  Te Reo is available only on digital and can be accessed via Freeview Satellite channel 24 and SKY channel 59.

The fact that Deaker himself refused to comment is understandable, but the reported response from Sky TV that they were unable to release a copy of the episode without Deaker’s permission beggars belief. This was a publicly broadcast programme and surely Sky TV has a responsibility to release it if asked so that people can know what Deaker actually said before they comment?

The New Zealand Herald reported the following day that they would be taking no action against Deaker, but continued to refuse to release the tape of Deaker’s programme, Deaker on Sport. Sky TV spokeswoman Kirsty Way said “the remark was made during a live discussion and its meaning was taken out of context when read in isolation”. She again     said that “a copy of the tape could be released only with Deaker’s approval because he had editorial control of the show”.

People who are concerned about the reports can complain to Sky TV as the broadcaster, pursuant to the Broadcasting Standards Act. There is a specific electronic complaint form for Sky TV. Sky TV is obliged to respond and will of course also have to reveal exactly what the comments were. One of the four fundamental principles of the Pay TV code  is that “pay television broadcasters should operate in a socially responsible manner”, and standard 7 (Fairness) requires that “people should not be portrayed in a way which represents them as inherently inferior or which encourages discrimination against a section of the community protected by human rights legislation”. Human rights legislation makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of religious belief.

You can find information on the theme, activities and events on the Race Relations Day web pages .

7pm start at the Owen Glenn Building, The University of Auckland Business School, 12 Grafton Road.  It tackles the hot topic of employee discrimination, cultural stereotyping and career competencies.  Facilitated by cross-cultural trainer, Wong Liu Shueng, the line-up of speakers includes Jilnaught Wong, Lin Zhuo, Shawn Tan and Yik Kun Heng. RSVP and payment options can be viewed on the Futuredragonz website.

Mr Singh had been awarded an AUT/Pacific Islands Media association postgraduate scholarship in 2009 and he is now pledging to work for a stronger and independent Fiji media.  He was awarded a Masters in Communication Studies (MCS) with honours degree for his thesis entitled The 2000 Speight coup in Fiji: An analysis of the role of The Fiji Times and the impact of partisan media.  “My choice of thesis wasn’t very difficult as I was aware of the cultural and political complexities facing Mahendra Chaudhry’s multiracial government after his landslide win in the 1999 election.  I undertook to research and demonstrate the impact that some so-called free media can have in the fall of democracy in a developing country.”

Also at the graduation a young Samoan journalist, Lanuola Tusani, became the first person to be capped with the new Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism.  Ms Tusani had previously worked for the Samoa Observer and other media in Apia.  She now hopes to work in mainstream New Zealand media.

Karen Abplanalp’s investigation of “unethical” investment by the NZ Superannuation Fund in West Papua’s controversial Freeport gold mine came from an assignment and led to much public debate on the issue.  Her article ‘Blood Money’ has now been nominated for a national award.  Ms Abplanalp says the US-owned goldmine has been implicated in a long history of human rights violations by Indonesian forces.  Her article notes that in 2006 the US embassy in Wellington described West Papua in a cable as a “war zone in many places”, and “it has all the makings of the next East Timor, except that this time, Jakarta will not let go”.  She says the NZSF has less than $20 million invested in the mine and that chief executive Adrian Orr was “immensely proud” of the investment, saying they can help West Papua.  Ms Abplanalp says she became interested in the issue when attending a public talk by Indonesia Human Rights Committee spokesperson Marie Leadbetter as part of the Asia-Pacific journalism course at AUT.  “She outlined the issues with West Papua, which were quite an eye-opener, particularly with the mine.”

The site takes over from one that was set up five years ago.  The university’s dean of the Faculty of Design and Creative Industries, Desna Jury, says she’s become strongly aware of how important the Pacific Media Centre and its publications are and describes the new site as a real asset for the whole pacific region.  The centre’s director says the Review is the only journalism based research publication in New Zealand and the Pacific islands.  Professor David Robie says it was very under resourced when first started but managed to create a debate on media issues that weren’t being aired. The journal was published by the University of the South Pacific before finding a permanent home in New Zealand and being re-launched at AUT.      

Their efforts have been turned into a TV series Songs From The Inside, starting on Sunday the 18^th of March at 8pm on Māori Television.  The series covers the 10 weeks the musicians taught the prisoners a step-by-step music programme.  Each episode reveals a little more of the human story behind the prison statistic, ending in an hour-long special in which the songs the prisoners wrote, sang and recorded will be revealed.  Director Julian Arahanga (Once Were Warriors’ Nig Heke) says it was crucial the series was as real as its uncompromising surroundings.  “Once inside the prisons, the cameras rolled.  We knew we would face barriers, but none of us could have predicted what would emerge when those walls finally came down.”  Julian says music therapy is used in prisons throughout the world, but Songs From The Inside is the first production to bring in established musicians and record the workshops, challenges and outcomes on film.  All participating prisoners were minimum or medium security; none were sexual offenders or had committed crimes against people under the age of 18; and none received monetary payment.  Tama, at Rimutaka Prison, says he knows people will judge him. “I was a disgrace, blinded by drugs and stupidity, anger and violence. My fists did my talking. Karma. I deserved what came to me. I deserve it.”  One of the musicians Maisey says she was shaken, inspired and humbled by the experience.  “At the end of the day they are going to be out among us and before that I’d rather they be around something positive rather than negative.  That’s what we’re giving them – tools in music, tools in writing, and tools in therapy. Write it out. Don’t lash out.”

It offers a writer of Pacific heritage the chance to work for three months on a creative writing project exploring Pacific identity, culture or history at the University of Hawai’i.  The project may be in any genre, but priority is given to works that focus on developing New Zealand literature in the genres of fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction (including biography, history, arts-related and cultural topics) and playwriting.  The residency is valued at NZ$30,000 and includes return airfares to Hawai‘i, accommodation costs and a monthly stipend. Previous recipients have included authors Sarona Aiono-Iosefa and Marisa Maepu, poet Tusiata Avia, playwrights Victor Rodger and Makerita Urale, and filmmakers Sima Urale and Toa Fraser. Hawai‘i has been identified as a strategic location for artists and is considered the hub of Pacific writing with numerous universities, library resources, networks, writers’ forums and publishers.  This year’s Residency is available from August to November 2012. The deadline for applications is Monday 2 April.

Go to the Fullbright website or contact Makerita Urale at Creative New Zealand for further information.

Titled Communication, Culture and Society in Papua New Guinea, Yu tok wanem? it explores work from young researchers and is focused on encouraging them to contribute original research of their own. Social concerns, family violence, and critical reflection of the media are just a few of the issues raised in the book.  DWU lecturer Patrick Matbob says to see students transform from being nervous, shy and uncertain to being self-confident was a deeply satisfying experience.  The students who were involved wrote these sorts of comments in the book:  “In the past I was a passive learner; research has taught me to be an active learner”…  “I think research makes us take ownership of our own learning, not expecting others to feed us information”…  “I know much more than my lecturers know about my topic.”  Experienced Pacific researchers from the AUT wrote and contributed several chapters in the book.

Kim Webby did a documentary on the raids for Māori TV in 2010 and is continuing to film with a borrowed camera and a camera man (who is not being paid) to follow the 2007 alleged anti-terrorist raids from start to finish.  At the time the police arrested 17 people in response to the discovery of an alleged paramilitary training camp in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Police claimed that those at the camp threw Molotov cocktails and fired semiautomatic rifles and pistols.  Ms Webby says Maori TV didn’t feel the need to do another documentary after the first one.  Her pending documentary is longer than slots for mainstream TV documentaries, so would be suitable for a documentary festival such as the local one next year and believes other festivals around the world would also be interested in it.   Ms Webby needs about $64 thousand dollars to complete it after a verdict is reached in the trial.  So far she has just over 200 dollars.  Kim says finishing to feature length allows the documentary to provide balance by including the Crown case and police viewpoint which until now has been suppressed.  More information and how to donate to the “October 15” documentary can be found on the Indiegogo website.

This comes from a field of 151 applicants.  Eighteen of them are getting $10 thousand for recording a song and making a music video to back up the song’s release, and 15 are $6 thousand grants for making a music video only.  The Making Tracks scheme began last July and it has funded nearly 200 music projects.  An independent panel of broadcasting and music professionals makes the recommendations about who gets funding.

In summary it notes:

• The repeal of the TVNZ Charter could lead to fewer programmes reflecting New Zealand’s diverse society. With the Charter gone, TVNZ no longer has a statutory requirement to reflect local culture, with its purpose confined to commercial performance.
• The demise of Asia Downunder was regretted as one of the only places on mainstream media where Asian faces and stories were broadcast. New Zealand on Air will support a replacement programme aimed at all ethnic New Zealanders. The new programme, while welcome could have been in addition to Asia Downunder rather than its replacement.
• Funding pressures also saw free-to-air channel Stratos end broadcasting in December.
• The use of online media to vent discriminatory sentiment was an increasing trend in 2011. In one example, the personalised plate ‘Māori’ was put up for sale on Trade Me attracting hundreds of comments, some of them highly negative and racist. The anonymity of online media allows people to vent opinions they may not otherwise voice. It is unclear how many people are represented by these comments. Research by the Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research examined this issue, analysing online responses to comments by broadcaster Paul Henry and Hone Harawira, MP. The researchers suggested the need for more vigilant enforcement of acceptable use policies and civics education to raise public awareness of racism and discrimination.

The review contains more details on these issues, and also reviews complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Authority, NZ Press Council and Advertising Standards Authority on race-related matters in 2011. 

The review highlights two priorities for 2012:

• Improve representation of diverse communities in the media, in particular Asian communities
• Respond to the Law Commission’s report on new media

The full race relations report will be released in early March to promote discussion in advance of Race Relations Day, 21 March. The report will be launched at a function at the Auckland Town Hall, 9-10 am on 8 March with Mayor Len Brown and Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres. Please RSVP by 24 February to Josie Maskell at or DDI (09) 306 2655.

 To view the review, and reviews of other areas released to date, visit the Commission’s website.

The column attracted more than 390 comments before the Herald website turned off the comments function and it has led to formal complaints to the newspaper and complaints to the Human Rights Commission.

The Commission’s Enquiries and Complaints Service will respond to each complainant. The Commission advises complainants to first seek redress from the editor of the Weekend Herald. If they remain dissatisfied at the response, they can approach the Press Council, the complaints body for the newspaper and magazine industry.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres was dismayed at the language used. “The column was crudely expressed and included stereotypes many would have found offensive.”

He said the column lacked judgment and failed to show the benefit of experience one would expect of a seasoned broadcaster. “For better or worse Paul Holmes is a key influencer of public opinion. I would hope that Mr Holmes realises that this uncommon privilege comes with the responsibility to not denigrate a whole sector of society.”

Many would agree that the sentiments appeared to be directed at all Māori. In his column Paul Holmes wrote: “Never mind the child stats, never mind the national truancy stats, never mind the hopeless failure of Māori to educate their children and stop them bashing their babies. No, it’s all the Pakeha’s fault. It’s all about hating whitey. Believe me, that’s what it looked like the other day.”

Mr de Bres said Paul Holmes was presumably aware of the impact his column would have. “Paul Holmes has a platform, a voice and a constituency, but I would hope that fair-minded readers would agree that the column would offend many people, not just Māori. It cannot be accurate to suggest that fully 15 per cent of the population is as he characterised.”

Mr de Bres was surprised that Paul Holmes did not appear to be aware of the governance and partnership principles of the Treaty of Waitangi derived from court decisions over several decades. These included the need for the Crown’s duty to consult with Māori as Treaty partner, and the need to act in good faith and to be reasonable.

“The origins of bodies such as the Waitangi Tribunal date back to 1975 and its function to address and remedy breaches of the Treaty is something schoolchildren learn.”

In the column Paul Holmes wrote:” This, we will have to address and somehow apply these never-defined principles of the Treaty of Waitangi because it is, apparently, the next big resentment. There’ll be lengthy discussion, we’ll end up paying the usual millions into the hands of the Māori aristocracy and God knows where it’ll go from there.”

The Weekend Herald editor David Hastings has responded to readers making formal complaints with a letter. He defends the column, allowing it was “provocative” but clearly aimed at the behaviour and attitudes of Waitangi Day protesters at Waitangi itself.”

Stratos provided news and programming in six languages through international partnerships with Al-Jazeera, DW-TV, France 24, Euro News in Europe, Voice of America, Bloomberg, Australia Network and CCTV, CQTV, NHK and YTN in Asia. 

In partnership with its sister station, Auckland broadcaster Triangle, Stratos had built a relationship with more than 30 distinct ethnic and cultural communities. In Auckland 25 individuals and organizations were involved in funding and creating special interest programmes for screening on Triangle for rebroadcast on Stratos in 2011. Triangle continues to broadcast.

It’s relevant to the majority of the country as the changing media environment means that anyone who writes on-line news sites, blogs, tweets or even posts comments on Facebook can be considered media.  Currently these are exempt from complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Authority and the Press Council.  The Law Commission review questions whether these are included in the ‘media’ and it proposes a new regulator for all news media that would replace existing regulatory bodies.  It would be independent of both government and the news media, and include industry and non-industry representatives appointed by an independent panel.  A code of ethics would be developed and penalties for those who breach standards.  It also proposes law changes to deal more effectively with cyber-bullying, harassment, privacy invasions, defamation and online impersonations.  Another option is to establish a Communications Commissioner to try and prevent or resolve media issues.  Submissions can be sent to the Commission via its website, email or mail by 12 March 2012.

Ms Forbes is an experienced reporter who has won several Qantas media awards for her work including producing ‘The Lillybing story’ for 20/20.  Ms Forbes has spent about 17 years in the industry where she has worked as a reporter and producer for TV3 and TVNZ in Auckland and Wellington.  She started her career on TVNZ’s Te Karere. Māori Television general manager of news and current affairs Te Anga Nathan says he is delighted Forbes will join the channel, “Mihingarangi brings with her a wealth of news and current affairs reporting experience and has a reputation for breaking stories. We’re delighted to have her producing our daily news bulletin Te Kaea and being part of our team.  Te Kaea is keen to replicate the feats of our current affairs show, Native Affairs, which won an AFTA for best overall current affairs programme in 2011. Te Kaea viewers can expect a new look and approach in the months to come as we strive to continue our solid coverage of news reporting.”

They will go to China and Indonesia for their internships next year.  Postgraduate journalism diploma journalists Sarah Robson and Christopher Chang have been awarded the two three-month internships with the China Daily.com.cn in Beijing as part of an exchange programme with AUT University.

Sarah Robson, 23, began her journalism at Salient, the student magazine at Victoria University of Wellington. She was named junior magazine feature writer of the year at the 2010 Qantas Media Awards, for a portfolio of features published in Salient throughout 2009.

Christopher Chang, 24, graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies (Journalism) at AUT in December. He studied law and English literature at the University of Victoria in Wellington.

Chang has a strong interest in Asia-Pacific affairs and completed the Asia-Pacific Journalism course. He lived in south-east Asia for six years and is involved with the Asia New Zealand Foundation Young Leaders Network. Krissy Dwyer, 26, will go to the Jakarta Globe in Jakarta for six weeks.

After working for several different media organisations in Germany and travelling the world, Dwyer graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Film, Television and Media Studies and Spanish in 2010.

“We are delighted by the high calibre and international focus of our graduates going on these internships,” said PMC director Professor David Robie. “They are good ambassadors for emerging New Zealand journalism.”

He also paid a tribute to a China Daily deputy online mobile news editor, Chen Bei, who was with AUT on a staff exchange and “boosted our insights and understanding on global social media”.

Asia New Zealand Foundation media adviser Rebecca Palmer described the selected young journalists as “impressive”.

Ms Sakita says she was inspired to make the film by an experience at the work shop.  “We would see this particular lady… all dressed up wearing her high heel shoes.  Some of the participants would talk about her in a negative way in the way she dressed. However, I wanted to make a point that women had rights as well.”  A UNICEF Pacific Representative Dr Isiye Ndombi says it is great recognition of Pacific youth as creative and effective advocates on issues important to youth in the region.  

‘It is a powerful film with an important message and shows that Pacific youth are very capable of producing films that meet international standards. I encourage all young people in the region to keep pursuing their dreams.’

The OneMinutesJr. is a youth arts initiative that teaches young people how to capture their viewpoints on video. The project, run by UNICEF and its partner, The One Minutes Foundation, has been producing one-minute videos since 2002.

Both channels wanted to commemorate the anniversary with all people in New Zealand as well as those in Canterbury who suffered the devastation of the earthquake first-hand.  Maori Television stepped up to provide support for the special broadcast by contributing to the costs associated with the broadcast, and CTV staff and affected families were most grateful for their support.  Maori Television’s chief executive Jim Mather says the decision to broadcast the memorial live for all New Zealanders was “the right thing to do” given CTV’s tragic loss of 16 staff on 22 February last year.  “Māori Television was proud to continue its support of CTV following our successful Rise Up Christchurch Telethon and the transmission support we gave CTV to get back on air in the aftermath of the earthquake.”

The website was designed by specialist Oceania publisher Tony Murrow and Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie.  “The journal, the only journalism-based research publication in New Zealand and the Pacific, has come a long way since it was founded at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1994,” said Dr Robie, who is also the editor.The journal was later published by the University of the South Pacific before finding a permanent home in New Zealand and being relaunched at AUT in 2003. Pacific Journalism Review encouraged the careers of several young Pacific political cartoonists such as Campion Ohasio of the Solomon Islands. It has also published investigative journalism over the years and in the latest October edition published two major special reports on Pacific media freedom and New Zealand globalised media ownership.

The papers used a low number of iwi and hapu sources for stories compared to other community newspapers.  Te Ropu Whariki research group at the university says there was less than three per cent of Maori coverage.  Researcher Jenny Rankine says this is despite more than 10 per cent of the population in these areas being Maori, so they should expect the same percentage of coverage but are being poorly served.  Suburban Newspapers is owned by Fairfax and among its Auckland papers, the East & Bays Courier and the Northern News had the highest number of Maori related articles, while the North Shore Times had the lowest.   The high proportion of announcements and apparent news releases in the stories with no sources indicates these newspapers are a supportive audience for Public Relations items.  The study says Suburban Newspapers also shows an indifference to the country’s indigenous official language.  It says there’s a poverty of reporting on Treaty and Maori issues.

But it was the 25 July episode that impressed AFTA judges for its in-depth reporting of current affairs. The episode included exclusive interviews with the family of Antony Ratahi, who was shot dead by police the week before, and Destiny Church co-founder Hannah Tamaki following the controversy surrounding her bid to head the Maori Women’s Welfare League.

Maori Television’s general manager of news and current affairs Te Anga Nathan says the episode was particularly strong for the series, which makes 35 one hour programmes each year.

“We are humbled to have won. It’s a great honour for Maori Television and a significant achievement for Maori journalism,” Mr Nathan said.

“We have been finalists three times for the past five years so we have had consistent acknowledgement of our work but this time we’ve gone one better.”

Native Affairs was also a finalist for the Maori Language Commission/Te Mangai Paho Best Maori Language Programme for its coverage of the funeral of Dame Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira in July.

Maori Television programmes picked up four additional awards.

 E Tu Kahikitea won the Best Maori Language Programme, Kaitangata Twitch won the award for Best Children’s/Youth Programme and Whare Maori (Ep 1) took out the award for Best Information Programme.

NZ On Air’s chief executive, Jane Wrightson, says ‘Neighbourhood’ will focus on an interesting community in the country where each week one resident will introduce the audience to their patch and its variety of neighbours.  ‘This was the winning project from a contestable process run by NZ On Air to find a fresh new series looking at community diversity.  We’re hoping it will become a firm favourite.’  The new series will replace the long running TV One programme Asia Downunder which ends next month.  Neighbourhood will start with 35 half hour programmes and breaks the mould of having a presenter driven show by having a different person from a particular neighbourhood fronting it every week.  Issues such as equal opportunities, isolation, health, language, religion and food will be covered.  There will be light and shade – both the good and bad – says its producers.   Every neighbourhood is surprisingly diverse in its culture so we will create a series that reflects this.

NZ On Air has contracted a trio of companies to provide a research report examining broadcast programming for Pacific people.   It wants to see whether Pacific needs are being met on TV and radio, and what improvements can be made to ensure Pacific people are catered for in future programming grants.  The research includes two consultation workshop fonos where participants can share experiences and views on Pacific broadcasting with the research team.  The consultation will be inter-active and focus on how services and programming have developed to the present, how the various Pacific audiences are being served and viable options for the future.  NZ On Air will use this to evaluate if changes, improvements or efficiencies to its funded broadcast services for Pacific audiences are necessary.  The report is expected to be completed early next year.

Dr David Robie specialises in Asia-Pacific affairs and was formerly an associate professor in its School of Communication Studies.  He had previously been head of journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea, as well as the University of South Pacific in Fiji.  He holds a masters’ degree in journalism from the University of Technology in Sydney, and a doctorate in politics/history from the South Pacific University.  Prior to that Professor Robie was a freelance Pacific affairs and international journalist.  He is the author of nine books including Mekim Nius: South Pacific media, politics and education.  Dr Robie is also the founding editor of the Pacific Journalism Review, New Zealand’s only peer-reviewed journalism research journal.  He has tutored and mentored many Pacific island journalists and has great respect throughout Australasia among his peers, and journalism students.

Karen Mangnall says the first story she has covered is the EEO Trust’s report on how employers can better support young Pacific workers.  “The big issues facing Pacific communities are much the same as those facing most New Zealanders – having enough money to pay the bills and put food on the table for their families, jobs – especially for the young people – and the cost of living.   Continuing poor educational achievement and the teaching of Pacific languages are also significant concerns. The election campaign has brought those issues into higher relief.” 

Ms Mangnall says one of the most enjoyable stories she has covered for quite a while was the huge support from the Pacific communities for the Samoan, Tongan and Fijian teams at the Rugby World Cup and for players of Pacific heritage in all teams.  She was born and raised in Fiji, and lived and worked in New Caledonia and Tahiti. Karen Mangnall holds a Master of Arts (Honours) in Pacific Studies from the University of Auckland. She has previously worked for Radio New Zealand and her career also includes working for other leading media organisations, including The New Zealand Herald and TVNZ.

 Te Mangai Paho wants proposals for ‘comprehensive, independent, impartial Māori language news and current affairs programming.’  The funding for this is more than a million dollars and Auckland’s Urban Māori Authority Broadcasting Company currently provides this daily radio news under its Waatea brand.  Its spokesman Bernie O’Donnell said he was happy for other organisations to have a chance to bid for the funding.   Until a few months ago Waatea also produced Māori news bulletins for Radio New Zealand National until the $280,000 contract was cut and RNZ began compiling its Māori bulletins internally.  Te Mangai Paho provides funding for iwi news shows on stations including Radio Tainui in Waikato, Awa FM in Whanganui, Atiawa Toa FM in Wellington, Tahu FM in Christchurch, Te Korimako o Taranaki in New Plymouth and Kia Ora FM in Palmerston North.  Interested parties have until November 4th to apply for the contract.

It has scooped all the other TV networks and attracted the channel’s largest audience ever.  Māori TV had 1.8 million people tuned for the first eight games, live.  This is far higher than predicted and its chief executive describes the results as fantastic saying Māori TV is getting the job done well.  Jim Mather says it is the lead free-to-air broadcaster of the World Cup and has live coverage right through to the final later this month.  ‘It seems New Zealanders enjoy watching it for free and appreciate our more relaxed style.’  Mather says it covers all the 48 games and it has the largest commentary team across Māori Television in English, and Māori language commentary is on Te Reo channels.  ‘The 27-strong expert team includes three former Rugby World Cup team captains and a combined total of more than 200 international test caps.  Māori Television is available on Freeview channel 5 and Sky TV channel 19.  Te Reo is on Freeview channel 24.

Before the game it has a 90 minute special of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s one off concert with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in the Auckland town hall.  The concert is presented by Māori Television’s Matai Smith.  Dame Kiri says the eyes of the world will be on the country and it’s the perfect time for her to return to New Zealand and perform with emerging local talent.  It starts at 6 in the evening.

A spokesperson for PIMA says it has made a number of achievements since it started such as nurturing budding Pacific journalists, of which it says there still aren’t enough of in New Zealand.  Sandra Kailahi says the next aim for Pacific media is to start up a Pacific television channel and is currently going through the process of consulting with Pacific people and working with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs.  ‘This is a work in progress and we want to nurture the Pacific languages and cultures to get our voices heard.  A big worry is that some Pacific languages are disappearing such as Cook Islands and Tokelau.’  Meanwhile Ms Kailahi says PIMA is proud to have a scholarship for a Pacific student at AUT to complete a Bachelor of Communications.  On the other hand she says it is disappointing the post graduate option has been dropped.  Meanwhile PIMA is pleased the HQ of the Pacific Media Network (531 PI and NiuFM) is moving from the central Auckland suburb of Ponsonby to Manukau in south Auckland at the end of the year as the majority of its target market is based there, and the studios are far better.  PIMA’s anniversary do is being held on the 2^nd of November at the Manhattan Function centre on Dominion road. Tickets cost $45.00 per person or $400.00 for a table of 10.  Guest speakers are Samoan journalist, Tapu Misa and Tongan media veteran, Sefita Haouli.  Tickets have nearly sold out and more details are on the PIMA website.

Public figures: A Multimedia Study “Paul Henry and Hone Harawira: Who’s racist and what does it mean to be racist in New Zealand?” was released at the Human Rights Commission’s National Diversity Forum in Hamilton last month. Researchers Caren August and Anne Waapu of the Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research (CACR), Wellington, supervised by Professor James H. Liu, analysed more than 1000 online responses to videos featuring infamous New Zealand race furores involving Paul Henry and Hone Harawira. 

Researchers found 80 per cent of comments on the videos, in which Henry poked fun at an Indian official’s name and Harawira made disparaging remarks about pakeha, featured racist abuse, obscenities or a mixture of both. 

Liu, the Deputy Director of Victoria University’s Centre of Applied Cross-Cultural Research described the findings as “disturbing” and illustrative of a “dark underbelly” to New Zealand society.  “There has been a lot of analysis of print media but not much has been done on social media. Social media allows a broader spectrum of opinion and allows people to talk openly and with anonymity.” 

Liu says there have been a lot of reports saying social media will change the world and bring people together but that isn’t what the research uncovered.  “This is opening a door to the basement of society and the basement is very dark.”  Solutions would be complex, but Professor Liu said a good start would be for schools to focus on civic education, that made clear the rights and responsibilities we all have in this society.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres agreed that New Zealand was experiencing a rise in online racism. “I think the majority of New Zealanders are positive on race relations but there is an unquantified minority with hateful views. We get some very ugly stuff appearing on the internet. It’s instant, anonymous, basically open slather and certain things (like the videos) trigger it.”  De Bres says with 55 per cent of school children in the northern region of the North Island being of Maori, Pacific Island or Asian descent this could cause a lot of harm.

Susan Freeman-Greene is coming from the Human Rights Commission where she has held the position of Strategic Policy Manager and Chief Mediator.  Freeman-Greene is a lawyer with specialist qualifications in Dispute Resolution.  “I have a lot of experience in dealing with complaints and from time to time we had complaints about broadcasting issues and what the limits are and what is acceptable.”  She says many of these complaints to the Commission have been referred to the BSA.  Freeman-Greene says the BSA has an important role in the interface between freedom of expression and standards.

She plans on continuing the Authority’s excellent and thoughtful work in that area.  “For me understanding both where the public and broadcasters are in a technologically canging environment is important.”  Freeman-Greene starts at the beginning of October.  The outgoing BSA chief executive Dominic Sheehan has been there for five years and says it’s time to move on.  He says the number of complaints and issues raised with the authority has risen hugely during that time and resulted in more discussion in the media about broadcasting standards.

However it has led to three other news agencies taking on the challenge and there’s hope that it will result in reporting of more diverse news issues that affect the many different ethnic groups throughout New Zealand.  Publishers Fairfax Media and APN News & Media, plus Australian Associated Press (AAP), have all opened their doors to new media clients and websites to provide the latest local and international news. “We’re looking forward to the battle”, APN publishing chief Martin Simons is quoted as saying.  His company has launched APNZ Newswire, a joint venture with independents the Otago Daily Times and Allied Press, Greymouth Star, Ashburton Guardian, Westport News and Gisborne Herald.  Simons says it will be a very different organisation from the NZPA and provide more diverse copy for a contemporary audience.  It has 17 journalists and offices in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland.  NZPA closed after Fairfax pulled its funding and since then the Australian-owned publisher has established Fairfax New Zealand News which employs 12 journalists.  NZ executive editor Paul Thompson says it is interested in carving out distinctive stories and moving away from NZPA-style newswire stories.  He believes readers will benefit as publishers are now competing more for staff and stories.  Meanwhile AAP launched its own local newswire this month that includes ten journalists and stringers that are multimedia capable.

The Council looked into the issue and agreed that the NBR article, which originally came from NZPA, was based on a misattributed quote so upheld the complaint.  The article followed an interview on TVNZ’s Te Karere where the interview was done in Te Reo with English translations provided in subtitles.  The programme featured Harawira commenting on the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He spoke in Maori and said bin Laden was a fighter for ‘the rights, the land and the freedom of his people.’  His remarks prompted controversy, and a subsequent apology from him about how he had expressed himself.  His comments had been seen as support for bin Laden’s actions which was a mistake, he said.  The Press Council complaint was about the NBR headline “Bin Laden a Freedom Fighter – Harawira” and that the thrust of the story came from a quote which is attributed to Harawira, but was in fact made by the presenter of the Te Karere programme.  What Mr Harawira actually said (in response to the presenter’s words) was as follows: ‘Indeed, despite what the media have said, his family, his tribe, his people are in mourning. They mourn for the man who fought for the rights, the land, and the freedom of his people. We should not damn them in death, but acknowledge the positive aspects of life’.  The Press Council ruled that the headline was not too far removed from that statement to call him a freedom fighter.  However, the report does attribute to Mr Harawira comments actually made by the interviewer, and that is where the NBR was wrong.

Its latest Pacific Issues correspondent will start next month and comes on board more than six months after the previous one left.   Karen Mangnall is described as a respected journalist with 30 years of experience in print, radio and television.  RNZ wouldn’t allow this newsletter to speak to the incoming correspondent but says Ms Mangnall will further strengthen its award winning news team.  As well as frontline reporting, Karen Mangnall has also held roles in editorial management, and the training of Pacific Island journalism students. Radio New Zealand’s Head of News, Don Rood, said he was delighted to have such a highly qualified and respected journalist joining the news team.  “Karen was born and raised in Fiji, and lived and worked in New Caledonia and Tahiti. She knows the Pacific and the issues that are important to Pacific communities.”  Karen Mangnall holds a Master of Arts (Honours) in Pacific Studies from the University of Auckland. She has previously worked for Radio New Zealand and her career also includes working for other leading media organisations, including The New Zealand Herald and TVNZ.

Marika Hill moved to Auckland for the role and comes from Palmerston North’s Manawatu Standard where she focused on the education round.  Prior to this Hill did an Asia New Zealand scholarship in Cambodia where she worked on the Phnom Penh Post.  ‘It was an amazing experience and I really liked their culture, food and sense of working with a team.  I did daily news stories and quite a lot of it was business focused’.  Hill hasn’t focused on ethnic affairs reporting until now but says her overseas travel has helped.  ‘My extensive travel including parts of Asia and the Middle East mean I can appreciate different cultures and what they have to offer New Zealand.  It is a great role as I get to meet lots of different people from various ethnic backgrounds and there are so many diverse issues facing these groups.  A large part of it is examining Maori issues, and immigrants or refugees.’  Marika Hill completed a Journalism diploma at Massey University in Wellington.

Plains FM is regarded as a vibrant station and training facility.  It needs someone to produce and present its flagship regionally focused Go Canterbury show, contribute to on-going digital development and media outreach programmes, update its website and maintain the station’s social media.  The station manager, Nicki Reece, says it’s a full time position in a radio environment that has volunteers, part time staff and four full timers.  ‘A lot of the focus will be on the recovery of the region following the quakes, and make sure on-air conversations are being had about that.  The programme’s exact format hasn’t been finalised – it may be an hour or an hour and a half on air.  This person can mould it which is an exciting opportunity.’  Ms Reece says it has huge diversity and scope as it not only looks at the arts, local politicians, visiting luminaries and musicians, but makes sure those who don’t have English as a first language understand what is happening in the region.   ‘After the quakes people want to communicate more across language barriers so there is more emphasis on the  government providing information in other languages and Plains is a broadcaster where this can happen.  We have a group that is called CLING – Community Language Information Network Group which came out of inter-agency meetings post the earthquakes, where we recognised that there was a great need for information in other languages.’  She explains that people are continuing to struggle with issues around the EQC and trying to get their lives back on track so it’s important they are given accurate information that they don’t struggle to understand.  ‘We have developed resources to get public messages into those communities through print and on air.’  Ms Reece says some of these messages will be aired during the Go Canterbury programme.  Applications close on the 7 October.  For a position description contact the Station Manager or phone 03 365 7997.

The most notable example has been the auction of a personalised number plate MAORI that attracted dozens of racist comments.  The Human Rights Commission talked the issue over with Trade Me. Based on its acceptable use policy, the company removed some of the comments. 

Massey University sociologist Paul Spoonley says it reflects a similar pattern on chat rooms and blogs where the relative autonomy gives people a chance to vent in ways they would never contemplate face to face.  “New media has provided racists around the world with a new platform.”  However he says it was heartening that for each racist comment on the number plate’s auction, two posts would take the comment to task.  The auction has had over 40,000 views but not one bid at the starting price of $99,000.

Psychology professor James Liu of Victoria University’s Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research will present the Centre’s study of the reactions to Henry and Harawira on the internet and elsewhere, which once again exposed the ugly emotions just beneath the surface in New Zealand society. What does it mean, what can we do about it? Don’t miss this revealing and shocking presentation.

There will also be a media session on Sunday 21 August on Community Voices: Case Studies from New Zealand Access Radio.

Five reporters put together 40 editions a year for screening on TV One and TVNZ 7.  However New Zealand On Air has changed tack and with TVNZ now without a charter the programme no longer meets the broadcaster’s needs.  Meanwhile NZ On Air has been seeking proposals for a more diverse programme that reflects the growing ethnic and cultural communities throughout the country. 

It has asked for proposals that include new ideas about cultures that are relevant to them, and a wider audience. There will be 35 half hour episodes a year and it stipulates they include a number of key matters such as language, health, education and employment.  The budget is up to $1.4 million and interest is restricted to experienced producers.  Nga Reo Tangata understands that a production company has partnered with TV3, and another with Māori TV to submit their proposals to NZ On Air.  A decision will be made by its board in October.  Some of the Asia Downunder staff are involved in applying for the new programme contract, while others will move on.  Glenna Casalme, a producer and reporter on the show, says she is looking at teaching English to refugees.  She says that it’s sad the programme is coming to an end and warns other producers that it’s hard work getting a programme on the country’s diverse communities to air every week.

It is the only free-to-air channel to do so and has 27 expert local and international commentators across the Māori TV and Te Reo channels.  The RWC will be anchored by Te Arahi Maipi who is the host of the rugby and league show Boil-Up.  He says the commentators are not only good at talking – many of them are former RWC captains who know the game.  Buck Shelford, Gavin Hastings (Scotland), Mark Ella (Australia), Pat Lam (Samoa), and Inoke Afeaki (Tonga) have all captained their teams in former RWC tournaments.  Former players are also included – Norm Hewitt, Kees Meeuws, Glen Osborne and Karl Te Nana. 

While the Māori TV coverage is being broadcast in English, its sister station Te Reo, will feature 100 per cent Māori commentary – and that makes it the biggest te reo sporting event ever.  The Te Reo commentary team is led by veteran caller Hemana Waaka, and includes Kiwi league player Wairangi Koopu, commentator Peeni Henare and Native Affairs anchor Julian Wilcox.  Māori TV is available on Freeview Channel 5 and Sky TV channel 19.

It says they rarely become available and this release of new local non-commercial frequencies is designed to enhance regional and community broadcasting.  It stipulates the licences will only be issued to operators of radio or TV stations that show a strong geographic, social demographic or community of interest connection with the target audience, with programming focused on the audience they serve.  These licences are allocated for free but an annual licence fee and engineering costs will have to be met by broadcasters.

Before the decision the Pacific Radio Network has broadcast out of Ponsonby and there has been criticism about the higher cost for a central city location when the core of its target audience is in Manukau.  The Broadcasting Minister, Jonathan Coleman says it has secured a special $725,000 grant from NZ On Air to move to the heart of the Pacific community. The Minister says the studio equipment is obsolete and the location does not serve the community well. 

The stations provide broadcast services and programmes in ten languages – Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands, Niuean, Fijian, Tokelauan, Tuvaluan, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and English.  Until last month funding for the Pacific Radio Network came from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage but has now been transferred to NZ On Air.  It provides $3.25 million a year to run the radio stations.

A spokesperson says there was no need to have a report focus solely on Māori issues when the coverage can be combined with other news rounds. This move has raised eyebrows as the region has a strong iwi, Tainui, which often has events and disputes covered in the local newspaper.  Fairfax’s Editorial Development manager, Clive Lind, says he’s aware of the change and says it raises the question of whether specialist reporters covering just one round are necessary or if they should have a broader spectrum of articles to write.

A Commission spokesperson, Debra Jensen, says this year the Māori language has been used in high profile public situations. Supermarket giant Progressive Enterprises was the most visible supporter with its Countdown TV ads focusing on Māori words.  Chef Richard Till did several recipe ads in prime time using te Reo Māori terms and in supermarkets throughout the country many tickets and posters were bilingual.  Ms Jensen said all of the 165 stores also had free Māori language booklets on display.  “TVNZ supported it and many presenters were bilingual, but this year TV3 has fallen away which is a surprise as a few years ago it won the Supreme award for promotion of Te Reo Māori two years running”, she said.  Wellington City Council put out flags across the city saying ‘I Love Te Reo’, and schools also embraced the language.   Ms Jensen says poor pronunciation of Māori words occurred on air from time to time, but as long as people gave it a go and weren’t  offensive, that’s what mattered.

The Government announced in 2009 it was going to can the charter, which encouraged TVNZ to screen programmes which reflected New Zealand’s culture and way of life.

Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman said TVNZ had never successfully worked how to meet the requirements of the dual mandate of meeting the requirements of the charter and existing as a commercial broadcaster.

He said the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill replaced the charter with a set of clear requirements to be a successful company which maintained its commercial performance while providing high quality content.

The Greens and Labour opposed the bill, which passed its third reading on a vote of 64 to 56.

Radio New Zealand’s head of news Don Rood said the aim was to improve the quality of its Māori news by having the four daily bulletins complied in house rather than contracted out with Waatea News. 

Mr Rood also said the government’s funding freeze of RNZ over the last four years means it has to make cuts where possible as costs have increased in other areas due to the Pike River mine tragedy and Christchurch’s earthquake.   Mr Rood says since the beginning of July RNZ has successfully used its own resources to fill the Māori news bulletins with quality news stories.  Journalists from its rural programme, regional reporters, sports reporters and political reporters have all been assisting.  However he says it is currently seeking a full time chief reporter and two extra journalists to focus on the Māori news bulletins and the appointments will be made shortly. 

Meanwhile Waatea News is still smarting from being ditched.  In a New Zealand Herald editorial broadcaster, Willie Jackson, described RNZ as ‘Radio Pakeha’ and believed losing the contract would result in less Māori news on public radio.  The general manager of Waatea News and Current Affairs Bernie O’Donnell said a senior journalist and producer had lost their jobs.  He said Waatea News was looking for a new broadcaster to contract its Māori news service to but in the meantime there had been a negative impact.  “The ability to have an independent Māori voice providing Māori news is what RNZ has lost, and that’s a big loss for everyone.”

Its work examines the intense public arguments around comments made by prominent media figures in 2010, such as Henry’s deliberate mispronunciation of an international dignitary’s name and then repeatedly laughing about it, and Harawira’s alleged racist comments about Pakeha.  The forum will also include activities that tackle race relations priorities identified in this year’s Race Relations Report, and feature the presentation of the Annual Diversity awards.  A parallel youth forum is being held at the same time.  

Also on the programme on Sunday at 3.30-5.00 pm is a forum on “Community Media and Diversity” hosted by the Community Access Radio Waikato Trust.

Attendance on Sunday and for individual forums is free. If you are attending for half a day or more on the Monday the registration fee is $50. Register online now.

For more information visit the Diversity Forum webpage. Updates will also be posted on the Diversity Forum Facebook page.

Among guests at the hui was Human Rights Commissioner, Dr Judy McGregor, who was instrumental in its development.  The course has provided a large number of talented Māori journalists for iwi radio, Māori TV and, in a more limited way, mainstream newsrooms she says.  Dr McGregor made the point at the reunion that newspapers are behind when it comes to recruiting Māori journalists.  She says the problem with mainstream newspapers is that there aren’t enough positive stories about Māori and she wants to see that change.  “There are plenty of talented Māori journalists coming from Waiariki and we need to hang on to the course and continue to strengthen it.   It’s been running for 26 years and that’s a fantastic achievement.”

Executive director Mike Fletcher says it is aimed at budding Māori and Pacific reporters who may already work for Pacific or iwi radio and want to up-skill.  Mr Fletcher says it should be available next year in suitable tertiary institutes.  Meanwhile he says the JTO’s Work place Training Scheme is continuing and here new journalists on the job receive training in a more structured way rather than being thrown in at the deep end. It has run for two years and so far four of its eight graduates are Māori.  “Throughout the country nine per cent of the journalists are Māori and we want that to keep increasing.”

That’s as long as they complete the year-long course successfully and work at one of its publications or websites for the following two years. Fairfax spokesman, Clive Lind, says it is seeking to add diversity in newsrooms which he believes is important.  “In previous years it has been successful with different ethnic groups including Asian, Pacific and Māori i getting internships, and that’s continuing with Fairfax keen to reach out again to a wide variety of groups.”

Mr Lind says as yet there is no particular number of internships that will be offered.  The selection process starts with an on-line application form including at least four written exercises, and from those results budding journalists will be chosen to complete a further test next month before a final decision is made.

The programme will feature Tinmama Oo, a former Burmese refugee whose story has been used as an educational resource for the New Zealand social studies curriculum.  

Ms Oo tells her own story in the DVD “A Girl from Glen Innes”, which was first produced in 2004 when she was a teenager at high school, and was later updated with her graduation from The University of Auckland. The updated DVD was released in 2010, and an educational unit has been developed for that is now available as a free web download.

The upcoming episode of Asia Downunder will also include an overview of the Refugee Resettlement centre in Mangere, and profile the refugee communities in Palmerston North, particularly the Bhutanese, Burmese and Cambodian communities. This segment will include snippets from the football tournament, ETHKICK, in which forty ethnic football teams participated earlier this year.

The episode will be available online after the programme has been to air on Asia Downunder .

For more information on “The Girl from G.I.” go to Southern Moon productions.

The theme of the conference, People in Harmony, continues from Race Relations Day in March 2011. Attendance on Sunday and for individual forums is free. If you are attending for half a day or more the registration fee is $50.

For more information visit the Diversity Forum webpage or  register online now.

The two presenters, Dan Buckingham and Tanya Black, were travelling on work-related business for the series Attitude, which screens on TVNZ and which is about people living with disabilities.  “That was gobsmacking,” says Ms Scott Vincent. “Dan had just come back from Papua New guinea, which is a pretty remote country and from a remote Eastern village. Clearly he was capable of travelling alone. In the first instance staff wouldn’t even speak to them. They would only address me.”

The incident involved Jetstar, and a formal complaint is now before the Human Rights Commission. The ensuing publicity may have, in the end, helped challenge general assumptions about people living with disabilities.

One common assumption is that people with disabilities don’t work for a living.

“It’s amazing how many more people have stopped me in the street or the supermarket about it,” says Ms Black. “It has caught people’s imagination and attention … it has made them stop and think, and realise that of course people with disabilities might work and might need to travel for work.”

Attitude, which is now in its seventh year, has recently moved from a magazine style programme to a documentary series style of programme and is committed to telling “important and powerful human stories of courage with compassion” and promote the principles of inclusion, respect and understanding.

The series focuses not just on New Zealand people living with disabilities, but people from all around the world. It has featured stories from Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Turkey, Fiji, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Mexico, Serbia, Korea, the United States of America and Canada.  

“We did a story about people who were in a wheelchair resulting from gun violence up in the Bronx in New York,” says Ms Black. “That’s different to anyone’s situation in New Zealand, but there are lots of similarities, between being in a poverty region, and being in a wheelchair. So it gives us an insight into how people with disabilities are looked at in other parts of the world, and that gives us an insight into our own position.”

Recent stories have included a profile of a paralympian from Papua New Guinea, and young Samoans athletes with intellectual disabilities preparing to compete in the Special Olympics World Games in Athens this month.

Attitudes Pictures was formerly known as RSVP Productions, named after the initials of the series founder, Ms Scott-Vincent. She changed the name of the production company  “because it’s not all about me, it’s about presenting the lives of others… and Attitude perfectly sums up us as a company”. 

The company actively mentors people with disabilities to work in the television industry, such as Ms Black and Mr Buckingham. Jai Waite, a quadriplegic works as a television editor and swimmer, Cameron Leslie, a gold medal winning paralympian, is now working part-time on the series.

Scott-Vincent has been interested in the disability sector well before she made a documentary  “The House on Grey Street” in the early 1990s, which was about four men who had been released from institutional care and were living together. “It was about putting a human face on people who were living in those houses, where neighbours hadn’t bothered to engage. It was about taking away the fear that was present at that time.”

Ms Scott-Vincent has also been motivated by her own experience as mother to a child who had a learning disability and a syndrome. She also had an aunt who had Down’s Syndrome and an uncle who was intellectually impaired. She had hoped that her son, Harrison, would be able to work on the Attitude series, but he died of leukaemia in 2005, the year the programme started.

“People might say, what do I know about living with disability, but because of my son I do know the territory. This is my quiet way of doing something.”

More information can be found on Attitude Pictures Ltd’s website.

In the controversial episode screened in October year, in which the former Breakfast presenter deliberately mispronounced the name of Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, stating that “Dick Shit” was “so appropriate because she’s Indian, so she would be dick in shit, wouldn’t she”.

TVNZ’s Complaints Committee had ruled that the programme breached broadcasting standards of good taste and decency, fairness, discrimination and denigration. The Authority’s task was to determine whether the broadcaster had acted sufficiently once it upheld those complaints.

The Authority noted that Mr Henry’s resignation does not constitute action taken by the broadcaster and has therefore not been considered in the decision.

The BSA ruled that Mr Henry’s repeated ridicule of Ms Dikshit’s name amounted to a sustained and deliberate attack against the Chief Minister personally that extended to Indian people in general.

“His subsequent comment, which associated the words “Dick Shit” with people of Indian descent was not only derogatory but entirely dissonant with common decency and a clear breach of the discrimination and denigration standard.”

While TVNZ apologised to the complainants, it had described Mr Henry’s comments as “inappropriate” which the Authority ruled was not adequate. “In our view, the breaches called for a firm and unqualified acceptance that the comments were unacceptable, and for a prompt and unequivocal statement and apology broadcast on Breakfast.”

TVNZ is required to broadcast the statement on Breakfast within a month of the BSA’s ruling.

For more information visit the BSA website.

During the Radio Live Drive broadcast on 9 March this year, the host said: “Have you ever thought about stealing a gecko? Why on earth would you steal a gecko? And what of our New Zealand geckos being stolen by these dirty Germans? We’re going to find out what this is all about.”

Complainant Masaru Hashimoto alleged that the host’s reference to “dirty Germans” was a discriminatory expression that lacked taste and decency and was disrespectful towards people from Germany.

The Authority said that the reference “dirty Germans” was light-hearted and was not intended to refer to all German people, that the host was expressing his frustration with tourists stealing and selling New Zealand wildlife.

“On this occasion, we consider that the host’s comment clearly related solely to the tourists who had stolen native geckos, and did not extend to German people as a section of the community. Listeners would have understood his comments to be his personal opinion, expressing his disapproval of the individuals’ actions in stealing native New Zealand wildlife, rather than making any comment on German people in general.”

More information can be found on the BSA website.

It aims to bring together stakeholders from industry, Parliament, the state sector and academia to try and identify workable policy options to sustain the future of public television in New Zealand.

The forum will include panels focusing on the issues of funding and structural alternatives, sustaining local content, the challenges for free-to-air networks, and regulatory arrangements.

The panels will consist of short position statements or policy proposals with additional time for debate from the floor. It will take place under Chatham House rules, which means that the themes and substance of the discussion can be reported but the specific comments cannot be linked to named individuals or institutions.

Earlier this year academics in media studies, journalism and communication rallied together to send an open letter to express collective concern to end funding of TVNZ 7. “Our concern is heightened by the fact that this is one more in a series of steps by the Government to dismantle the little that is left of public broadcasting in our country.

“If New Zealand is a country with high ambitions, it needs to ensure that it has a healthy media environment. Public service is an essential ingredient of this because it provides a range of options not covered by the commercial sector. Most OECD countries ensure that citizens have access to at least one public service television channel. They do so both as a response to market failure and as a recognition that public television can contribute to a better informed society.”

The letter argued that TVNZ 7 and (until March 2011) TVNZ 6 had offered an important extension to the range of available programmes and schedule diversity.

The presentations will be available online at the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University soon after the event. The ideas from the forum will also be summarised and provided to the government and relevant ministries.

Organisers are also inviting electronic submissions for online publication. These submissions do not need to complete articles, but they should address some aspect of the institutional, financial or regulatory arrangements that are important to the sustaining of public television and related local content forms in New Zealand.

The forum is on Wednesday, 22 June, 9am – 6pm, and is free, and held in the Council Chamber, Victoria University (Gate 2, Kelburn Pde).

For more information contact Trisha Dunleavy or Peter Thompson, senior lecturers in media studies, Victoria University of Wellington, or download the flyer.

The studio expands the Pacific Radio Network, with Niu FM now broadcasting across the Wellington region. “Niu FM’s foray into the Capital increases the reach of Pacific language programming and news to Pacific communities which helps many people stay connected with their culture and identity,” Dr Coleman said.

He said the Government spends $3 million dollars a year supporting Pacific broadcasting through the National Pacific Radio Trust, which maintains Niu FM and Radio 531pi. “A Pacific radio network is vital for nurturing and developing Pacific identity.” 

Pacific Island Affairs Minister Georgina te Heuheu said the Pacific population was the fastest naturally growing population in New Zealand and by 2026 one in 10 people in New Zealand will be of Pacific descent.

“The role of the Pacific Media Network is vitally important in connecting Pacific communities across Aotearoa and it is great that it is now extending its reach into the Wellington region, where New Zealand’s second largest Pacific population lives,”  Ms te Heuheu said.

Niu FM broadcasts nationally, offering a mix of music, diverse cultures, topical news and information from the heart of the Pacific and is aimed at a younger audience.

The webinar was held last month, and was aimed at sharing successful strategies used by local radio broadcasters in Barcelona and Toronto on how to reflect diversity and improve audience ratings.

The webinar was presented by Susan Marjetti, Managing Director of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and Núria de José, Contents Manager of COMRàdio.

CBC combines its audience growth strategy with effective diverse hiring and recruitment practices to become the top rated morning show in the city.  COMRàdio is a regional network that dedicates two radio stations to immigrant integration, and to recognise the increasing diversity of local audiences creates ‘village squares’ across the airwaves for more than 140 local stations.

Those who missed the webinar can view it online at the City of Migration website.

Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa is Samoan Language Week a time to celebrate Samoan language and culture here and overseas. Samoan is one of the country’s most widely spoken languages and the Human Rights Commission has joined with FAGASA, the Association of Samoan Language Teachers, the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and UNESCO to encourage communities, schools, churches and libraries to create an event or activity to celebrate the Samoan language. Media organisations are invited to register any special projects that recognise Samoan language by emailing nzdiversity@hrc.co.nz.  The Commission will promote it as part of the week’s activities.

“The contract with Waatea has ended, but not Radio New Zealand’s commitment to providing those news bulletins,” says Mr Rood.

RNZ’s decision to cease out-sourcing its Maori news bulletins from Waatea News attracted headlines this month after broadcaster Willie Jackson, whose company provides the bulletins, called RNZ “pakeha radio”.

Maori Party language and culture spokesperson Te Ururoa Flavell also expressed concern.  “Maori groups have fought long and hard for access to the airwaves, and met staunch resistance from mainstream radio.”

Mr Jackson also told The New Zealand Herald that he understood RNZ was under considerable financial pressure, but “when they make cuts the first place they turn is Maori”.

Head of news Don Rood says that this was one of several cost-cutting measuring across the organisation: “We’re selling grand pianos we’re not paying orchestras for recording rights, we’re not replacing staff at some levels.”

The contract with Waatea cost $280,000/year. It was not renewed at the end of last year, although RNZ decided to extend the contract until the end of June.

Mr Rood says that terminating the contract will result in cost-savings, but also allow the organisation to build up its own in-house pool of journalists experienced at covering Maori news. He said it is looking to employ two to three journalists, preferably with working knowledge of te reo.

“I think we’ve done a reasonable job of mainstreaming Maori news in ‘Morning Report’ and ‘Checkpoint’ It’s no different to rural news, business news, sports news and Pacific news, all of which it important to new Zealand. The only difference for us is that everything else has been done in-house and Maori was done outside.”

Having such journalists on staff will enable RNZ to do more in-depth Maori stories, in both the major news bulletins and in other areas, such as documentaries. “By having those bulletins outsourced, there was no opportunity for Radio New Zealand to increase its cultural diversity within the organisation,” he says. “This was well overdue.”

Ms Aslam is studying for her PhD at AUT, and is being supervised by David Robie, director of the PMC, and Heather Devere, Director of Practice at the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Otago.

Ms Aslam spent more than ten years as a journalist, before moving into academia. She has since set up media departments in three universities in Pakistan.  Living in Pakistan has given her an intimate experience and understanding of the effects of conflict on ordinary people. “And coming from a patriarchal society that conflict might not always be a military conflict,” she says. “It might be a gender conflict. Conflict can take social, cultural or political forms, not necessarily a military form.” 

Peace Journalism is often called conflict solution journalism, conflict sensitive journalism, and constructive conflict coverage. It is said to be distinct from “war journalism”, as the latter follows conventions that have biases toward violence.

While Ms Aslam says that it is not the role of the journalist to bring peace into the world, journalism can act as a catalyst for conflict resolution. She argues that peace journalism is an approach rather than a distinct type of journalism. “If your approach is right, and you approach a conflict without trying to romanticise it, or glamorise or dehumanise it, it automatically become peace journalism.”

She says that conflict sensitivity and conflict resolution should be part of journalistic training, and she is developing a journalist curriculum that includes those principles for her thesis.

It is, in some ways, an extension of the 5 W’s maxim that journalists use in information gathering; what, who, where, when, why.  “So who is involved, who initiated the conflict, who is going to benefit, which is the weaker side, what are the stakes. By answering these questions you get beyond reporting on how many people died, or what kind of aircraft was used.”

She will also discuss how peace journalism depends on the cooperation of the community affected by conflict. This is something that she explored for a chapter she contributed to the book, Peace Journalism, War and Conflict Resolution.

“Media can be effective in conflict resolution, but the communities involved may not be in a position to trust any media representatives … because they think they are spying for the West, or for the government, or for intelligence agencies.

“If you don’t have the community’s trust, if they are not your sources, how effective can media be? So let’s not get carried away with the concept. There are challenges, there are risks, and each conflict has its own history, its own limitations.  We have to have realistic expectations. But it is possible to train journalists to write better stories. After that it will come down to an individual approach.”

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, 7 June at 7.15-8.30pm on the 10^th floor of AUT Tower Building, 2 Rutland St (next to the new Pacific Media Centre office)

The first aim of the new Media Alliance of the Pacific (MAP) is to create a new database of media workers across the Pacific, and to use this to improve information sharing, training opportunities, for capacity building and to begin pooling regional resources.

The Zealand based Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) is one of the founding members of the new alliance. PIMA’s chair, Iulia Leilua, says that Pasifika and Māori media in New Zealand need to work harder to build relationships with other media in the Pacific region. “There is still a perception within parts of the Pacific that New Zealand is not a ‘real’ Pacific country.”

MAP also plans to develop a regional code of ethics and a media complaints council. During her address at the conference, Ms Leilua said media freedom was the key concern among Pasifika media practitioners in New Zealand. “In the Pacific, media freedom is largely impeded by their countries’ own authorities. Here in New Zealand, freedom for Pasifika media can be impeded by cultural, political, social and neo-colonial barriers.”

Along with PIMA, founding members of MAP include the Pacific Alliance of Development Journalists (PADJ), Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF), Pasifika Media Association (PasiMA) and the Pacific Women Advancing Vision of Empowerment (WAVE) Media Network.

Each year the Foundation presents two awards for critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing, on a topic that will contribute to debate on an important issue in New Zealand.

The value of the Foundation’s Emerging Journalist Award has also increased, doubling from $500 to $1000. This award is paid for work that has been published by a print journalism student and nominated by the country’s journalism programme leaders.

The Bruce Jesson Journalism Award is paid is advance to fund the time and expense of an investigative project, and is open to anyone proposing an in-depth analysis. The investigation can be produced as a report, book, radio or television programme, film, website or pamphlet.

Previous winners have included Keith Mexsom for a book on the history of Auckland’s transport policy, Peter Malcouronne for a feature on New Zealand’s economic growth, Amie Richardson for a series of investigative articles on rest homes, Jon Stephenson for a two-part report from Iraq, Tina McIvor for an investigation into Work and Income’s treatment of beneficiaries judged to be living in marriage-type relationships, and Nicky Hager for a book on New Zealand foreign policy.

Bruce Jesson grew up in Christchurch and earned a law degree at Canterbury University, but was not admitted to the Bar because he refused to swear allegiance to the British queen. He never trained as a journalist but wrote and edited The Republican, which he published from 1974 to 1995, wrote a column for Metro magazine and a series of books including The Fletcher Challenge: Wealth and Power in New Zealand (1980), Behind the Mirror Glass: The Growth of Wealth and Power in New Zealand in the Eighties (1987) and Only Their Purpose is Mad: The Money Men Take Over New Zealand (1999). Some of his collected writings were published posthumously in To Build a Nation in 2005.

The group, fronted by Kyle Chapman, gained national attention after it distributed flyers headlined “Stop the Asian Invasion.”

The editorial  in the Nelson Mail noted that the most-read story on its own website was its story about the group’s activities in this region, and that it also elicited the most online comments.

 “It can be a difficult call whether to give the sort of rubbish espoused by the likes of Mr Chapman the illusion of credibility by publishing it. A strong argument can be made to ignore it in the hope that it simply sinks beneath the surface, where it belongs. However, the best way of dealing with extremism is to expose it, and hope that most readers will have the intelligence to see it for what it is.”

The editorial in the Ashburton Guardian  also noted that it would be easy to ignore the group. “Especially as the thing it seems to like most is publicity … But to ignore the group could be dangerous too. It’s not going to go away.”

The Ashburton Guardian published an interview with Chapman, in which Chapman was quoted as saying that he was not “anti-Asian” and that “If we had 2000 or 3000 Russians coming in to the country, it would be the same problem. We don’t, it’s Asians we’re being swamped by.”

While Chapman was not challenged or his claims questioned in the article, the paper’s position was made clear by the editorial, in which journalist Peter O’Neill pointed out that in the previous year, the greatest number of successful applications for residency in New Zealand had gone to people from Great Britain rather than Asians, a group that Chapman appeared to have no objections to.

The Southland Times ran a satirical piece by columnist and journalist Steve Braunias in his May Contact Facts series.  In “The Secret Diary of Kyle Chapman” Braunias’ wrote a fictional piece from the point of view of Chapman, in which he portrayed the organisation as having a membership of two, himself and Hermann.

In the article, Chapman says “We’re bound to get some publicity out of the mail drop.” They do, and a man called Derek phones to express his interest in joining the group. Chapman is excited that membership will increase by 30 per cent.

This themed edition will be linked to the November 2010 Journalism Education Association of Australia (JEA) conference that was organised and hosted by the University of Technology, Sydney. It will also reflect two major reports that will be published in the journal, the State of New Zealand Media and Media Freedom in the Pacific Status Report.

The editors are interested in papers that were presented at the conference or other articles or commentaries with an Asia-Pacific diversity theme. Topics may include but are not restricted to:

• Indigenous and multicultural discourses
• Australian Reporting Diversity Project
• Empowering community and diversity media
• Community media and radio strategies
• Diversity media and independent publishing 
• Diversity and community media case studies

Articles on other topics related to media and journalism theory and practice may also be considered. 

The submission deadline is 20 June, 2011. For more information go to the Pacific Journal website.

Inspiring Stories was launched in January this year and is a nationwide initiative that aims to spark a series of inspirational short films by bringing together young filmmakers, young change makers, and creative industry professionals.

It is the brainchild of Guy Ryan who, with Nick Holmes and for his Masters in Science Communication at the University of Otago made the movie “Carving the Future”, a film about four young New Zealander’s leading climate change and conservation projects in their communities.

That film helped him win one of six scholarships awarded each year by the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation’s “World of Difference” programme, to fund the Inspiring Stories Project for a year.

“I’m 25 and feel that young people have a lot of challenges on their hands, social, environmental and economical,” says Mr Ryan. “And one of the challenges of our time is to play a role tackling these.  Film making is a powerful way to share and challenge ideas and inspire ourselves to start making stuff happen.”

He says that young people are ‘digital natives’ experienced with technology, but the project aims to encourage them to look at the social issues and use their film making skills to make a difference, “to try and change the world just a little bit”.

Through a series of two-day intensive workshops in every region the project helps participants kick-start a two to four minute film about a young change-maker in their community. Participants then go on to produce their short films over an 8-week period, during which time they can contact mentors in the region for advice.

Inspiring stories has held workshops in regions throughout the South Island, where mentors included filmmakers, media studies teachers, photographers, journalists and writers. The project is now looking for mentors for North Island workshops that will run form May–July.

The films will be showcased online, at the Inspiring Stories Film Festival in November, and then shared throughout schools and communities across New Zealand.

For more information contact Laura Madden: Laura@inspiringstories.org.nz.

Ms Tapiata was the producer/presenter of Radio NZ National’s only Māori language programme, the daily programme, He Rourou. She has also spent many years on the Journalist Training Organisation, and has been a member on the industry advisory committees at Whitireia and Waiariki journalism schools. 

The diploma is being taught at Whitireia Community Polychechnic’s new Media Education Centre in Cuba Street in Wellington. The new centre combines Whitireia’s journalism and publishing schools, its creative writing school and its recently acquired NZ Radio Training School.

The NiuFM radio station has also relocated to the new building, and will provide an outlet for practical radio work done by journalism students. NiuFM, operated by the Pacific Media Network (along with 531PI) broadcasts nationally and the network wants to boost its presence in the Wellington region. It will work with HollaFM, a Porirua-based Pasifika station operating from the Whitireia campus in Porirua. 

The new Radio Diploma joins the new Certificate in Multimedia Journalism launched and the National Diploma in Journalism (Multimedia), which was relocated from the Porirua campus in 2008 and revamped and expanded.

“We finally managed to convince Civil Defence to let us go in with a USAR team to get some office computers out about three weeks after the event” says station manager, Nicki Reece.

The team had used a temporary office at Ms Reece’s home where they tried to access their on-air schedule remotely. However technical issues prevented them from doing this effectively so staff had to wait until their zone became green.

“Luckily we were able to maintain an on-air presence as our silence detector automatically kicks the BBC World Service on air if we can’t do our normal programming,” says Ms Reece. “But it has been a very frustrating period for staff not able to do our jobs and get our programme makers on air to support their various communities during this harrowing time.”

The station is now collaborating with various agencies and groups to get accurate information out in a variety of languages over the long recovery process.

A new initiative, The Quake Panel, will feature community leaders and local experts in a number of group discussions on aspects of business, health, education, welfare, rebuilding, social issues and not-for-profit funding over the next two months as Christchurch citizens re-build their lives.

 The Quake Panel broadcasts Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9am and podcast on www.plainsfm.org.nz.

Last month’s issue of Nga Reo Tangata described how TahuFM, taken off air after its building was damaged in the quake, could still get messages out to the community by broadcasting Te Upoko O Te Ika, an iwi radio station in Wellington, over its frequency. TahuFM is operating from a temporary studio in Wigram, and switches to Radio Ngati Porou from 5pm to 9am.

With Plains FM being forced off air, several community stations around the country helped ensure that key messages could still be broadcast to communities for whom English is not a first language.

The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs worked the Pacific Media Network and Samoa Capital Radio to compile a bulletin of key messages such as 0800 numbers, the physical locations of welfare centres, the availability of emergency help of all kinds etc. The Pacific Media Network then gave the bulletins to all producers within the network, who translated key information into the language featuring in that evening’s programme. 

Samoa Capital Radio in Wellington, which broadcasts on an AM frequency and can be picked up in Christchurch, translated key messages into Samoan.

 “Clearly radio was an attractive option.” says Frances Ross, media adviser for the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. “Given the power outages, the extent of damage to the eastern suburbs where most Pacific people live, and low internet access at home for many Pacific people. We needed to use channels other than email or websites.”

Meanwhile, Community Radio Hamilton coordinated a project to deliver essential quake recovery information across the country in multiple languages, drawing on volunteers from Community Radio Hamilton, Fresh FM in Nelson, Access Manawatu, Arrow FM (Masterton) and Taranaki Access Radio to broadcast five key messages translated and recorded into Spanish, Fijian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Tamil, Japanese, Tagalog, Russian, and German.

The seven-part series, “China and Us”, examined the way China and the Chinese are changing the way we live in New Zealand and was one of the most comprehensive series about the Chinese communities that has been published in a New Zealand newspaper.

Between April 9 and April 16, the national daily devoted at least two pages to features, profiles and opinion pieces and on a variety of themes: food and leisure, education and jobs, media and small business, housing and lifestyles, race relations and politics. The newspaper also produced a 10-page supplement on investment and trade with China.

The editorial accompanying the final in the series noted that the influence of China and Chinese in New Zealand impacted many aspects of life:  that East Asian names dominate prizegivings, that Asians still suffer slurs about driving and crime which, as the series had pointed, was ill-founded, that Chinese immigration had been a powerful force in the pre 2007 housing boom, that China’s demand for our commodities had helped sustain the economy through the recent financial crisis. “[China’] living, travelling and leisure habits are boosting Auckland’s housing density, public transport and inner city life. Chinese are a significant part of this country now, enriching it in every way.”

To read the China and Us series online go to nzherald.co.nz.

Johnson, of Ngai Tuwharetoa and Ngapuhi descent, made the 12-minute film as the final project for her video production major for the Bachelor of Communication Studies in 2009.

 The film tells the story of kuia, Nganeko Minhinnick, and her attempts to ensure protection of her iwi’s land and waters. It explores the concept of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and how Nganeko Minhinnick came to be kaitiaki (guardian) of the Ngati te Ata area.

Johnson knew Ms Minhinnick personally before she began filming. “I knew she had some amazing stories to tell. I had been told that she had declined to be filmed by some major broadcasters in the past, and it was because of my personal connection to her that she agreed.”

“As a Māori filmmaker, I feel an obligation to represent Māori stories in a way that is genuinely concerned with the wellbeing of Māori that does not misrepresent the views imparted onto me by taking them out of context”, says Ms Johnson.

 Ms Johnson is currently studying towards a Master of Communication Studies, and her thesis topic is on the relevance of Māori documentary to state-owned broadcaster, Television New Zealand.

 “Makings of a Kaitiaki” won the Pacific Media Centre prize for Best Student Film at the Flavorz09 Māori, Pasifika and Diversity film festival at AUT University in 2009, the TV3 award for Best Video Production in 2010, was screened at the AUT International Indigenous Film Festival and selected to screen at the Te Mahurehure and Wairoa Maori film festivals last year.

 It is one of 34 films from 16 countries selected for the 2011 Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival, which will be dedicated to “the indomitable spirit of the indigenous woman”.

The Human Rights Commission’s annual review of race relations, Race Relations in 2010, was published on 11 March.

To view the full report visit the Commission’s website.

Tahu FM was taken off air after its building was damaged during the earthquake in Christchurch. It was able to begin broadcasting five days later thanks to the support of Te Upoko O Te Ika, an iwi radio station in Wellington.

“Once we got a Sky decoder, we could take feeds from them that could go out on our frequency,” says Ms Jones. “We broadcast their show, but they dedicated their whole show to what was happening in Ōtautahi [Christchurch], which was amazing.”

Tahu FM benefited from support from iwi stations around the country, says Ms Jones, such as Radio Waatea and Radio Ngati Porou; although Tahu FM is now broadcasting live, it hours are limited to 9am to 5pm — Radio Ngati Porou broadcasts on their frequency the rest of the time.

The staff of Tahu FM began broadcasting live on March 7, out of a small room in Wigram. “People had to sort out their whanau and where they were going to live first,” says Ms Jones.

“Most of us just didn’t just lose work, but big chunks of our home. So once the humans got themselves sorted out then we could start figuring out how to get back on air.”

Again, help came from other iwi. “People from Tuaropaki Communications drove down from Taupo to lend the station a satellite dish which allowed us to get back on air.”

Ms Jones says the station currently has no plans to retrieve equipment from their former building, which was attached to the Hotel Grand Chancellor.  “We may be able to get in one day for a few minutes, and we might never get back in. Most of us who were there that day never want to go back in.”

Ms Jones says that life is hard in Christchurch, yet she and her colleagues are keen to keep broadcasting. “Radio is really important, and we’re very lucky to be working for Ngai Tahu because we’re still getting paid. So many people have lost their jobs, their homes, everything.”

Tahu FM is currently broadcasting a mix of crucial messages, music, “a bit of light relief and a few jokes”.

“And we’ve had a really good response; people have been texting, sometimes it’s telling us how great is to hear us on air, sometimes asking us if we know of a plumber.”

The station’s building had been given a green sticker, but it was just inside the Red Zone and access to any building in the area was only given under certain criteria.

Plains FM argued that it met one of the stated criteria that access radio “supported emergency services and Christchurch earthquake response functions”. Initially, however, the application was declined.

“People still have a cloudy understanding about community access radio, and that was a bit of a barrier,” says station manager, Nicki Reece. “When you say you’re a radio station people say, ‘well, so what?’ But we’re not just a radio station, we’re a particular type of radio station, one that broadcasts in different languages that can support what civil defence is doing.”

“When you’re living in another country where English isn’t your first language, it is easy to miss shades of meaning, even if you’re English is really good,” she says. “You’re stressed anyway, so to hear something clearly in your own language makes such a difference. It’s incredibly tiring thinking in another language when you’re stressed.”

She says that having the right connections undoubtedly helped them get access to their building. “We had a broadcaster who was involved in Civil Defence and she supported us – so it was a matter of her connecting us to the right person who recognised the importance of access radio.”

Retrieving the equipment was a considerable mission, she says, and they were only granted an hour. “So in that hour we raced,” she says.

“We got some computer equipment, some outside broadcast equipment and tried to get the on air system back on air.”

At the time of writing, there were still some technical issues that needed to be sorted, but she hoped the station would be on air within the week. “If some genius geek can give us a hand, that’d be brilliant.”

Mr Pamatatau, of Cook Islands, Niuean, German, English and Australian descent, says he became interested in the job after receiving numerous emails from people sending him a link to the ad for the job.

 “I thought there has to be a reason people are sending this to me – without being kooky or fate driven — and when I looked at what I’d done over 20 years I thought it was a good time to shift from being a working journalist to an academic who teaches and grows more journalists.”

The new Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism aims to address the shortage of Pasifika journalists in Aotearoa/New Zealand and designed for local Pacific people journalists who have joined the media industry but who don’t yet have qualifications, people moving into journalism from another career, or journalists from around the Pacific region. Students will do the same papers as on the postgraduate journalism course, with the addition of some specific Pacific Island and Maori orientated papers.

“It’s about developing more Pacific Islanders who want to be journalists, but who don’t want to be journalists covering Pacific Island issues,” he says. “Hopefully through that, we’ll grow a bigger Pacific middle class who can be in the newsroom and begin to chip away at the hegemonic ethnocentric way that a lot of newsrooms see the world.”

He has no doubts that the media remains ethnocentric in its representation of life in New Zealand. “I haven’t worked in a newsroom that isn’t ethnocentric.” 

“The European students in the class are starting to recognise the inherent bias in the media,” he says. “We looked at how the coverage of the Canterbury earthquake has been reported – where were the Maori stories?” 

“This is something that news rooms have to grapple with, but it’s very difficult for people who are used to seeing the world through their specific lens to deal with that. By having more journalists who are not Europeans in the newsroom that will eventually change.”

Mr Pamatatou says that the course will recognise and acknowledge the students’ particular skills and cultural knowledge, but this will not guarantee an easy ride.

“If they don’t do the work, they won’t pass. So they needn’t think that they can come into the course and because they speak Tongan and Samoan they will get a really good mark. It’s lovely that they speak Tongan and Samoan, but they do need to do the work.”

Kim Bowden, Corazon Miller and Yvonne Brill all graduated last year as journalists with a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies and also did AUT’s postgraduate Asia-Pacific journalism course.

Kim Bowden is bound for the China Daily.com for a three-month stint in April. Before enrolling and graduating from the Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies, Ms Bowden worked for six years with adventure tour company, Intrepid Travel, in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand. She also had a year-long stint as an electoral secretary.

Yvonne Brill will intern for the same Bejing publication later in the year. Ms Brill is a postgraduate student studying towards her Masters of Communication Studies at AUT University. Before returning to university, Ms Brill spent three years working in the media research industry and is currently working on a Maori and Pasifika advancement media project.

The third intern, Corazon Miller plans to go to the Jakarta Globe. She is of Filipina and New Zealand European descent, a trained nurse who is bilingual in Tagalog. She was also the winner of the inaugural Kiwi-Asian journalism scholarship sponsored by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Two China Daily staff members are also expected to go to AUT University later in the year on exchange.

AUT’s last journalist on internship was Michele Ong who went to Beijing last year and is now with the Rodney Times in Warkworth. Jess Harkins has also returned recently from a spell with the Jakarta Globe.

“It is great to see our graduates on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course following up with practical experience in the field in the region,” says Pacific Media Centre director, David Robie.

“It is great for their personal development, and also beneficial for the long-term development of New Zealand media expertise in the region.”

The romantic comedy stars Michelle Ang as Emily Chu, a young New Zealand born Chinese woman who falls in love with, and secretly marries a European man, played by Matt Whelan.

“This is a film with a universal story and we are targeting a wide audience with its release,” says South Pacific Pictures’ CEO, John Barnett. “It is the first film to be written and directed by a New Zealand born Chinese and it takes a light hearted look at how tensions arise between the traditional values of immigrants and their New Zealand born children.”

The film also stars well-known Hong Kong actors Cheng Pei Pei and Kenneth Tsang, who play Emily’s parents.

“Both are very well known to Chinese audiences, which gave an extra impetus to making a Chinese version available” says Mr Barnett.

The film is directed by Roseanne Liang, the New Zealand born daughter of Hong Kong immigrant parents, and the film is based on her own experiences.

The Simplified Chinese subtitled versions will screen at Event Cinemas Queen Street and Highland Park, and Hoyts Botany Downs.

“It’s always an amazing experience. Ninety per cent of the kaiwaiata [singers] have never been in a studio before, so there are usually some emotional moments – for them and for us,” says the show’s producer, Erina Tamepo.

She also says that contestants on the show have little chance to rehearse; they don’t receive any coaching or chorographical training. “Our show is unsanitised, spontaneous and fun,” she says.

“After being selected to sing, they’re through to make-up and in front of the cameras, where it’s up to them to show the text voting audience at home what they’ve got.”

 The show will continue to be hosted by Mātai Smith and Te Hāmua Nīkora, who have both seen a wide range of talent in their time on the show.
 
“One of the reasons Homai Te Pakipaki has been so successful is that you don’t necessarily have to be a fantastic singer to get on air, although we’ve had some phenomenal singers on,” says Mr Smith. “Homai Te Pakipaki is so raw and so real. It’s not fabricated and slick — it’s all about the talent.”

Workshops with investigative journalists, hands on workshops, discussions about ethics, history, multimedia journalism, teaching investigative journalism, documentary and computer assisted reporting are being planned. 

This will be the first conference on this subject to be held in Australia. 

More details will be forthcoming.

For more information visit the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.

Forty-two teams from around the country and Australia will compete for the title of the best Kapa Haka team in the world, in the traditional disciplines of Haka, Poi and Waiata.

The 2009 festival in Tauranga attracted some 50,000 spectators over the three days. Twice as many visitors are predicted for this year’s event.

 “A simulcast just makes sense,” says general manager, programming, Haunui Royal. “There are so many Māori overseas who want to see their whanau perform at Te Matatini and the simulcast lets them be part of the excitement as it happens.”

In addition to the finals Maori Television will screen special updates and highlights during the first three days of the festival, held on 17 to 19 February.

For more information visit the Maori television website.

That’s according to Massey’s head of journalism, Dr Grant Hannis, who has recently completed six months with the San Francisco State University on a Fulbright Scholarship, where he researched the depiction of Chinese gold-miners in the US west coast newspaper, the Daily Alta California, during the 19^th century gold rush.

This built on previous research in which he looked at the representation of Chinese gold miners in the Dunedin press, the Otago Witness.

Dr Hannis says that there were key differences between the ways the two gold rushes evolved. In California the rush occurred unexpectedly and suddenly, resulting in a massive increase and change in population. In 1850 there were only 800 Chinese people living in California but in 1852 alone, 20,000 more arrived. “So San Francisco went from being a small one-horse town to a big city in just a couple of years,” says Dr Manning. 

By contrast, Dunedin had benefited from a gold rush but many of the European miners had left for easier pickings along the west coast of New Zealand and Australia. “The powers that be were concerned that the fields would go to waste and the boom would end, so they actually invited Chinese from Australian goldmines to come here.” 

The press responded in very similar ways. Initially the Chinese were described as hard-working, law-abiding and peaceable.  “The newspapers in both cases were drawn from the dominant white culture, and initially the dominant white people wanted the Chinese to come in to contribute to the economic boom and the development of the area which of course, would benefit the newspaper itself,” says Dr Hannis.

“But also on both papers the editors involved, who were setting the editorial direction, tended to be quite tolerant people.”

But after the editor of the Daily Alta California was killed in a duel, the editorial direction of the paper changed considerably. It was often blatantly racist; the Chinese were now described as cunning, deceitful, libidinous, offensive, he says.

Once the Otago gold fields were exhausted, the Otago Witness also changed its tune.  “By the end of the century racist diatribes and cartoons were appearing, with the Chinese depicted as opium addicts who supposedly would kidnap white women and sell them into prostitution and boil children in a pot.”

Dr Hannis says that people’s attitudes were driven by inherent racism, of being confronted with the unfamiliar, but also economic self-interest. “The Chinese were prepared to work the diggings that Europeans wouldn’t, and they would work harder and longer and able to supply goods and services and labour at cheaper prices.”

He cautions against judging the people of 150 years ago by the standards and viewpoints of today. “It’s a very different world with very different attitudes,” he says. “Having said that, while the overtly racist talk published in those papers would be unacceptable today — some people might think it but they wouldn’t say it and I think very few people would even think it — there are still issues of economic self-interest and fear of the unknown.

“So you still see hints, or a bit of the flavour of the same views that were expressed then. It’s considerably watered down, but it hasn’t gone away entirely.”

At an informal prize giving ceremony in the boardroom of Aucklander publisher APN, Mr de Bres said, “Auckland is the most diverse city in New Zealand, and The Aucklander is the newspaper that most consistently tells the stories of its diverse communities.”

Ms Davies portfolio of stories Strangers in a Strange Auckland / Keeping the Faith / Speaking in Tongues / Talking ’bout Discrimination explored the influx of migrants to the region and the issues this raises for religious belief, language maintenance and racism and discrimination.

Pictured: Joanna Davies, reporter for The Aucklander receives her prize from Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres.

Between completing her degree in biomedical science and enrolling at journalism school, Ms Chadrahasen spent two years researching infectious diseases at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, in Wellington. Her research focus was on the rotavirus and respiratory syncytial virus. 

“I love science, the fact finding of it, and discovering new things. But the part that I loved the most was telling other people what I was doing, such as when I got to go to conferences and share my knowledge and find out what other people were doing. That is, the communications side of things.”

Ms Chadrahasen first became interested in a change in career after a journalist and friend said she had a natural flair for interviewing people; she did a considerable amount of research before deciding she would enjoy it, which included doing a week-long stint at the Science Media Centre and attending the Science Communicators Conference.

Ms Chandrahasen’s father is from Fiji, and her mother from Greymouth. “Both their backgrounds have influenced me,” she says. “Any journalist brings their background with them to their career and I think it’s given me an understanding of the challenges faced by people who are trying to seek out a better life while facing discrimination. A lot of that comes from a lack of understanding of different cultures, and good journalism can help alleviate that.”

Ms Chandrahasen notes that science, particularly the science of public health, often intersects with ethnicity.  “That respiratory virus that I was working on was a major problem among Pacific communities, far more than European children,” she says. “Everything is interlinked. We might try and separate things out but we struggle.”

Ms Tylee, who is also organiser of the National Youth Drama School, wrote a speech entitled “Unnerving Murmurings” in which she addressed the question of what defines a New Zealander in the 21^st century.

The speech was kindled by the controversy around Henry’s comments last year about the Governor-General, and which resulted in the resignation of the broadcaster, and the level and energy of that discussion.

In her speech, Ms Tylee pointed out that the country had moved on from traditional, mythical stereotypes of a typical New Zealander, of the “barbeque eating, jandal-wearing, interbred, chainsaw-wielding bunch of blokes, and pikelet flipping Sheilas all singing ten guitars drinking steinies and giving the fingers to OSH.”

She noted that this was a country in which attitudes were constantly changing, it was a country where, in 1984, Post Office telephonist Naida Pou was sacked for greeting callers with Kia Ora, a country where, in 1995, 90,000 people voted for Barry Crump to be featured on a postage stamp in the Fine Arts and Literature category, a country where its most famous citizen, Sir Edmund Hillary, was listed in the phone book until his death, and a country in which asylum seeker Ahmed Zaoui was invited on stage to join Dave Dobbyn as the musician sang “Welcome Home”.

“So somewhere in all this lies a quintessential us — that the thousands of New Zealanders from Asia, the Pacific, Europe and Middle East want to embrace.”

Ms Tylie suggested that perhaps the best description of what it meant to be a New Zealander was an “adolescent trying to extract itself from the older siblings and parents.” She fully expected that the country would eventually grow up.

“And we’ll accept, with advancing years, all is not perfect, and, with a shrug of the collective cultural shoulders utter, in a multitude of colours and voices, a united She’ll be Right.”

Ms Tylee’s full speech can be read on The Writing Showcase on Massey University’s School of Communication website.

The journalists are Tim Lambourne and Daniel Simmons-Ritchie.

Mr Lambourne has just completed a communications degree majoring in journalism at AUT University and is a part time reporter for 3 News and the Nightline programmes.

Mr Simmons-Ritchie is a graduate of Massey University’s school of journalism and is employed as a reporter at the Wairarapa Times-Age in Masterton.

Mr Lambourne will work at the International Herald Tribune in Hong Kong and Mr Simmons-Ritchie will go to Philippine Star in Manila.

The annual scholarships are offered by Asia: NZ to give promising young journalists opportunities to test their journalism skills in a region of the world that is increasingly vital to New Zealand’s future interests.

Deadline for this year’s travel grants are 

• Monday 16 May 2011
• Friday 15 July 2011
• Friday 16 September 2011

Unlike previous years, regional designations will be unspecified and proposals for all locations in Asia will be considered at all three rounds.

Asia New Zealand also supports a growing number of media staff exchanges, internships and work placements and scholarships to a variety of Asian media outlets.

For more information go to the media grants and funding page on the Asia: NZ website.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres is challenging media elsewhere to match the Marlborough efforts and contribute to Race Relations Day on Monday 21 March through stories and feature articles on aspects of race relations and diversity, and promoting local events.

Local multicultural events will be taking place throughout New Zealand, starting from next weekend (February 26) with a multicultural festival in Marlborough. The Marlborough Express is running a series of features in the lead-up to the festival, including Filipina has passion for salsa and Growing up with the best of three worlds and Harmony achieved through dance . The local radio station, Classic Hits Marlbourough, has recorded messages from local communities in nine different languages, and is doing a series of interviews in the lead up to the festival. Classic Hits radio host Scott Radovanovich is also acting as MC on the day.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown and Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres will launch the annual Race Relations Report on Friday 11 March in Auckland, including the ten top race relations priorities for 2011, and embargoed copies can be provided to media as a source of information. Please contact Gilbert Wong or Kat Ryan.

Race Relations Day is promoted by the Human Rights Commission in association with the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils, and government, local government and community organisations.

In 2010 NZ On Air commissioned research to examine the state of Maori mainstream television today.  The report by Hinewehi Mohi, Stacey Morrison and Scotty Morrison of Nga Matakiirea, in association with Tim Thorpe Consulting.

In response to the feedback in the report, proposals that embrace an entertainment format, particularly comedy, may be favoured. They may show old ideas presented with a new twist or they may show new ideas in a tried and true format.  The key question must be: what is going to attract, satisfy and surprise a broad audience with insight into Maori POVs, issues, talent, humour or creative endeavour?

Applications close 5.00pm, 15 April 2011.

View full press release on the website of NZ On Air.

MEDIA (DRAFT CHAPTER)

What happened in 2010?

• TVNZ Breakfast host Paul Henry resigned and Radio Live talkback host Michael Laws apologised after an unprecedented level of public complaints about comments made about the Governor General
• The Broadcasting Standards Authority considered 7 race-related complaints. None were upheld.
• The New Zealand Press Council considered two race-related complaints. Neither was upheld.
• The Advertising Standards Authority considered six race-related complaints. None was upheld.
• Rebecca Todd of The Press, was awarded the 2010 Excellence in Reporting Diversity award

BRICKBATS AND BOUQUETS

Paul Henry, Michael Laws and the Governor General

Television New Zealand’s Breakfast co-host Paul Henry received the People’s Choice Award for the most popular person on television in the Qantas Film and Television Awards in September. Just over two weeks later he was suspended from his position by Television New Zealand, and six days after that he resigned. What prompted the reversal of fortune was an interview with the Prime Minister in which he asked whether the next Governor General would “look and sound like a New Zealander” and “be more like a New Zealander”, in contrast to the current Governor General who, although born in New Zealand, is of Fiji Indian descent.

The comments provoked a public outcry, but the initial response from a TVNZ spokesperson was that “the audience tell us over and over again that one of the things they love about Paul Henry is that he’s prepared to say the things we quietly think but are scared to say out loud. The question of John Key is the same, we want the answer but are too scared to ask.”

Paul Henry apologised for the remarks in a media release that afternoon and again on air the following morning, and then a chastened TVNZ suspended him for two weeks without pay. Public attention turned to a video clip on TVNZ’s website in which Henry made highly derogatory remarks about the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games. In the ensuing days, TVNZ received more than 1600 complaints, major advertisers threatened to withdraw from the programme, and the New Zealand Ambassador to India responded with an apology to a complaint from the Indian government. Five days after his suspension, Paul Henry resigned. Television New Zealand responded to the record number of complainants accepting that Paul Henry had breached broadcasting standards. TVNZ executives also apologised in person to the Governor General on his return from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Meanwhile, radio talkback host Michael Laws also made derogatory remarks about the Governor General on Radio Live, describing him as “a very large fat man” which he said was incongruous for an Indian because although “we don’t all expect Indians to be begging on the streets of New Delhi, it’s like Anand discovered the buffet table at, like, 20 and he’s never really left it.” A spokesperson for Radio Live initially defended the remarks, saying “Michael Laws made some personal observations about his size which were not racist, and having listened to the audio I am comfortable from the tone of the comments that they were not intended to be offensive.” Laws initially rejected calls for an apology, telling the Prime Minister to “stop being so PC” and describing the Race Relations Commissioner as being “out of touch with mainstream New Zealand”. After discussions with his employer, Mediaworks, however, he made a statement that “I apologise to the Governor General for comments which were, upon reflection, uncharitable and inappropriate. I also apologise to MediaWorks for any embarrassment that may have been subsequently caused”.

Whakatane Beacon says candidate “too Māori”

Three days before voting closed in the Whakatane District Council elections, the Whakatane Beacon prominently featured its assessment of the six mayoral candidates, who included Ngati Awa Deputy Chairman Pouroto Ngaropo. Ngaropo was assessed as a “splendid orator” and “comfortable with Māori and pakeha” but “too Māori, too moko-ed” and “politically naïve”. Among those who protested at the racial prejudice of the assessment was Maanu Paul, executive member of the New Zealand Māori Council and Chairman of the Mataatua District Māori Counci. Paul called for the dismissal of the editor, Mark Dawson.

Dawson published an apology on the front page of the Beacon in the next edition two days later. He said “This was our opinion of why people may or may not support a candidate, and our view that some people would not vote for Mr Ngaropo because he is Māori and some would similarly be put off by a facial tattoo. The Beacon does not endorse or encourage such prejudice but simply recognises that, unfortunately, it exists. New Zealand still has some way to go before race and ethnicity no longer cause division. We apologise to Mr Ngaropo and to all others who were offended. The article was presented without malice or favouritism and was an assessment prepared with input from experienced staff who have seen the candidates in action.”

The lead story on the same page reported a poll conducted by the newspaper, which placed Ngaropo last of the six mayoral candidates, a long way behind the leaders. In the event he came fourth with 2029 votes, behind Tony Bonne (2884), Judy Turner (2271) and Julie Jukes (2261), but was elected to the Council for the Galatea-Murupara ward.

The editor was subjected to a disciplinary procedure by management following publication of the article, and Maanu Paul referred his complaint to the NZ Press Council.

Awards

Rebecca Todd of The Press, received the 2010 Excellence in Reporting Diversity award for a series of features following the journey of a Bhutanese refugee family from a Himalayan refugee camp to inner city Christchurch.  The competition this year was to recognise and reward the work of young New Zealand journalists focusing on Asian-related topics. The award – in its third year – is supported by Whitireia Journalism School, the Asia:NZ Foundation and the Human Rights Commission. The prize of a $4000 grant from the Asia:NZ Foundation will support Rebecca Todd’s travel to an Asian news outlet to further her knowledge and experience. Joint runners up were Joanna Davies of The Aucklander and John Hartevelt from Fairfax’s political bureau.

Samoan journalist and NZ Herald reporter, Vaimoana Tapaleao, won the Junior Reporter of the Year in the Qantas Media Awards. Tapaleao (23) graduated from AUT University in 2008 and joined the New Zealand Herald team soon after as a South Auckland reporter. During her last year at university she was an intern at Spasifik magazine, and later won the Māori Television prize as well as the Storyboard award for excellence in diversity journalism. Her Qantas portfolio included an extensive series of news stories on the tsunami in Samoa, and reports about the individuals whose lives were lost in the sinking of the ferry MV Princess Ashika in Tonga.

Community access radio station Plains Fm 96.9 received a New Zealand Diversity Award from the Human Rights Commission. The station is owned by the Canterbury Communications Trust and since 1988 has provided training and facilities for local community groups, schools, organisations and individuals to make and broadcast their own radio programmes. Currently it airs 70 locally made programmes in 15 different languages, from the arts to local body politics, the environment to specialist music shows, pipe bands to Muslim youth. Listeners can access programmes online through podcasts and a live stream.

The Gisborne Herald took out the print category of the Māori Language Week awards for the fourth year running. Other winners were Television New Zealand (Broadcating Mainstream), Turanga FM Gisborne (Broadcasting – Māori Media), and Awawhenua Ltd, Rotorua (IT and Telecommunications).

Corazon Miller, a young Filipina-Kiwi was awarded the first Asia:NZ Foundation Kiwi Asian Journalism Scholarship. The scholarship is designed to attract more young Kiwi Asians into journalism study and to encourage increased representation of Asian communities in mainstream journalism. Miller will get $5000 of her course paid upon completion of her postgraduate journalism study at AUT University.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE MEDIA

Broadcasting

The Broadcasting Standards Authority considered 7 race-related complaints in 2010. None were upheld.

A presenter on TV3’s Sports Tonight referred to the English netball team as “Poms”. The Authority found that the term was affectionate slang rather than abusive and did not carry the level of invective necessary to encourage denigration or discrimination.

The host on the Radio Sport Farming Show referred to a man as a “pommy git”. The Authority found that the word “pommy” was unlikely to offend, insult or intimidate and that the expression “pommy git” was not derogatory.

On Radio Live’s Talkback with Michael Laws, the host made comments that communities in the Far North of New Zealand were an “underclass” whose children would be “feral” and that welfare benefits should be given to stop them having children. The Authority found that talkback radio is a robust environment, the host’s comments were extreme but encouraged discussion of a legitimate issue and did not encourage discrimination against or denigration of Māori in the Far North.

The host on UPFM’s The Toast Breakfast Show commented on Telecom’s outsourcing of call centre work overseas and made reference to “stupid Filipino operators”. The host subsequently apologised on air for the reference to ethnicity. The Authority found that the host’s remark lacked the necessary invective to reach the threshold for encouraging discrimination or denigration and that it was an expression of frustration with Telecom and a throw-away line.

TVNZ’s Sunday programme broadcast an item investigating forced child marriages in New Zealand which contained interviews with a girl who said she was forced to marry a man who raped her, a representative from an organisation that provides refuge for migrant women, and the president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand. The Authority found that comments made by interviewees were opinion and exempt from the accuracy standard under guideline 5a. The item made it clear that the problem of forced child marriages was a cultural issue and viewers were not misled. Individuals and organisations taking part and referred to were treated fairly. The item did not encourage denigration of, or discrimination against, Muslims.

A host on TVNZ’s Breakfast programme made a comment about Asian drivers slowing down. The Authority found that the comments were provocative and borderline but the threshold for restriction on freedom of expression was not reached because of contextual factors.

A MAF official on TVNZ’s Border Patrol, while examining an undeclared meat package from France intercepted at Auckland International Mail Centre, commented that people eat horse in France and discussed the dangers associated with raw meat in terms of its potential to carry diseases. The Authority found that the comment about diseases was not directed at French people and did not encourage discrimination or denigration.

What constitutes discrimination and denigration?

In commenting on the complaint by Amanda Lee against UPFM in relation to the term “stupid Filipino operators” the Authority noted that “For many years, the Authority has defined the term discrimination as encouraging the different treatment of members of a particular group, to their detriment (see Teoh and TVNZ¹). The term “denigration” has consistently been defined as meaning the blackening of the reputation of a class of people (see, for example, Petros and The Radio Network Ltd²).  It is also well-established that in light of the requirements of the Bill of Rights Act 1990, a high level of invective is necessary for the Authority to conclude that a broadcast encourages discrimination or denigration in contravention of the standard (see, for example, McCartain and Angus and The Radio Network³).

“We understand Ms Lee’s concern at the host’s reference to the ethnicity of the call centre workers. We agree that broadcasters should take care when highlighting ethnicity, or unnecessarily referencing ethnic minority groups in a negative context.  However, while we find that the comment was thoughtless and unnecessary, we note that the context for the remark was a discussion about Telecom’s decision to outsource its 018 service, which had led to complaints about overseas operators and their lack of local knowledge. In our view, the host’s remark “stupid Filipino operators” was an expression of his frustration with overseas operators, rather than a comment on Filipino people. It was clearly not intended to denigrate Filipino people on the basis of their ethnicity or some other perceived group characteristic.  Nor could it be said to have encouraged the different treatment of Filipino people to their detriment.

We note that, even though the broadcaster declined to uphold the complaint as a breach of broadcasting standards, it nevertheless ordered the host to make an on-air apology and gave both breakfast show hosts a verbal warning. In our view, the broadcaster handled Ms Lee’s complaint in a professional and appropriate manner.”

Print

The New Zealand Press Council considered two race-related complaints in 2010. Neither was upheld.

A column written by a local Māori leader, Peter Moeahau, was published in the Taranaki Daily News in June. A complainant considered it to be blatant Māori racism and worded to incite racial disharmony. The editor responded that the columnist aimed to stimulate debate and present a view – a Māori view – that was likely to be different from that of many readers. He admitted the column was “strident” and demonstrated hostility towards the State, particularly over the “racist perspective” of the seabed and foreshore legislation, but he believed a regional newspaper should publish commentary that pushed the debate and boundaries and raised readers’ understanding on major issues such as race. The complainant disagreed with the newspaper’s view that the column provided an insight into the other side of the race debate: “I didn’t realise that this country was having or indeed required any such debate!”

The Press Council found that the Taranaki Daily News had made it plain that Mr Moeahu’s views were his alone and not those of the paper. It regularly published counter views through its Letters forum. The column appeared in a page labelled Opinion. While some might find Mr Moeahu’s views not to their taste or indeed offensive, he was expressing those views as a columnist, in what was clearly an opinion piece. Columnists were encouraged and entitled to express their views in a forthright and provocative way. Columns aimed to stimulate debate and often walked a fine line in terms of offending sensibilities. The column complied with the Press Council’s Principle 4 on Comment and Fact.

In May a Korean mother and her two daughters died in tragic circumstances in Christchurch. The father also died tragically on his return to New Zealand. The Press published photos of the two girls, and of the father, on its website and subsequently in the paper. A complainant said it was considered disrespectful in Korean culture to publish photographs of the deceased in the media, especially as the man had requested privacy before he died. The editor said he had been aware of the sensitivities in the Korean community and had been in almost daily contact with a community spokesman. He had tried to find a balance between what is acceptable in New Zealand and not offensive in Korean culture.

The Press Council said it had no doubt the publication of the photograph caused widespread concern among the Christchurch Korean community. But it was not as clear that the case involved a particular cultural tapu. The general principles applied by the Press Council called for publications to give “special consideration” to those suffering grief or trauma. The Press did that in this case, removing the offending photos from its website while the relatives of the deceased were in its circulation area. The question for the Council was whether it should have removed them permanently out of cultural respect, and whether newspapers should not publish pictures of the deceased when Korean deaths were newsworthy. A finding of that nature would be a serious infringement of press freedom. Pictures of the deceased were an important element of reporting a tragedy such as this. The Council was reluctant to discourage newspapers from carrying compelling pictures where Koreans were concerned. It found The Press treated this case with due sensitivity to the relatives of the deceased.

Advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority considered six race-related complaints in 2010, and none were upheld.

An advertisement for a Māori Television Programme contained a table full of medical wrist bands representing the 75 New Zealand babies who had of died of “accidental injuries” or child abuse in 2008. All of the bands contained “baby” followed by last name. The heading of the advertisement said: If only we’d broadcast Tamariki Ora years ago”. A complainant felt the advertisement was offensive as there were only Caucasian names shown on the medical wrist bands. The Authority Chair ruled there were no grounds to proceed as only a small number of the wrist bands shown were in focus enough to read the baby’s name and that the bands were only a representation. Several of the last names could belong to any ethnicity and it was impossible to conclude that they belonged only to Caucasian families.

A television advertisement for Meadow Fresh Yoghurt featured a train pulling up at the train station with two men handing out Meadow Fresh Yoghurt as they left the train and walked through the station. It included an Indian man in a turban moving his head from side to side with a puzzled expression on his face. A complainant thought it was inappropriate and unnecessary to include an “Indian man leaving the train station as well, and as he passes by the people enjoying their yoghurt he looks at them disapprovingly by shaking his head and turning away from them.”  The Authority Chair ruled that there were no grounds to proceed. The complainant had taken an extreme interpretation of a fleeting image of an Indian man amongst people from a cross section of society.

A billboard placed by the Coastal Coalition in Auckland and Wellington provided allegedly contrasting views of beaches by “Iwi” and “Kiwi”. A complainant considered the advertisement to be racist. “It marginalises minorities. It inflames right wing elements”. The Authority Chair ruled there were no grounds to proceed.  ASA Rule 11 made provision for the expression of opinion in advocacy advertising saying that it was an essential and desirable part of the functioning of a democratic society, and that such opinions may be robust. She noted that the issue of ownership of New Zealand’s coastline was a contentious and current political issue for New Zealanders, and as such, the advertisement was not inflammatory, but provocative, providing an opportunity for people to engage in discussion about the issue.

A television advertisement for Lotto showed a dog travelling the world to find his owner after accidentally falling off the yacht they were on, after trying to retrieve a winning Lotto ticket. A complainant found the scene where the little dog has his jacket taken off him by children in India, was “racist and a gross generalisation of Indian society.”  The Chair ruled there were no grounds to proceed. People of other races or ethnicities, such as Indian, Asian and Māori, were used as a device to signal to the viewer that the dog had made it to another country in his quest to return home. The Chair noted the many scenes depicting the dog interacting with people from different races and ethnicities – some who helped him, and some who hindered his progress. She said another interpretation of the scene was that the children were helping the dog cool down in the heat by taking his jacket off for him.  She was of the view that the Complainant had taken an extreme interpretation of the scene.

In a television advertisement the presenter and his assistant “Mario”, both in Mexican dress, were showing how to make fajitas using “Tortilla” from Bazaar Breads of the World. A complainant “found the use of Kiwis pretending to be Mexican offensive and ridiculing.” The Chair ruled there were no grounds to proceed because the advertisement with a Mexican theme, which presented a Mexican style of bread, was light hearted in tone.

A Tui billboard stated: “That call centre person was really easy to understand. Yeah Right.” A complainant felt the message, which they recognised as being a reference to a call centre located outside of New Zealand, contained a “racist slur” which would “resonate painfully with many people for whom English is not their first language” particularly those living in New Zealand. The Chair ruled there were no grounds to proceed because consumers would recognise the format of a Tui “Yeah Right” billboard and in that context, the intended humour in the satirical comment on the reported challenges that can occur when dealing with call centres in other countries, although offensive to the Complainant, would not be likely to cause serious or widespread offence in the light of generally prevailing community standards.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Workshops

Three New Zealand journalists were among a group of 56 from across East Asia and Australasia attending an East Asia Regional Media Programme in Jakarta, Indonesia in March. The conference theme was “Journalism at the intersection of politics, culture and religion”, and was the second run by the New Zealand Government with co-sponsorship from the European Union, and support from the Indonesian Government and Indonesian Press Council. The focus was particularly on the challenges of reporting on security issues surrounding religion; ethnic and cultural identity; and politics, especially in situations involving terrorism or insurgency. New Zealand journalists Graeme Acton (Radio New Zealand), Edward Gay (New Zealand Herald Online) and Julie Middleton (Freelancer) attended the conference. Two New Zealand senior journalism educators, Dr David Robie from AUT University and Alan Samson from Massey University, were among the presenters from across Asia and Australasia.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs ran a workshop for journalists working in ethnic media featuring Jim Tucker, head of journalism at Whitireia Journalism School, Bernadette Courtney, editor of the The Dominion Post, Yu Qiu Wang, journalist for Home Voice, a Wellington Chinese newspaper, Trevor Henry senior communications adviser Department of Internal Affairs, and Charles Mabbett, media advisor Asia NZ.

The annual media and diversity forum at the New Zealand Diversity Forum in August featured presentations by Religious Studies Professor Paul Morris from Victoria University and journalism lecturer Jim Tully from the University of Canterbury on a proposed Statement on Religion and the Media. A panel of religious representatives discussed the topic, and it was agreed that a working group would prepare a draft statement for further discussion.

Also at the Diversity Forum, keynote speaker Mia Northrop, a digital specialist from Melbourne, spoke of how she had organised Vindaloo against Violence, a peaceful protest against racism through social media that involved 17,000 people at over 400 restaurants, workplaces, schools and universities across Australia and the world. She led a workshop on social media and social change, introducing participants to social media sites and tools that can be used to engage new audiences about diversity and human rights.

Māori broadcasting summit

A Māori broadcasting summit was hosted by Te Māngai Pāho in Rotorua in October to inform its contribution to the government’s Māori Language Strategy and Sector Review and to assist in developing strategies for the future development of Māori broadcasting. Te Māngai Pāho CEO John Bishara challenged those attending to re-imagine Māori broadcasting as if they were starting again but with the benefit of collective experience to date. Participants were asked to consider how they might design structures and processes for broadcasting to better achieve the outcomes for Māori language and culture by better focusing the funding available to the sector.

A number of issues were canvassed, including the need to improve the sector’s engagement with community (hapū and iwi), particularly in respect of television, and also for Māori broadcasting to embrace new technology. It was generally agreed that work should be undertaken to develop a national co-ordinated approach to Māori broadcasting and revitalisation of te reo Māori in a way that:

• has a community focus and conscience ( tikanga);
• values and reflects dialects (Reo a Iwi);
• identifies key boundaries and roles (tikanga);
• fosters a collective voice of Māori across future platforms (tikanga);
• has a plan for self –sufficiency and self sustainability; and
• has a succession plan to encourage new people to the industry.

Te Māngai Pāho is a Crown Entity established to make funding available to the national network of 33 Māori radio stations and for the production of Māori language television programmes, radio programmes and music CDs. It receives $53.8 million annually from government for this purpose.

Māori Television breaks the 2 million mark

More than two million people tuned to Māori Television in April, the best ratings for the channel since it first went to air in April 2004, when it attracted a cumulative audience of 300,000 in its first month. According to AGB Nielsen Media Research, during the month of April Māori Television had a cumulative audience of 2,013,600 unique viewers. Half of all New Zealanders aged 5+ and almost two thirds of all Māori aged 5+ tuned in to the channel. Māori Television chief executive Jim Mather attributed some of the growth to major television events that had attracted new audiences, such as the David Tua fight in March and the annual all-day ANZAC Day broadcast. Other popular programmes attracting wider audiences included the family drama Kaitangata Twitch, the Māori rugby documentary series, Beneath the Māori Moon, the Māori karaoke show, Homai te Pakipaki and Willie Jackson’s Newsbites.

New research about mainstream Māori television

New research into mainstream Māori television programmes released in December  showed  that programmes about and by Māori for a broad audience can have a positive impact. The research, conducted by Hinewehi Mohi, Stacey Morrison and Scott Morrison, working with Tim Thorpe, was commissioned by NZ On Air to contribute to the broadcast funding agency’s policy making.  Mainstream Māori Programming discusses the history and current output of Māori programming on mainstream channels.

NZ On Air chief executive, Jane Wrightson, said the research would result in new initiatives for mainstream Māori television programming. “NZ On Air currently funds some Māori programming, mainly in English, for a general audience that includes Māori.  This helps ensure that Māori points of view and perspectives are included on programmes for TV One, TV2 and TV3, forming part of the general television diet,” Ms Wrightson said.

Researcher Hinewehi Mohi said the study found challenges for television schedulers and Māori programme makers alike in creating mainstream Māori programmes. “But we also found that it’s possible to create powerful programmes that suit commercial broadcast imperatives, without compromising cultural integrity,” Ms Mohi said.  “Of course there are professional differences between mainstream broadcasters and Māori programme makers.  It takes work on both sides to understand these differences, but it’s worth the effort.”

Call for a Pacific TV channel

The Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) established a new “Pasifika film and television” working group at its annual conference in August. PIMA’s chair, Iulia Leilua, said the idea of a Pacific Island television channel had been around since the 1980s. Initial lobbying had resulted in the five-minute show, See Here, which was replaced by Tagata Pasifika in 1987. “But ever since then people have been lobbying for an entire channel,” she said.

While serious proposals for a Pacific Island channel have been put forward in recent years, the idea has been put on the back burner due to the recession. However Ms Leilua believed the concept was more viable than ever. “Technology is more affordable, there’s more equipment that is available and there’s more content that can be sourced from television channels throughout the Pacific region.”

Ms Leilua said that Māori Television provides an ideal business template. “We’d need to be self-sustaining.” Just as Māori Television has a major role promoting and revitalising the Māori language, a Pasifika television channel would promote and revitalise Pacific Island languages.

TV3 News in Mandarin

TV3 News launched an innovative service aimed at New Zealand’s Chinese community in April. A daily selection of stories on the network’s website is translated into Mandarin and reposted on the 3 News website. Translations are done by a group of IT students from China who were introduced to the network by an Auckland education provider (Regent International Education Group) and who were willing to work as voluntary translators. The students generally decide themselves which stories from the TV3 News bulletin they want to translate.

Chinese media

A new free Chinese language paper, The United Chinese Press, or Lianhe Bao, was launched in February, publishing in Auckland three times a week. It was followed by an English weekly paper by the same publishers, featuring news, current affairs, business, travel and entertainment, with a focus mainly on China-New Zealand relations and the country’s multicultural society.

The People’s Daily, China’s leading newspaper, struck a deal with New Zealand’s longest running Chinese newspaper, the Mandarin Pages, to publish its stories in New Zealand. The first issue with stories from The People’s Daily ran on March 1. Mandarin Pages is published every day except Sunday, and is distributed free through Chinese grocery shops, eateries and ethnic food halls.

A new Chinese television station began trial broadcasting on a Freeview, digital free-to-air channel in May. Channel 33 is the brainchild of Stephen Wong, former owner of the Chinese Herald, a publication he sold four years ago. Wong hopes to showcase Chinese programmes produced here and overseas on the channel, along with a range of movies and serial dramas. Ultimately he would like to include locally made news, current affairs programmes with an emphasis on Chinese topics and perspectives. One of his more immediate plans is to broadcast locally made television productions, but with Chinese subtitles. “There is a lack of good entertainment in New Zealand television for Chinese people living here and we hope to improve on that,” he says. “New Zealand programmes, with subtitles will bring a better understanding between mainstream New Zealanders and Chinese, and also give Chinese people a better understanding of New Zealand.”

Justice Paul Heath ruled last month that a series of articles the paper published had set out to “destroy” the character of 73-year-old Jung Nam Lee, a martial arts pioneer in New Zealand. He had sought $400,000.

The judge said the articles were a “deliberate, if misguided” attempt to destroy Mr Lee’s character and there was no defence to Mr Lee’s claim that he had been defamed.

The New Korea Herald is a free newspaper, distributed mostly to the 22,000 Koreans living in Auckland.

Korean Society vice-president Audrey Chung said Korean-language media was important and news of the demise of the New Korea Herald was sad but there were many other local newspapers and magazines and online media outlets aimed at the Korean community.

The annual competition this year was to reward work by young New Zealand journalists focusing on Asian-related topics, and is convened by Whitireia Journalism School. The school’s head, Jim Tucker, says that although entry numbers were down this year the standard was very high.

Ms Todd’s winning entry told of a Bhutanese family’s migration to New Zealand. With the help of the Asia:NZ media programme,  Ms Todd and Press photographer Kirk Hargreaves, had been able to Nepal in February this year to visit families in refugee camps, and who were about to resettle in New Zealand under this country’s commitment to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) programme.

She then tracked them as they arrived in New Zealand and spent time at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre, and then met them again after they arrived in Christchurch. “We wanted to illustrate — through pictures and words — the lives that these people were leaving behind and the huge amount of hope they have for their futures,” says Ms Todd.

One of the judges, Asia: NZ Foundation media advisor Charles Mabbett, says Ms Todd was the standout candidate.  “Rebecca takes the reader through the culture shock felt by the family, by observing a series of experiences we would take for granted, including a first trip to the supermarket.”

Ms Todd says she learnt about courageous people who have been through awful events and living in a terrible situation, but still have great hope for the future.

She is also grateful to Asia: New Zealand for allowing her to cover such stories in more depth. “They have been very supportive. I know that the communities really appreciate having stories that are focused on them in a positive way, and their lives and what they do so. That’s really positive for everyone.”

Ms Todd has also just won Canterbury University’s Robert Bell Traveling Scholarship in Journalism to investigate the impact of the tablet computer on newspapers in England. “They are the next big thing and New Zealand is going to get involved in that technology, so hopefully the research will be helpful to the New Zealand industry.”

Joint runners up of the Excellence in Reporting Diversity awards were Joanna Davies of The Aucklander and John Hartevelt from Fairfax’s political bureau.

The award was judged by Mr Mabbett, Mr Tucker and Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres.

For the past two years, Homai Te Pakipaki has been Māori Television’s star performer in the ratings.

It is a “grass roots” singing competition with no judges, with winners decided by audience text messages.

This, says producer Erina Tamepo, is one of the reasons for its success. “We were getting over the concept of judges, and wanted to let the people decide. We wanted to have an interactive element, which meant that if you cared enough, and you voted, you had an impact on that show.

It’s a show that depends on having connections, preferably a large whanau. One recent winner, for instance, had a father with 23 brothers and sisters. “The way maoritanga works is through whanaungatanga and iwitanga, and being connected to people,” says Ms Tamepo. “It seemed like a natural fit. I thought it was a point of difference that nobody else was exploiting.”

Ms Tamepo says that the values of the show are quite different from other sing-and-win shows on television. She points to one participant, Warana Pomana, who had been sent by his whanau in the Wairarapa. “He’d got in a bit of trouble and his whanau said to get in their good books again he had to do as they asked, and then they asked him to go on Homai Te Pakipaki. He was in his 60s, he didn’t have a tooth in his mouth, he had a walking stick, and he had a voice like an angel.”

The show isn’t slick; participants frequently turn up in jeans and jandals. It also has a relaxed spontaneity that has worked in the show’s favour.  “I think too many shows are over produced, and they’re all about the look and nothing is there in terms of substance,” says Ms Tamepo. “We want people to be relaxed and have the most candid korero possible. I personally haven’t seen a show where people are so at ease on a live show.”

Another key premise of the show is that contestants actually have a good time.

“Our motto is ‘kia whakamana te tangata’. We want out people to feel fantastic, because I’m over this way of making people feel stink. Even when we give them good news, we drag it out so that they are so uncomfortable. And then we tell them they lose the cry, and we think that that’s great TV, make people cry and feel stink.

“At the end of the day, Māori get beaten up enough as it is, they don’t need to come to their station and get beaten up again. And when they leave here, in our world, they are megastars.”

The inaugural radio conference was first held a decade ago. “When people studying radio got together and decided to have their own conference, rather than getting stuck in the corner at the film and television conference,” says Matt Mollgaard, chair of this year’s conference.

Around 60 presenters have been booked for the event, which includes academics, teachers and broadcasters from all over the world.

Keynote presenters include Andre Dubber, a reader in Music Industries Innovation at Birmingham City University, whose research interests include music as cultural identity, radio in the digital age and specialist music radio.

The line-up also includes Jack Perkins, who was awarded a QSM for his services to radio in New Zealand, and Tony Stoller, who was chief executive of the Radio Authority in the UK from 1995 until it was subsumed into the Office of Communications in 2003.

Research being presented includes topics such as:

• Radio broadcasting in different languages and dialects in Turkey during the European Union harmonisation process.
• University student radio in Indonesia.
• Radio as the dominant medium of mass communication in Botswana.
• News on South African community stations.

Despite the digital revolution radio remains a high value medium that people depend on, says Mr Mollgaard. “Look at something like Planet FM, where you have 150,000 listeners and which covers around 170 languages.

“Radio is still cheap to produce, easy to access and still very important, especially in the developing world. It’s worth reflecting on that. It’s one of the more democratic media.”

The Radio Conference: A Transnational Forum, will be held January 11-14, 2011. For more information contact 
Matt Mollgaard or phone 09- 9219999 ext. 7876.

“I think the media environment has changed noticeably since the turn of the century,” says Professor Spoonley. “I hesitate to say it’s more balanced, but we get much more nuanced coverage of immigration; there’s a realisation that the migrant flow is very diverse, that immigration has positive outcomes and so on.”

Professor Spoonley says that in recent decades, particular immigrant groups have been singled out and perceived as a threat, which has been reflected in the media. In the 1970s, hostility against immigration was often directed at Pacific Islanders, who were portrayed as “competing with New Zealanders for jobs, as well as being responsible for the decline of urban landscape.

“We politicised a term, ‘overstayers’, but as we have learned subsequently the bulk of overstayers weren’t Pacific Islanders, even though something like 86 per cent of prosecutions were against Pacific Islanders.”

In the 1990s, hostility towards immigration was directed at Asian communities (and Fijian-Indians who were often misunderstood as being from Asia). Again, there were some clear themes; “why are they buying up all our houses, why are they speaking in a language we don’t understand in public spaces, why are they driving so badly.” Later these communities were often linked to particular crimes, such as extortion, certain sorts of fraud, certain types of drugs.

“But as we have learned, Asians do not commit crimes, in anything like their proportion of the population. They are a very law-abiding set of communities.”

He notes that between 1997 and 1999 there was a marked re-evaluation in the media in the way it covered immigrant communities, possibly because a drop in Asian immigration had a detrimental effect on the housing market and labour market.

“After 2000, in terms of editorials, features, opinion pieces, there’s a much more positive approach to immigration.”

In this light, Deborah Coddington’s controversial article “Asian Angst” in North & South magazine and broadcaster Paul Henry’s comments about the Governor-General this year, were more anomalous than trend-setting.

The fact that public opinion went against them was indicative of a shift in attitudes says Professor Spoonley.  “Both illustrate how much we have moved between 1996 and 2006…it’s quite a journey in the way that we perceive immigrants and the way they are portrayed in the media.”

Welcome to Our World will be published by Auckland University Press in 2011.

During an episode of Breakfast in June this year, Mr Henry interviewed a representative from AA Insurance about a recent survey of the top ten frustrations of drivers on New Zealand roads. Mr Henry then discussed his own frustrations with his co-host Pippa Wetzell and said: “You know the thing when people, it happens all the time in Auckland, a lot of Asians do it, all of a sudden they just start slowing down and I sit in my car going, ‘What? What is it you want? What are you looking for?’”

Ms Wetzell interrupted Mr Henry saying, “I don’t know if you can say that is just due to one group of people; all sorts of people do it”.

Mr Henry responded, “No, other people do it as well because the Asians have taught them how to do it. ‘What do you want? Why are you slowing down?’ ”

The complainant alleged that Mr Henry’s comments about Asian drivers breached standards of good taste and decency that “such a generalisation is unfounded and contributes to anti-Asian sentiment”.

The BSA acknowledged that Mr Henry’s comments were intentionally provocative and borderline in terms of their acceptability and perpetuated a negative stereotype about Asian people, and this would have been offensive to a number of viewers.

However it also concluded that the Bill of Rights Act allows people to express opinions that others may find offensive, illogical or rude. “We consider that the host’s comments, on this occasion, while deliberately provocative and ill-conceived, were not sufficiently objectionable as to warrant us imposing a limitation on the broadcaster’s freedom of expression.”

The report will be compiled by the Ministry of Justice in consultation with other government departments, with input from the public. Non-government organisations and the Human Rights Commission will have the opportunity to report directly to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) after the report has been submitted, but there is also an opportunity to provide the Ministry of Justice with indications of what people think are the most important issues for the first draft of the report.

The report is limited to 40 pages, so suggestions for inclusion need to be prioritised.

The Human Rights Commission has agreed to encourage and facilitate public input to the report. The information will also be used to inform the annual Race Relations Report, which will be published in March 2011.

Please email us your response to the following questions, or complete a quick online form:

1. What are the five most positive developments in race relations in the past five years (2006-2010)?
2. What are the five greatest race relations challenges for the future?

Please send your response to the Commission at nzdiversity@hrc.co.nz by Sunday 21 November 2010.

There is more information on the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, including its previous examination of New Zealand’s performance and the Government’s response, on the Human Rights Commission website.

The conference aims to explore investigative journalism and documentary techniques, methodologies and technologies, as well as provide support to journalists, photographers and filmmakers working in this area.

Speakers include some of the most experienced investigative journalists in the region.

• Professor Wendy Bacon, director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.
• Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times, who will be visiting New Zealand as the PMC’s 2010 Asian Journalism Fellow sponsored by the Asian New Zealand Foundation.
• Nicky Hager, New Zealand author and independent investigative journalist and New Zealand representative of the Washington-based Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
• Barbara Dreaver, Pacific correspondent for Television New Zealand.

The conference will also feature an exhibition of a collection of Dixit’s photojournalism and peace journalism, Frames of War, comprising investigative images of the 10-year Maoist war in Nepal, and show excerpts from emerging investigative documentaries such as Jim Marbrook’s, Cap Bocage, about an environmental and mining conflict in New Caledonia.

Other speakers include Shailendra Singh of the University of the South Pacific, who will speak about the investigation of corruption in Fiji, and Patrick Matbob of the Divine Word University, on investigative journalism in Papua New Guinea.

Simon Collins of the New Zealand Herald and James Hollings of Massey University will also convene an investigative journalism course for younger journalists and postgraduate student journalists.

Date    :           6-8 December

For more information visit AUT Pacific Media Centre.

“When we first started doing it we attracted around 15,000 people,” says Radio Tarana managing director, Robert Khan.  “Now we expect somewhere between 25,000 to 40,000 people. Logistically, it was becoming very difficult to manage over one day.”

Radio Tarana, an independent radio station established 13 years ago, is a 24-hour, free-to-air radio station broadcasting news, current affairs, sports, talkback and music, and is the exclusive provider of BBC Hindi and Urdu Fiji News in New Zealand.

The station supports numerous events and festivals aimed at the Indian community, including the Diwali Festival and the Festival of Lights. It first hosted a Fiji Festival four years ago, in response to “public demand” from its 80,000 plus listenership in the greater Auckland area.

Mr Khan says the radio station caters to a diverse mix of listeners of Indian origin including people from India, Fiji, UK, South Africa and ethnic groups including Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Nepalese and people from the Middle East.

“This is an event that appeals to our listeners, but showcases the diversity of Indian culture and the different aspects of Indian culture to the rest of New Zealand,” says Mr Khan.

Those who gathered in Manukau earlier this year for the festival saw performances by Radio Fiji personality Bobby Darling, traditional Fijian meke, Māori kapa haka, Indian nail walking and a Bollywood performance by Pacific Spice, a dance group made up of Cook Islanders, Samoans and Tongans.

This month’s event, at the Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre, includes a similar line up, with cultural performances, dance competitions and fire walking.

Date    :           20 – 21November
Venue :           Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre 770 Great South Rd, Manukau

“It’s important for people to know who they are, for people of any race,” says co- producer Paula Jones. “And whakapapa is very important in Māori culture. If you are Māori and can’t stand up and say who you are and where you come from, it can be quite soul destroying.”

Ms Jones says that she continues to be surprised to find out how many people, even in a small country with a low population, have no knowledge of their ancestral history. “Or they know who they are, but don’t know how to go back. They don’t know what to do, or the circumstances that their father or mother or grandfather might have left. You could just rock up, but what will you find?”

With the help and support of a kaumātua-led research team, the programme aims to guide six participants in their search, in a way that preserves their dignity. Over the duration of a series a minority of stories have not resulted in happy endings, however most have with people’s lives transformed as a result.

“Knowing our heritage is central to identity,” “For people who have lost that connection – discovering or rediscovering can provide a pathway to the restoration of dignity, security and humanity.”

For more information and an application form please email Bravestar Films.

This year’s media awards went to TVNZ (Broadcasting, Mainstream), Turanga FM Gisborne (Broadcasting – Maori Media), The Gisborne Herald (Print) and Awawhenua Ltd (Rotorua) (IT and Telecommunications).

This was one of the most significant resolutions made at PIMA’s annual general meeting at AUT in Auckland last month.

The meeting was part of the PIMA’s annual conference, which included DIY workshops, panel discussions and a keynote speech from Kalafi Moala, publisher and chief executive of Tonga’s Taimi Media Network.

PIMA’s chair, Iulia Leilua, says the idea of a Pacific Island television channel has been around since the 1980s. Initial lobbying resulted in the five-minute show, See Here, which was replaced by Tagata Pasifika in 1987. “But ever since then people have been lobbying for an entire channel,” she says. “The only thing that is required is political will and funding.”

While serious proposals for a Pacific Island channel have been put forward in recent years, the idea has been put on the back burner due to the recession. However Ms Leilua believes the concept is more viable than ever. “Technology is more affordable, there’s more equipment that is available and there’s more content that can be sourced from television channels throughout the Pacific region.”

Ms Leilua says that Māori Television provides an ideal business template. “We’d need to be self-sustaining.” Just as Māori Television has a major role promoting and revitalising the Māori language, a Pasifika television channel would promote and revitalise Pacific Island languages.

“Cook Island Maori, Tokelauan and Niuean are endangered languages, and those countries have a strong links with New Zealand. So we have to ask, what responsibility does New Zealand have in preserving them -given that its education policies help endanger them in the first place?”

While the working group will be primarily focused on the television channel, it also aims to provide support for emerging scriptwriters. “There’s a lot of frustration expressed by Pacific Island script writers who say that not enough of our stories are making it on air,” she says. “We’ve definitely got enough script writers out there to have some really good drama.”

“I remember when I was 24, and I had come back from overseas and still didn’t know what I was going to do,” recalls Lizzie Belcher. “I had really low self-esteem, but then I came in here, and there was support and positivity that I ended up doing a radio show and then going to broadcasting school.”

Since 1988, Plains Fm 96.9 in Christchurch has provided training and facilities for local community groups, schools, organisations and individuals to make and broadcast their own radio programmes. These programmes allow people to share ideas and express opinions in their own language; the schedule now includes 85 programmes, 23 of which are in languages other than English.

“For instance, we have Nepalese man, Dilli Rajal, who does ‘Namaste Nepal. It is his programme and in his language. He’s not a representative [for Nepal] and he might be mainly playing music, but it’s really important for small communities here to be able to hear that.”

“That is why access radio exists, because all of these different ethnic groups and cultures make up our landscape and they must be represented in the media,” says Ms Belcher. “And they wouldn’t be represented without it.”

Ms Belcher has worked in radio broadcasting for the past 15 years, only recently shifting from commercial radio to access radio. “They are like chalk and cheese,” she says. “Commercial radio is about the money, but that’s not what we are interested in. We’re interested in getting as may diverse cultures on air. Here I feel like I’m making a difference, in a little way.”

Access radio stations are financially supported by New Zealand on Air, which has guidelines on what sort of programmes require most support, but it is not exclusively for ethnic groups.

One of the longest running shows is the Elvis Presley Show, started by Elvis fan Lynn Campbell 20 years ago, and which is still presented by her, along with Maria Van Ham and Judy Pyne. “One of the great things for access is that anybody can come along here and share their passion and interests,” says Ms Belcher.

Note: The Association of Community Access Broadcasters annual conference takes place in Nelson this week from 15-17 October. View the programme here.

The three annual scholarships are designed to give promising young journalists a chance to test their journalism skills in a region of the world that is increasingly vital to New Zealand’s future.

This is the second year of the programme, with the inaugural candidates, Jono Hutchison (TV3) and Amanda Fisher (Fairfax Media), taking up temporary placements in Hong Kong and Manila.

The Philippine Star is an influential daily English language broadsheet that is circulated nationally. CNBC Asia is an Asian business news network based in Singapore and Sydney with bureaus in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The International Herald Tribune is an international English language newspaper owned by the New York Times Company with a Hong Kong bureau operating as an editorial and production office for its network of Asia correspondents.

While the internships are unpaid, Asia: NZ will provide $5000 to cover return flights with the balance to go to accommodation and other expenses.

Applicants must:

• be enrolled in a current journalism course or be graduate journalists who have undertaken and passed a journalism course of study in the past three years
• be under 28 years of age
• hold New Zealand passport
• be based in New Zealand.

Applications are accepted until 1 November 2010 for placements in 2011. For more information go to the Asia New Zealand Foundation website or contact Charles Mabbett.

The winner of the top prize will receive a $4000 grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation (Asia:NZ) to support travel to an Asian news outlet to further his or her knowledge and experience.

Now in their third year, the awards are being run by Whitireia Journalism School in Wellington in conjunction with the Asia:NZ Foundation, the Human Rights Commission and the Communications and Media Industry Training Organisation.

The inaugural winner of the awards was Catherine Wellington of the Dunedin Star community newspaper, for the paper’s special edition on ethnic minority communities in Otago. Last year’s top entry came from Pacific affairs reporter for TV One, Adrian Stevanon.

Entries must be received by Friday, November 12, 2010 and judging will take place in early December. For more information contact Jim Tucker, Journalism Programme Manager.

“‘Freedom of expression’ is a very wide topic so we want to hear people’s thoughts to help us refine our focus,” says BSA’s Chief Executive, Dominic Sheehan. “In relation to the BSA’s work and broadcasting standards in general, what do people consider would be the most important question or questions for us to investigate?”

The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (BoRA), which states in section 14: “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.”

However such freedoms often conflict with the desire to protect racial harmony, public morals, notions of social responsibility, good taste and decency, and the protection of children, individual privacy and reputation. 

“So while people have the freedom to express themselves, there are limits,” says Mr Sheehan. “It’s about finding a balance. So we want to get a snapshot of what freedom of expression means in New Zealand, which we can use in a practical way in our own decision-making.”

Mr Sheehan says that while they haven’t received a huge response, the responses have been diverse. “The broadcasters want us to look at the freedom of expression in terms of access to information. That’s what is important to them. But another respondent suggests that the whole concept of freedom of expression was outdated, that it was passé, that the world and the world’s media have gone global, other issues have taken over.”

If you would like to contribute to the BSA’s study contact Dominic Sheehan by 26 October 2010.

That draft document notes that freedom of expression is important as it “embraces free speech, the sanctity of an individual’s opinion, a free press, the transmission and receipt of ideas and information, the freedom of expression in art and other forms, the ability to receive ideas from elsewhere, and even the right to silence.”

It also explores those instances in which the limits and restrictions of those freedoms are tested, such as when they conflict with various sections of the Human Rights Act.

Proposed priorities for action are that Section 61 of the Human Rights Act (which relates to racial incitement) be reviewed to ensure it fulfils its legislative purpose, that debate be promoted about access to the internet as a human right, and whether a Charter of Internet Rights should be developed in New Zealand.

The draft document will be available on the Commission’s website in the coming week. Feedback on the draft is invited.

The item, which was broadcast on TV One at 7.30pm on March 2010, investigated forced marriages in New Zealand, and in particular brides under the legal age of consent.

The programme featured an interview with Farida Sultana, the founder of a group called Shakti, which provides refuge for migrant women and their children.

The reporter asked Ms Sultana how often forced marriages occur in New Zealand, to which she replied, there were “quite a few cases”. Ms Sultana went on to express her view that people involved in these forced underage marriages did not “think the New Zealand law even applies to them”.

On behalf of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ), the organisation’s president Dr Anwar Ghani made a formal complaint to the TVNZ. Dissatisfied with that result, the organisation complained to the BSA.

FIANZ argued that the item “further reinforced post-9/11 bias, prejudice, stigmatism, and bigotry toward Muslims”. It also contended that the item was inaccurate, because it had portrayed the practice of forced child marriages as widespread among Muslims without any hard evidence. FIANZ also argued the item was unfair as it had stereotyped and been derogatory towards Muslims, particularly Muslim women.

The BSA released its decision last month and concluded that:

• Under Standard 5 (accuracy), that comment made by interviewees were opinion and exempt from the accuracy standard under guideline 5a. It also concluded that the item did not characterise the issue of forced child marriages as a widespread Muslim problem, but a “problematic cultural phenomenon, as opposed to a religious one”.
• Under Standard 6 (fairness), that individuals and organisations taking part and referred to treated fairly.
• Under Standard 7 (discrimination and denigration), that the item did not encourage denigration of, or discrimination against, Muslims.

 For more information on the decision go to the BSA’s website.

The item by reporter Bharat Jamnadas, to be broadcast on TV One on 17 October, focuses on the research presented by the Victoria University Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research (CACR) on Asian discrimination in New Zealand, research that was commissioned by the Commission.

The report was co-authored by CACR graduate student Adrienne Girling and Centre directors Professors James Liu and Colleen Ward and showed that Asians in New Zealand:

• face more discrimination than all other ethnic groups
• experience the highest levels of verbal and physical harassment
• are at adisadvantage in finding employment, even though many are recruited here fortheir skills.

Their research also indicated that Asian people are satisfied with their lives in New Zealand, value the opportunities available to them, lodge fewer complaints about discrimination than other groups and barely feature in social welfare statistics.

Asia Downunder can be viewed after it has been broadcast by going to the Asia Downunder website.

CACR has also launched a new website to promote discussion around diversity issues, where the report can be downloaded and a video of the presentation is available.

Talkback host Michael Laws’ comments about the Governor General on Radio Live were also initially defended by his employer. After further discussion, however, Laws gave an apology. 

The issue was not about freedom of expression but about broadcasting standards – and whether or not it is appropriate for broadcasters to use the power of their medium to engage in racial denigration.

Hopefully, Television New Zealand, as well as Radio Live, will now re-emphasise to their presenters and hosts that they must observe basic standards of decency or face the consequences.  All those who contributed to the pressure for the broadcasters to take action are to be applauded.

Mr Wicks, editor of Real Groove magazine and contributor to Radio New Zealand’s Music 101 programme, travelled to Japan with a grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation. “I’ve had a long-time love affair with Japanese culture from a distance, and this trip has cemented that, and given it a whole new dimension,” he says.

The main aim of the trip was to cover George FM’s, Nick Dwyer, as he was filmed for an episode for the second series of Making Tracks, which Mr Dwyer presents.

Making Tracks could be described as a series about cross-musical exchange. It explores the local music of far-flung places (Ghana, Argentina, the Ukraine) but also introduces the local musicians to New Zealand music.

In each episode a well-known New Zealand track is refashioned by musicians from the country being visited – in the previous series, for instance, a group of Palestinian rappers did their own version of Scribe’s “Not Many”.

The previous series of Making Tracks has been picked up by Nat Geo Music, a 24-hour music channel. “It’s about music, and its entertainment, but it has real kaupapa,” says Mr Wicks. “It’s about making connections between New Zealand music and different countries.”

Nick Dwyer speaks Japanese and has a long relationship with Japan and the Japanese music scene, which helped open a lot of doors. “I had access to true insider knowledge of some of Tokyo’s most boutique music communities,” says Mr Wicks.

He will publish a feature article about the trip that will appear in Real Groove in November, just after the debut episode of series two of Making Tracks.

Read more about Mr Wicks travels on the Asia New Zealand Foundation website.

One Day a Taniwha was written in 1974 by Te Arawa teacher and entertainer, Piatarihi Tui Yates, affectionately known as Aunty Bea. It is a story and a song that is sung to the tune of “You Are My Sunshine.”

A QBook is an interactive read-along colour picture book format for children and is an innovation in digital publishing that combines the ebook format with the interactiveness of touch screen devices, like the iPad and iTouch. Developed by Auckland’s Kiwa Group, QBook takes traditional children’s books and represents them in a colourful interactive touch-enabled digital format.

It allows young readers to customise each title by reading and recording the story in their own voice, colour in the illustrations, and listen and read it in numerous languages, including Māori, English, Chinese, Spanish, Italian and Japanese.

Kiwa’s Creative Director, Derek Judge says he is constantly amazed at how quickly children respond to technological advances. “Show them once, and it immediately sinks in while their parents are still working it all out. Kids who might not have wanted to read before can’t get enough of them.”

QBooks will mean that more children all over the world are exposed to stories in all sorts of languages. “So we have this song, about a boy who makes friends with a taniwha, which is being translated into Japanese,” says Mr Judge. “It’s really great.”

One Day a Taniwha is one of several QBooks being produced by the Kiwa Group. The company’s list also includes The Wonkey Donkey, Flick the Little Fire Engine and Hairy Maclarey from Donaldson’s Dairy – by the end of July the latter was the top of bestselling list in the i-Tunes store in New Zealand.

Kiwa Group is a production company focused on developing post-production software for the film and television industry, but more recently found that the software and the talent behind it could be applied to digital books.

The books have been getting attention all over the world, having been mentioned in the New York Times and featuring in CNN’s coverage at the Hong Kong Book Fair, 2010.

Mr Judge says the main challenge for the digital publishing industry was “finding out just how far it could go.”

The scholarship is designed to encourage greater representation of Asian communities in mainstream New Zealand journalism.

A 2007 survey of New Zealand journalists undertaken by the New Zealand Journalism Training Organisation (NZJTO) showed that only about two per cent of all journalists working in the mainstream English language news media were Asian. This was despite Asian New Zealanders making up about ten percent of the population.

The 2010 scholarship will apply to the 2011 calendar year and be for the value of $5000 to be paid on completion of the successful candidate’s course of journalism study.

To be eligible to apply for the scholarship candidates will need to be:

• a New Zealand resident or passport holder
• have an Asian or part Asian ethnicity
• be planning a career in news journalism
• under the age of 25
• accepted into a course of journalism study at an NZJTO affiliated journalism school.

The ability to speak an Asian language is an advantage. The deadline for applications is November 30, 2010. For more information, contact Asia:NZ media adviser Charles Mabbett on cmabbett@asianz.org.nz or 04 470 8701.

In 2009, the winner of the Māori media category was radio station Kotuku Rerenga Tahi and TVNZ took out the mainstream media award. The awards recognise initiative and effort to support Māori language in the home, community and wider society. The event follows on from Māori Language Week.

The winner of the top prize will receive a $4000 grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation (Asia:NZ) to support travel to an Asian news outlet to further his or her knowledge and experience.

Now in their third year, the awards are being run by Whitireia Journalism School in Wellington in conjunction with the Asia:NZ Foundation, the Human Rights Commission and the Communications and Media Industry Training Organisation.

The inaugural winner of the awards was Catherine Wellington of the Dunedin Star community newspaper, for the paper’s special edition on ethnic minority communities in Otago. Last year’s top entry came from Pacific affairs reporter for TV One, Adrian Stevanon.

Entries must be received by Friday, November 12, 2010 and judging will take place in early December. For more information contact Jim Tucker, Journalism Programme Manager at jim.tucker@whitireia.ac.nz

“After featuring more than 200 episodes we are definitely not running out of artists any time soon,” says Executive Producer of Kiwa Media, Rhonda Kite. “The celebration of the diversity of artists in Māori communities is substantial and the appetite of the viewing audience insatiable.

“We will keep on going as long as the audience tunes in”.

Each episode is half an hour long and covers a broad spectrum of emerging and established artists, including carvers, filmmakers, writers, painters and glass blowers, and highlights how a Māori view or perspective has informed the subject’s art.

The opening episode of this series profiles photographer John Miller, who has spent his life documenting protests in Aotearoa and captured some momentous events and moments in the struggle for peace, ever since he began taking photographs as a secondary school student of demonstrations against the Vietnam War.

Other episodes feature moko artist Pip Hartley, celebrity chef Peter Gordon and composer Gillian Whitehead. There is also a profile of the Wellington-based violinist, Elena, a classically trained violinist who has now moved toward folk music.

In this episode she will be seen performing alongside a cellist and an opera singer, on the bar at a Wellington pub. “That’s something I’ve never seen before,” recalls the episode’s director, Jane Reeves. “A cellist, an opera singer and a violinist standing on a bar in a pub in Courtney Place on a busy night.”

And the audience response? “They were pretty dumbfounded at first. But then they were really swept up in it and it all ended to a chorus of ‘encore, encore’.”

Audio description refers to a narration track aimed at blind and visually impaired users of visual media, including television, film, dance, opera and visual arts.

In the case of television, a special audio track is built into the broadcast programme that runs alongside the normal soundtrack, in which a narrator describes what is happening on the screen. It will be available through TVNZ’s digital channels in 2011.

Over 75,000 New Zealanders have a sight limitation that cannot be corrected by glasses or contact lenses and who are unable to clearly see what is happening on screen.

“This service is as important to vision impaired people as captioning services have been to people with hearing impairments,” noted Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman.

The Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand welcomed the announcement. “We’ve been waiting many years for audio description,” said National President Clive Lansink. “Now the technology is finally here, it’s fantastic that NZ On Air and TVNZ have been able to work together to develop this service. Television plays a huge part in people’s lives and now it is possible for the television industry to include us more in their audience.”

The Facebook page offers a place to talk to the community about upcoming films, for the community to talk to each other and also to raise the profile of the service.

“It was set up as a way to communicate directly with the deaf and hearing-impaired and be able to send them up-to-date date info about what’s showing and what’s coming with Captions,” says Karen Cafe, who does the programming and communications for Captioned Movies NZ. She plans to add competitions and interesting editorial on the films. “The page could evolve into a sort of film club.”

Open Captions look similar to subtitles on foreign language films, but subtitles assume the viewer can hear but can’t understand the language or accent and are therefore only concerned with dialogue and some on screen text.

Captions describe all significant audio content, including non-speech information such as the identity of speakers, their manner of speaking, music and sound effects.

The service was prompted by a complaint made to the Human Rights Commission in December 2001, regarding lack of captions in movies.

As a result a working party of representatives from the Motion Pictures Distributors Association, Motion Pictures Distributors and Exhibitors Association, Deaf Association of New Zealand, Hearing Association and Captioning Access New Zealand was set up in 2003 to bring captioned movies into New Zealand, facilitated by the Commission.

You can become a fan of Captioned Movies NZ online.

This international conference is dedicated to exploring investigative journalism and documentary techniques, methodologies and technologies of critical value to public interest issues. The conference hopes to identify and support journalists, photographers and filmmakers facing contemporary pressures and obstacles and establish a supportive group dedicated to investigative journalism in NZ.

Confirmed keynote speakers include Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times and a leading Asia-Pacific investigative journalist, and Professor Wendy Bacon, director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.

Papers and presentations (commentaries) from the conference will be considered for publication in a double blind peer-reviewed special edition of the Pacific Journalism Review in May 2011. Papers not selected for publication will be published as part of the conference proceedings.

The conference will be held at AUT University in Auckland, from 4-5 December 2010. For more information about the conference go to the Creative Industries Research Institute website.

An integral part of the Games, the three-day human rights conference will be a safe place for advocates to explore current human rights issues, including language, culture and tradition, in the region.

Expressions of interest are sought from people who have proposals to contribute to the conference. This could include showcasing work, organising a presentation, or being part of a panel discussion. Proposals are due by 30 September 2010. For more information, go to the Asia Pacific OutGames website.

The New Zealand Human Rights Commission is supporting the conference and will be participating and running a forum on making human rights a reality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, takatāpui, fa’afafine, trans and intersex people. This forum is based on the Yogyakarta Principles, a universal guide to sexual orientation and gender identity human rights.

To register for the forum, first register for the conference and then contact Naomi Taylor at the Human Rights Commission saying you are interested in the Commission’s forum. You can also register for OutGames email updates on the Conference website.

This is a unique opportunity to meet people working in human rights and sexual orientation and gender identity in the Asia Pacific region. Come along and take part! We hope to see you there.

There are two sessions that will be of particular interest to the media:

• “The Media and Religion” will be hosted by Victoria University Religious Studies Programme. Panelists include Professor Paul Morris of the Victoria University Religious Studies Programme, Professor Jim Tully of Canterbury University, Tayyaba Khan, David Zwartz, Lyndsay Freer, and Brian Pauling from the NZ Broadcasting School.
• “Social Media for Social Change” will be hosted by the Human Rights Commission. Earlier this year, digital specialist Mia Northrop organised Vindaloo against Violence, a peaceful protest against racism that involved 17,000 protesters at over 400 restaurants, workplaces, schools and universities across Australia and the world. Mia will introduce participants to social media sites and tools that can be used to engage new audiences about diversity and human rights.

There is no charge for weekend workshops or single forums; however attendance on Monday 23 August is $50 for the day. Register NOW!

To be eligible, journalists need to be working in the NZ news media, have less than five years’ experience and are writing stories on any Asia-related topics.

The winner of the top prize will receive a $4000 grant from the Asia:NZ Foundation to support travel to an Asian news outlet to further his or her knowledge and experience.

These awards, now in their third year, are being run by Whitireia Journalism School in Wellington in conjunction with the Asia:NZ Foundation, the Human Rights Commission and the Communications and Media Industry Training Organisation.

The inaugural winner of the awards was Catherine Wellington of the Dunedin Star community newspaper, for the paper’s special edition on ethnic minority communities in Otago. Last year’s top entry came from Pacific affairs reporter for TV One, Adrian Stevanon.

Entries must be received by Friday 12 November 2010 and judging will take place in early December. For more information contact Journalism Programme Manager, Jim Tucker.

The debate pitted public relations practitioners against journalists, with the journalists arguing the moot – that New Zealand media created more heat than light on human rights in New Zealand.

The journalist team included blogger and broadcaster Martyn ‘Bomber’ Bradbury, television and radio personality Wallace Chapman and postgraduate journalism student, Josh Gale.

Bradbury argued that the media were driven by the mandate that “if it bleeds it leads”, which didn’t leave much space for human rights issues, and treated readers more like consumers than citizens.

Both Chapman and Gale criticised the local media for its coverage of war and the New Zealand involvement in military occupations, arguing that events were either ignored or gave too much emphasise to the voices of power. PR, they argued, was implicated in “manufacturing consent”. “New Zealand media prefers cosying up to power,” argued Gale.

The PR practitioners who argued against the moot included Jane Sweeney, CEO of Sweeney Vesty, Carrick Graham, managing director of Facilitate Communications and PR student, Robert Steven.

They argued that the journalists had an “old-fashioned” view of media and that the proliferation of digital media allows for such a breadth of commentary and reporting that the truth would, eventually, come out.

“We have a rich media and we should celebrate it more,” said Sweeney. “We have every chance that human rights will be fairer in the future.”

While Sweeney and her team said they “sexed things up” to promote a story, they were in the business of promoting debate, and shedding light rather than heat. “We believe in the three Fs,” said Vesty. “F*** up, fess up and front up”.

The debate was won by the journalists.

In light of this year’s theme, “Te Mahi Kai – The Language of Food”, the Minister of Māori Affairs and sporting celebrities will battle it out to be named best chef.

In recent times, media have been at the forefront of Māori Language Week innovations and this year, once again, there will be awards for the best media contribution.

Also, SpongeBob SquarePants will once again become Kiwi for a week, with full episodes in te reo Māori screening on Nickelodeon NZ (SKY channel 041) from Monday 26 July until Sunday 1 August (8.10am and 4.00pm weekdays, and 8.10am and 8.40am on the weekend).

Visit the Māori Language Week facebook page and the Māori Language Week website for more details and updates.

If you or your organisation would like to host an event or be involved in Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2010, please email the Human Rights Commission.

The development of the course follows a global trend towards specialist journalism courses. “There is an increasing demand for more journalists in the growing Pasifika media industry and also for highly-skilled cross-cultural journalists for the mainstream,” says Dr Robie. “This new course is a logical outcome of the demographic changes in New Zealand, and particularly Auckland.”

The new course targets Pacific peoples who wish to enter journalism from another career, students from around the Pacific region seeking a New Zealand qualification, and Pacific students working towards a career in Pasifika or mainstream media.

Students will take core papers from the Bachelor of Communication Studies in Journalism as well as Pasifika media papers and other electives that reflect particular interests in the Asia-Pacific region. The core papers provide the necessary skills to prepare students for professional journalism work and include a media industry internship and study of a Pacific language.

“This course will boost regional Pacific reporting and also contribute to a higher Pasifika community profile in the New Zealand media,” says Dr Robie. “We hope journalists on this programme will push the boundaries of Pacific reporting in a challenging way.”

Director of AUT’s Centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy Associate Professor Martin Hirst says the aim is not to sideline Pacific students or to completely “mainstream” them, but to give them a solid foundation in the principles of good journalism, integrated with a successful degree programme.

“And to encourage Pasifika students and journalists to nurture and extend their specific skills and values to better represent and report on Pasifika communities and issues, in both local community media and more broadly throughout New Zealand.”

Visit the AUT website for more information on the Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism.

“A key function of the foundation is to develop New Zealander’s understanding of the Pacific and what better way to do that than by giving New Zealand media the opportunity to report stories directly from the Pacific,” said Meg Poutasi, CEO of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation.

“Grants are available from the Media Assistance Programme each year and I’d encourage any interested journalists to talk to us about using the funds,” prompted Ms Poutasi.

This year, the foundation has already assisted four journalists and one TV crew. This included Sunday Star Times journalist Adam Dudding, who investigated the human rights implications of a Vanuatu coronial report, published by NZ judge Nevin Dawson, into the death in custody of a recaptured prison escapee.

For more information on the Media Assistance Programme visit the Pacific Cooperation Foundation website.

Head of journalism at the polytech, Jim Tucker, is also working with a member of the Wellington Muslim community to set up a charitable trust supported by the Muslim community. The trust will help to fund a community member through a journalism programme each year.

Mr Tucker points out that while New Zealand demographics have changed dramatically in recent decades, “what hasn’t changed much is the news media’s capacity to broaden the hegemony.” To see greater ethnic diversity in the newsroom, there first needs to be a greater diversity of journalism students in the classroom.

One of Whitireia’s stated objectives is to recruit and train more people from ethnic minority communities. “This is largely because despite the apparent inertia within the media industry, I know that its leaders are actually keen to hire a more representative range of newcomers, if they were to become available,” says Mr Tucker.

Of the 28 students in the last course, six were Pacific Island/New Zealanders, three were Māori, one was Chinese/New Zealander and another was an international student from Germany.

“In the long term, I want our school to properly reflect New Zealand society,” says Mr Tucker. “We do that already in the sense that our students range in age from 17 to 62, about half have degrees, and many have life experience ranging from working as lawyers and nurses to manual labour on the railways.

“But in terms of ethnic diversity… there is still a long way to go.”

For more information on the scholarship, visit the Whitireia Community Polytechnic website.

“We are talking to people who can add texture and colour to the mostly black-and-white silent films that we are seeing,” says series producer Michele Bristow. “This helps to give us a context of the people depicted in these very special films.”

Upcoming episodes feature the 1940 Treaty of Waitangi celebrations, the construction of the Ngāpuhi ceremonial waka, Ngātokimatawhaorua, early sound recordings of Te Reo Māori on film, as well as the oldest footage of tūpuna Māori known to exist anywhere in the world.

Broadcaster and presenter Lawrence Wharerau, kairangahau for the Archive, presents the series. He has an extensive knowledge of early film and filmmakers in New Zealand.

Usually, when the Archive is accessed, it is to use these taonga as short clips, so it was a priority for both Māori Television and the Archive to show the footage in its entirety.

“We are always looking for ways to reach and extend our audiences and give people the opportunity to engage with and enjoy the taonga we care for on behalf of whānau, hapu and the nation,” says Lawrence. “We are also excited by the series because it gives our kaitiaki an opportunity to talk about the films and the tūpuna depicted in the images.”

Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua screens on the Te Reo Channel on Mondays at 9.00pm and is repeated with subtitles on Māori Television on Wednesdays at 9.30pm.

Announcing the intern search, Fairfax Media Group Executive Editor Paul Thompson said there has never been a more exciting time to become a journalist. “We need the best and brightest to join us to achieve the potential of print and digital media in this new era.”

This is the fifth year Fairfax has offered internships, and since its inception Fairfax has been keen to recruit from minority communities.

Applications for this year’s intern scheme close midday on Friday 6 August. Applicants will undergo an online written test and other written tests prior to interviews by representatives of their chosen publications or website and journalism schools.

More than 50 interns have been selected since the scheme began. At the recent Qantas Media Awards, nine of them collected 20 awards.

To find out more information and to apply for an internship visit the Fairfax website.

The reporting of religion by the media continues to be a topic that occupies the minds of both religious communities and journalists, internationally and in New Zealand. As members of NZ’s increasingly diverse media we want to know what you think are the major concerns? What can be done to improve the relationship between Religion and the Media?

At the Religious Diversity Forum, based on the feedback received, representatives of faith communities and the media will further develop the discussion with participants.

The Religious Diversity Forum will be run as part of the 2010 NZ Diversity Forum, to be held from Sunday 22 – Monday 23 August at the Christchurch Convention Centre. Check out the growing number of sessions in the programme and register online NOW!

The series, called “A Thousand Strangers”, is being broadcast from 21-25 June, and will be available by podcast from the network’s website.

The stories were written by Thary Trann, Farah Omar, Maureen Zaya, Pa Uk and Margaret Pompeo, young refugees from Cambodia, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Burma. They have been read by New Zealand actors and dramatised by the writers and members of their communities.

The programme was produced by Radio New Zealand in partnership with Voice Arts Trust and funded by the Department of Labour and the Lotteries Commission.

The World Refugee Day Radio project was initiated in 2007, after Refugee Services approached the trust to help the refugee community create their own radio programme. The project involved a weekend-long workshop that culminated in the creation of a 20-minute radio programme that aired on Wellington’s Access Radio.

In 2008 the project grew, workshops extended over a six-week period and the final programme was 55 minutes long. Once again it aired on Wellington’s Access Radio.

In 2009, Voice Arts Trust approached Radio New Zealand as it wanted to take the programme to a national audience and also enhance the professional standard of the work produced. Radio New Zealand welcomed the approach and it was agreed that work would begin in 2009 for a broadcast date of World Refugee Day 2010.

Listen to their stories on the Radio New Zealand National webpage.

Tapaleao (23) graduated from AUT University in 2008 and joined the New Zealand Herald team soon after as a South Auckland reporter.

During her last year at university she was an intern at Spasifik magazine, and later won the Māori Television prize as well as the Storyboard award for excellence in diversity journalism.

Her Qantas portfolio included an extensive series of news stories of the tsunami in Samoa, and reports about the individuals whose lives were lost in the sinking of the ferry MV Princess Ashika in Tonga. “Her on-the-spot reporting in her native Samoa where family were tsunami victims showed true professionalism,” said the judges. “Tapaleao was also able to put a human face to the Princess Ashika ferry sinking in Tonga with an extended tribute.”

The Human Rights Commission highlighted Vaiamoana’s journalism last year, with Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres singling out the four-page feature on the Ashika as one that “highlighted the strong familial ties between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, and the way the pain of this Pacific tragedy directly impacted on New Zealand”.

Asked whether being a Pacific Islander made her more empathetic in her reporting of those stories Vaimoana says journalists often feel empathy or connect with the people that they are writing about. “But I think when the Tongan ferry sinking happened and particularly the tsunami, which hit Samoa severely, it was very hard for me.

“Walking on the roads of Lalomanu, Saleapaga, Poutasi was for me, like so many other Samoan reporters, walking on family graves. The ground was arguably more sacred to us because it was our people who lay there. It was very difficult reporting about Pacific people and being Pasifika yourself, in that sense.

“At the same time, being Pasifika has its advantages when I am given a Pacific-based story. Simply because I have that understanding of cultural protocol, as well as being able to speak Samoan. It helps people to feel more comfortable – a lot of people, in this case Pacific people, warm to you when they hear a familiar language or have a connection to me in that way.”

Vaimoana’s story on the Tongan ferry disaster can be read online.

“New Zealand has growing and vibrant ethnic communities whose principal languages and cultures derive from neither English nor Māori-speaking traditions,” he says.

The Bill would require the Government to investigate the need for commercial, non-commercial and semi-commercial options for funding ethnic television. It would create a Commission of Inquiry to consider the logistics of setting up such a service.

New Zealand has a number of private ethnic radio stations that broadcast in about 45 languages, and key ethnic groups include Korean, Indian, Middle Eastern, Filipino, African, Europeans and Pacific Island audiences.

While there is a growing audience for such stations, the networks are currently run on a shoestring budget and have a limited scope. “Many want more content, longer interviews, practical information about living in New Zealand and education resources in their own languages,” says Ashraf Choudhary. “Such tools provide good support, especially for new arrivals and refugees.”

“Keeping people in touch helps overcome the isolation many new immigrants feel, and also helps overcome health, employment or education problems before they occur. I would imagine ethnic television broadcasts would have an even greater audience, because having someone of your own community keeping you up to speed in your own language would soon become an essential part of your life.”

That year the station won the Supreme Award at the Māori Language Awards, and received many letters of support and congratulation. It also received dozens of letters from appalled detractors, who complained that they couldn’t understand what the broadcasters were saying anymore.

John Barr, RNZ’s communication manager says that complainants usually received a standard response: “As far as the general use of Te Reo Māori on air is concerned, New Zealand has two official spoken languages, English is one and the other is Māori. One of the core requirements of the Radio New Zealand Charter is that our networks reflect New Zealand’s cultural diversity, including, specifically, its Māori language and culture.

He also noted that Māori has been included in RNZ programming for at least 50 years and will continue to be included.

Radio New Zealand provoked similar level of controversy last year as one of the first media outlets to change its pronunciation of Wanganui to Whanganui, after the Minister of Lands ruled that both were acceptable spellings for the city.

Again, the station received dozens of complaints. Again John replied: “In keeping with our policy of a national consistency of pronunciation of Te Reo Māori, Radio New Zealand will at this stage use the Māori pronunciation of fhah-nga-NOO-ee, the same pronunciation as we currently apply to the river and the district health board.”

Three years later John says that RNZ listeners seem to have got used to Sean, Geoff, Katrina et al introducing the day in Māori and the network is receiving very few complaints. A few objections continue to dribble in on the Whanganui issue, most of which are made on the grounds that Whanganui iwi ‘dialect’ drops the ‘h’ sound.

But as John points out, residents of Gore have a rolling ‘r’ in their local dialect, but few would demand it be adopted by RNZ presenters. “Local dialect is important, but we can’t take account of everything.”

Those who want to brush up their pronunciation and understanding of RNZ greetings in Māori can listen again (and again) to the RNZ greetings which are now posted (with translations) on the Radio New Zealand website.

Rebecca Todd, a reporter, and Kirk Hargreaves a news photographer, are both with the Christchurch newspaper, The Press. With the help of Asia NZ they were able to visit the camps in February in 2010, where they met refugees scheduled for resettlement in Christchurch New Zealand under this country’s commitment to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UHHCR) programme.

As part of the project, The Press plans to follow three families over the next months to explore how they settle in and how well they integrate into New Zealand society.

Since Nepal, Rebecca and Kirk have been able to meet the families in New Zealand. “Seeing the refugees again in Auckland was a fantastic opportunity … and gave great insight into how New Zealand teaches its newest residents to be Kiwis. Three weeks later we were there to meet the families at Christchurch Airport. Seeing them reunited with relatives and then their delight at entering their new homes was a real privilege.”

Rebecca’s description of the Nepalese leg of the project, accompanied by Kirk’s photographs, can be found at on Asia:New Zealand’s website.

“They seem to have disappeared into thin air,” says Dev Nadkarni, editor-in-chief of the one-year-old Indian Weekender, who voiced his objections on the TV news items. “It’s still alive and will come back as there seems to be a latent demand for the supernatural in society. But we’ve taken a principled stand. We’re determined not to accept advertising that makes unreasonable promises.”

Dev agrees that there are clairvoyants, palm readers and soothsayers in the mainstream New Zealand media, but said they are far more pronounced in South Asian culture and at times the promises made by these people were “plainly ludicrous”.

“They say they are soothsayers or fortune tellers, and of course they forecast great forebodings, but promise that if you spend money and follow this ritual all your problems will be solved. Particularly if you spend some more money and follow a second ritual.”

He has considered invoking India’s Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act. While it would not have legal standing in New Zealand, it could provide a self-regulatory framework against such advertising.

The Media and Religion, Monday 23 August, 11am – 12.30pm, Christchurch Convention Centre. Hosted by Victoria University of Wellington Religious Studies Programme.

The reporting of religion by the media continues to be a topic that occupies the minds of both religious communities and journalists internationally and in New Zealand. Do the mainstream New Zealand media represent religions in a fair and balanced manner? Do they reinforce stereotypes? Do they promote understanding of religious diversity? Do religious media promote tolerance of other religions and respect for human rights? What are the negatives and positives of the internet in relation to religious tolerance? This forum will address these questions and lay the basis for the development of a Statement on the Media and Religion that will seek to reflect the concerns and rights of religious communities, the media and the general public.

Social Media for Social Change, Monday 23 August 2010, 3.30pm – 5pm, Christchurch Convention Centre. Hosted by Vindaloo Against Violence.

Mia Northrop has over ten years experience marketing websites and designing digital user experiences. This year she applied her digital skills to something closer to her heart: giving the Melbourne community a voice to speak out against racism and violence in their city. Vindaloo Against Violence, a peaceful protest, was the result. On 24 February 2010, over 17,000 protesters and 400 restaurants, schools, universities and workplaces reached out to seek fairness and an end to violence against Indian people in Australia.

This book (subtitled “What every New Zealander should know about their civil rights”) includes information on: individual rights with the police and the courts; victims’ rights; rights of prisoners; rights of children; rights of health consumers; discrimination, freedom of assembly; freedom of association and much more.

As an advocate, barrister, commentator and academic, Tim has had a central role in human rights lawyering in this country. He also wrote the first edition of the New Zealand Handbook of Civil Liberties in 1973, and has been responsible for a number of updated editions of that publication.

The book is published by Craig Potton.

The idea came from The Guardian newspaper, and its collaborative experiment with the Chinese-based community translation website, Yeeyan.

Yeeyan was a largely volunteer community of translators that published a selection of Guardian stories in Chinese on its website, along with other material. However the Chinese authorities closed the organisation down last December without explanation.

“So our problem was working out how we do it,” says James Murray, chief editor of 3news.co.nz. “We obviously couldn’t use Yeeyan.”

Through an Auckland education provider (Regent International Education Group) the network contacted a group of IT students from China who were willing to work as voluntary translators.

James says he usually leaves the students to decide which stories they want to translate. “If there’s something that I think they should translate I’ll say so, but if not I’ll allow them to decide. They have a better idea than I do of what is interesting.”

Favoured topics tend to be crime, technology, entertainment and news from China. There may be a youthful slant to the story selection because the translators happen to be students, “but as we broaden out that might well change.”

Asked how many hits the website is receiving James says: “It’s still relatively small, but I’m confident that it will grow.”

Watch the 3 News in Chinese.

A range of activities are planned for the week, detailed on the Commission’s website. A major launch will take place on 30 May (6pm), at Malaeola Hall in Mangere, Auckland and will include a service to bless the launch of the week. There will also be a launch on 31 May in Wellington at Hutt Valley High School (Woburn Road, Lower Hutt), where secondary schools teaching Samoan language will celebrate the opening of the week (9am-1.30pm).

Many Pacific media are participating in the week, including National Pacific Radio Network (Niu FM and Radio 531 PI), Samoa Capital Radio, Radio Samoa, Samoa Times and TVNZ’s Tagata Pasifika. ‘Shout outs’ from celebrities, including Pippa Wetzell, will be posted on the Commission’s Youtube video channel. One of the features of Samoan Language Week is a highly successful Facebook page, with nearly 2,400 fans.

Mainstream media are encouraged to both report on activities over the week and to use Samoan greetings or phrases.

In April the series won the Platinum Award, (top prize) at the 2010 WorldFest in Houston in the Children’s and Family Television Series category.

It has also been selected as a finalist in the Prix Jeunesse awards, in the fiction category for 7 – 11 year-olds. The awards will be announced in Munich, 3 June.

According to director and co-executive producer Yvonne Mackay, of Wellington-based Production Shed TV, the Prix Jeunesse is one of the most significant prizes in family television. “If it was film, it would be like being accepted to be in competition in Cannes.”

The series is set in Governor’s Bay on the Banks Peninsula and focuses on a young girl, Meredith Gallagher, an ordinary 12-year-old about to discover her psychic powers. Meredith lives in a community that neighbours Kaitangata Island, a piece of land with a sinister reputation. It is said that when the island last twitched (an earthquake) 50 years ago, it swallowed up a young girl. Now it seems that the island is getting ready to claim its next victim.

There’s plenty of adventure, myth, magic and CGI, but the series also deals with conflicting values, commercial interests, environmental issues, family breakdown and young people finding a place in the world and within their own mixed race family.

The series has been sold to networks in Canada, Sweden and will screen across the ABC TV Network in Australia this year. The name of Margaret Mahy has helped attract overseas audiences, and the Māori themes have also appealed.

While Māori Television has a mandate to support the reo and tikanga elements of the story, says Yvonne, “there are also themes that come through from the Māori worldview, like conservation, and importance of knowing who you are by being Māori. In emphasising those I think we have created something incredibly unique to show the world.”

Kaitangata Twitch screens on Māori Television at 7pm, Sunday.

Dance Baby Dance, or naach gaana hum aur tum, is a 28-minute documentary that uses the Diwali festival in Auckland as a framework to explore wider aspects of Indian culture.

To cite the trailer again: “this is a protest film … short and sweet … a film about Diwali…a film about dance…and the Indian disapora in New Zealand.” The documentary revolves around a group of young people in the lead-up to the Diwali festival who are preparing to compete in the Bollywood competition.

“What I’m trying to show is that these are young bright New Zealanders of Indian origins that need to be given a platform beyond the performance at a competition that occurs only once a year,” says Sapna. “I was really amazed at how bright and opinionated these kids are. They are trying to break out, but they do not know what else to do. Beyond Bollywood, they don’t have a platform to express themselves creatively.”

Sana, a GP who moved to New Zealand from Bombay in 2001, has since completed a master’s degree in Film, TV and Media Studies. She is also a founding trustee of the Asia New Zealand Film Foundation Trust that organises the Asia Film Festival Aotearoa. She is now shopping her own documentary around various film festivals. The competition has so far proved to be fierce, but she is optimistic: “I’ve done something that I needed to do, but I don’t know the fate of it. It has a life of its own now.

“It should go somewhere. But it is great that that I made it myself and it is a sweet film. If people come out with smiles on their faces, than that’s what I want.” To see the trailer go to Holy Cow’s website.

Figures from AGB Nielsen Media Research show that during the month of April Māori Television had a cumulative audience of 2,013,600 unique viewers. Half of all New Zealanders aged 5+ and almost two thirds of all Māori aged 5+ tuned in to the channel.

Māori Television chief executive Jim Mather attributes some of the growth to major television events that have attracted new audiences, such as the David Tua fight in March and the annual all-day ANZAC broadcast. The ANZAC broadcast prompted many emails of thanks and congratulations from viewers across the country.

One Cambridge couple wrote: “More and more we find ourselves turning over to your station and even though we often don’t understand much of the te reo, we find ourselves engrossed in your quality programmes. Today is ANZAC Day and we thank you for a full day’s coverage … we look forward to spending many more evenings in your company”.

Other popular programmes attracting wider audiences include the family drama Kaitangata Twitch, the Māori rugby documentary series, Beneath the Moon, the Māori karaoke show, Homai te Pakipaki and Willie Jackson’s Newsbites.

Elma was born in Rarotonga, the youngest of six children. Her family migrated to Wellington in 1952. In a profile on Tagata Pasifika last month, she joked about looking forwarding to travelling on cruise ship, and being confronted with a “banana boat”.

She went to Hutt Valley Primary School and Mana College. She raised five children in Porirua’s Cannons Creek, as a solo mother, while working for Inland Revenue and then NZ Rail as a data entry typist.

In 1984 she got a job as a news teleprinter operator in the Radio New Zealand newsroom, which involved typing up other people’s stories. “And then in about 1988 she said, ‘I’m sick of this. I want to write my own stories’, recalls Linden Clark, Radio New Zealand International Manager. “This was a very Elma thing to say. But she recognised that lack of Pacific angle and Pacific tellers.”

RNZ sponsored Elma through a journalism course, which she completed just as Radio New Zealand International was being launched in 1990. She began developing sport bulletins for the network, and eventually a weekly sports programme.

“She also provided a very important mentoring, training and mothering role to a great deal of people who have come through here, either young people from the Pacific or Pacific Island people within New Zealand,” says Linden.

Elma was devoted to her job, and only retired her position as sports editor from her hospital bed, six weeks before she died.

Linden and other colleagues had spent much of the previous afternoon at her bedside, reading tributes from around 200 people that had been written on a large card. People acknowledged Elma’s huge contribution to Pacific Island journalism, her friendliness and her sense of humour. “She could be forthright,” says Linden. “She could be quite bossy, but in a good sense, which is why she got so much out of her trainees. A lot of people talked about how quiet it would be without her.”

Journalist Michael Field wrote in an obituary published in the Dominion Post: “In the small and intensely personal world of Pacific journalism, Elma Maua was the real tusitala, the story-teller, who had heart, enthusiasm and connections.”

At her funeral, her former radio colleagues sang “Isa Lei”, a well-known Fijian farewell song. “Elma had often led us in singing many times over the years, so it was our turn to sing to her,” Linden. “It was very moving.”

Wong hopes to showcase Chinese programmes produced here and overseas on the channel, along with a range of movies and serial dramas. Ultimately he would like to include locally made news, current affairs programmes with an emphasis on Chinese topics and perspectives.

One of his more immediate plans is to broadcast locally made television productions, but with Chinese subtitles.

“There is a lack of good entertainment in New Zealand television for Chinese people living here and we hope to improve on that,” he says. “New Zealand programmes, with subtitles will bring a better understanding between mainstream New Zealanders and Chinese, and also give Chinese people a better understanding of New Zealand.”

The Ethnic Media Workshop is one of a series run by the Office of Internal Affairs and features a five-person panel including:

• Jim Tucker, head of journalism at Whitireia Journalism School and publisher of NewsWire will talk about the ethics in journalism.
• Bernadette Courtney, editor of the The Dominion Post will present her vision for the paper, and how it aims to appeal to readers from diverse ethnic communities
• Yu Qiu Wang, journalist for Home Voice, a Wellington Chinese newspaper, will offer an ethnic journalist’s perspective.
• Trevor Henry senior communications adviser Department of Internal Affairs, will provide an overview on New Zealand media conventions
• Charles Mabbett, media advisor Asia NZ will outline some of the internships at Asian media organisations and scholarships available for NZ journalists in Asian countries.

The workshop will be held on Tuesday 25 May, 4pm-6.30 pm, at the Training Rooms 1 and 2: The Dominion Post Building (40 Boulcott Street, Wellington).

To reserve a seat or find out more contact Pitsch Leiser (04 494 57 68)

The conference theme was “Journalism at the intersection of politics, culture and religion”, and was the second run by the New Zealand Government with co-sponsorship from the European Union, and support from the Indonesian Government and Indonesian Press Council.

The focus was particularly on the challenges of reporting on security issues surrounding religion; ethnic and cultural identity; and politics, especially in situations involving terrorism or insurgency. New Zealand journalists Graeme Acton (Radio New Zealand), Edward Gay (New Zealand Herald Online) and Julie Middleton (Freelancer) attended the conference.

“Former Vice President of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla started the conference on a high note with an opening address about his role in resolving inter-religious and intercultural conflicts in Indonesia,” said Alex Lennox-Marwick, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s International Security and Disarmament Division.

Prominent academics, journalists and commentators led the group through a variety of issues including reporting on war, journalism in post-conflict societies, media and democracy, and real time coverage of terrorism.

Two New Zealand senior journalism educators, Dr David Robie from AUT University and Alan Samson from Massey University, were among the presenters from across Asia and Australasia.

More information on the meeting and images are available online.

Launched in 2005, the programme aims to give people belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, particularly young minority men and women, the opportunity to gain knowledge on the United Nations system and mechanisms dealing with international human rights and minority rights.

“The programme is interactive and consists of briefings on several topics as well as individual and group assignments,” the OHCHR said in a statement.

“The Fellowship Programme is intended to assist organisations and communities in protecting and promoting the rights of minorities the fellows belong to.”

The Fellows will be based at the OHCHR in Geneva, Switzerland. Successful applicants will be provided with a return economy class ticket to Geneva, basic health insurance for the duration of the programme and a grant to cover modest accommodation and other living expenses.

Held annually, the programme has an English version, which runs for about three months, and an Arabic version, which was started in 2007, and runs for four weeks.

Applications for the English Programme close on May 3. For more information, visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Advertising Standards Authority (March)

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that complaint 10/090 ‘Tui Beer Billboard Advertisement’ had no grounds to proceed. The billboard read ‘That call centre person was really easy to understand. Yeah right.’ The complainant believed the message contained a racist slur against people for whom English is not their first language.

Broadcasting Standards Authority (March)

In Foreman and TRN 2009-158 the Broadcasting Standards Authority did not uphold a complaint against the Radio Network Ltd (broadcasting as Radio Sport). The complaint was made on the grounds of discrimination and denigration, as the host referred to a man as ‘a pommy git’ on the Radio Sport Farming Show.

In de Villiers and TVNZ 2009-163 the Authority did not uphold a complaint against TVNZ (a promotion for the Sunday programme). The complaint was made on the grounds of discrimination and denigration; fairness; and controversial issues, as the presenter stated “Sunday travels to Israel to bring you Jew against Arab from a truly unique perspective.”

Interest in the week is running high in the Samoan community, with over 1200 people in ten days joining a Facebook page in support of the week.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres says the Samoan community is the fourth largest ethnic group in New Zealand and Samoan is the third most commonly spoken language.
“It would be great if all mainstream media took part in the week through the use of greetings, common phrases, programmes, features and news stories.”

Pacific media including TVNZ’s Tagata Pasifika, the Pacific Radio Network, Radio Samoa, Samoan Capital Radio, Spasifik and the Samoan Times are all actively involved in the week, which coincides with Samoa’s national day on June 1.

For more information visit the Samoan Language Week website

Readers have been invited to send congratulatory messages to the paper, which will appear in the anniversary issue. Indian Weekender is distributed free at outlets frequented by the Indian community, including Indian supermarkets, restaurants and retail outlets. It is also available online.

Editor Yuanyong Yang says the English edition will feature news, current affairs, business, travel and entertainment, with a focus mainly on China-New Zealand relations and the country’s multicultural society.

Although a date has yet to be set for the launch, the paper is actively looking for a chief editor to helm the English edition.

Lianhe Bao is published on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and competes in the same advertising market as The Chinese Herald and Mandarin Pages, two of the more established Chinese-language papers in Auckland.

The topic is ‘Listen Very Carefully’, and it is designed for Curriculum Level 2. The topic will focus on the following:

• What is sound?
• How do we hear?
• Caring for our ears
• People who can’t hear
• Hearing dogs
• Inventions for hearing

For more information contact Fairfax Newspapers in Education on 0800 849 971 or email them.

The People’s Daily has struck a deal with New Zealand’s longest running Chinese newspaper, the Mandarin Pages, to publish its stories in New Zealand.

“It is seen as a win-win situation, because they get an avenue to reach New Zealand readers, and we get good strong China stories for our readers,” says Mandarin Pages publisher David Soh.

The first issue with stories from The People’s Daily ran on March 1. Mandarin Pages is published every day except Sunday, and is distributed free through Chinese grocery shops, eateries and ethnic food halls.

The World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network (WITBN) represents nine indigenous television broadcasters: National Indigenous Television (NITV), Australia; Aboriginal People Television Network (APTN), Canada; TG4, Ireland; Māori Television, New Zealand; NRK Sami Radio, Norway; BBC ALBA, Scotland; South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), South Africa; Taiwan Indigenous Television (TITV)/ Public Television Service (PTS), Taiwan; and S4C, Wales.

Māori TV’s Jim Mather, who was the inaugural chairman of WITBN, last week handed over his title to the chairman of TITV. “The past two years have been important in terms of laying solid foundations for the establishment of the network,” Mr Mather says. “It is my hope that it will continue to flourish as the platform for indigenous broadcasters and our collective commitment to our languages and cultures.”

The theme of the three-day conference was “Facing the Challenges in the Digital Age for Indigenous Media” and topics discussed include new media challenges, the changing role of indigenous broadcasters in revitalising native languages and cultures, and the maintenance of core cultural values whilst operating successful television organisations.

Since WITBC ’08 in New Zealand, senior executives of the member organisations have been meeting on a six-monthly basis to plan, develop and implement a range of key initiatives.

This has resulted in the development of the first WITBN-produced series, Indigenous Insight, a weekly 30-minute summary of the key news and current affairs stories provided by member organisations.

Māori Television and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network of Canada will also be embarking on a staff exchange programme later this year.

Broadcasting Standards Authority Decision

The Broughton and RadioWorks case involved a complaint about the ‘Talkback with Michael Laws’ show. The complaint was upheld on the grounds of ‘fairness’, but not upheld on the grounds of ‘privacy’. The grounds of ‘accuracy’ was subsumed.

Counties Manukau District Health Board employee Boyd Broughton complained about comments Michael Laws made after Boyd Broughton emailed him about Māori smoking. During the 24 September broadcast Michael Laws said that it was clear from Boyd Broughton’s emails that, “he regarded the cause of Māori smoking to essentially be white genocidal cigarette companies out to basically kill Māori”.

The Authority did not uphold the complaint on the grounds of ‘privacy’. However, it upheld the complaint that Michael Laws unfairly represented Boyd Broughton’s views.

“Based only on Mr Broughton’s statement that “Pakeha continue to allow [smoking] in the country and make profits from it”, Michael Laws told his listeners that Boyd Broughton believes, and tells his clients, that smoking is a “Pakeha plot to kill Māori”, an assertion he made several times during the course of his programme. The Authority is firm in its view that such blatant misrepresentation cannot be regarded as “fair comment”, as argued by the broadcaster,” the decision said.

Source: Broadcasting Standards Authority Bulletin, March 2010.

Advertising Standards Authority Decision

The ASA Chairperson ruled that a George Weston Foods (NZ) Ltd television advertisement for tortilla from Bazaar Breads of the World did not breach of the ‘Code for People in Advertising.’ Complaint 10/040 made under Basic Principles 3, 4 and 5 of the Code for People in Advertising by S. Fraser was deemed to have no grounds to proceed. The complainant was concerned about the portrayal of Mexican people in the advertisement: “”I found the use of Kiwis pretending to be Mexican offensive and ridiculing.”

The ASA Chairperson’s Ruling in late February 2010 (Complaint 10/040) noted the concerns but viewed the advertisement to be light hearted in tone. She found it did not reach the threshold likely to cause serious or widespread offence in the light of generally prevailing community standards.

Source: Advertising Standards Authority.

Festivals and Events are being held all around the country to mark and celebrate the day. The Commission’s Facebook page dedicated to Race Relations Day has over 2, 800 fans. The Annual Review of Race Relations in 2009 has been released and is available in PDF form online, or you can email us if you would like a hard copy.

Those who have something to contribute or say about race relations in New Zealand can visit the Facebook page. Over 1600 people have signed up to the page since it was opened three weeks ago.

“We’re finding that social media, including Facebook, are a way for the Commission to create a place where people from all walks of life can discuss what makes good race relations,” said commission spokesman Gilbert Wong.

The Facebook page is proving a place of debate and fun. The Commission has set up a contest for fans of the page to contribute their photographs that best illustrate cultural diversity in New Zealand. The winning photograph will be turned into a Race Relations Day postcard.

The scholarship is designed to attract more young Kiwi Asians into journalism study and to encourage increased representation of Asian communities in mainstream journalism.

Currently employed as a nurse at Auckland Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Ms Miller says she wants to use the communication and cultural skills she has acquired as a health professional to start her new direction as a journalist.

“Despite our growing Asian population, New Zealand has a shortage of Asian journalists. Many of the Asian population fail to identify with the mainstream media,” she said.

“As Asian New Zealanders, it is the right to have access to the media. As a Kiwi-Asian journalist, I hope I will be able to facilitate that within their community and within the media industry.”

Ms Miller is of Filipina and New Zealand European descent and is well versed in both Tagalog and English.

She has enrolled in a postgraduate diploma in communications studies with a journalism major at AUT University and is planning to do the Asia-Pacific Journalism course.

Ms Miller will get $5000 of her course paid upon completion of her journalism study.

A 2007 survey by the NZ Journalists Training Organisation showed that only 2 per cent of all journalists working in mainstream English language news media were Asian.

Meanwhile, the country’s largest newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, has announced that it will be adding a reporter of Asian descent, Derek Cheng, to its press gallery in Wellington.

A former Herald reporter, Mr Cheng returns to the paper to replace Patrick Gower, who has resigned to go to TV3.

The magazine-style show about an Asian perspective to all things New Zealand, is described as the first of its kind, and a show full of attitude, humour and irreverence to play on commercial airwaves.

“In the spirit of audience participation, interactivity and capacity building, the show would like all New Zealanders to send in stories worthy of broadcast on radio,” the producers said in a statement.

“You could be of Asian origin and if not then you could want to tell something Asian related. It could be quirky, experimental or serious. It could be a love story, an anecdote or a comment on politics. Travel stories are welcome too. As is drama.”

Recordings should be in .wav format, and sound can be delivered through a web based drop box. Final date for delivery is April 16. Five of the best stories will be broadcast on the show between May and June.

Email the Asian Radio Show to run ideas and queries. Funded by New Zealand On Air, and started in 2008, the show broadcasts every Friday evening at 7.40pm, and is also available online.

Between 7 and 14 February, a series of hour-long documentaries giving viewers a chance to look at life in the Chinese province of Jilin were screened on Triangle and Stratos Television.

“We do not have the ratings, but based on the people I speak with, I think it has been popular and a success, and so we are planning for more such screenings in the near future,” said Jim He, spokesman for the centre.

Mr He said the series portrayed some of Jilin’s best tourist spots, personalities, arts and business, and was well received by local New Zealanders. “These television festivals open a cultural window for kiwis who will otherwise never get a chance to experience these cultures,” he said.

Mr He said his group has confirmed with Triangle Television that it will screen a week-long Nanning culture television week in September, at the same time when a Chinese arts and photo festival will be running.

Triangle Auckland is on UHF channels 41, 42 and 52 and Stratos Television broadcasts nationwide through Sky Digital channel 89, Freeview channel 21 and TelstraClear cable.

The United Chinese Press, or Lianhe Bao, published three times a week, will offer readers local and Asia-focused news in Chinese script, says editor Yuanyong Yang.

“We want to offer the Chinese more choice of reading material, and will be focusing on the entire Chinese community and not just a particular sector,” Mr Yang says.

Besides news, the paper will also be publishing regular opinion pieces from local community leaders, members of Parliament and the police. The paper comes out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and will compete for the same advertising market as The Chinese Herald and Mandarin Pages, two of the more established Chinese-language papers in Auckland. Lianhe Bao is distributed free, and is available at outlets frequented by the Chinese, such as Asian grocery stores and restaurants.

Visit the United Chinese Press online or email Mr Yang.

“Why can’t the Indian community get together at least on Republic Day and demonstrate the spirit of oneness and purpose?” Indian Newslink editor Venkat Raman wrote in an editorial. “Why should two functions be held on the same day? Who wants this trial of strength? And who won in the end?”

Mr Raman said these were some of the questions his readers had posed, and hoped the local Indian community would present a united front in the next milestone event in 2022 when India marks its Platinum Jubilee of Independence. “We hope there would be no arm wrestling and trial of strength in celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the country’s freedom.”

Disagreement between leaders of the United Indianz and Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust led to the two groups organising separate events, one in Aotea Square and the other at the TelstraClear Events Centre in Manukau last month.

Prime Minister John Key, who spoke at the central city event, says New Zealand’s trade and relationship with India is at an all-time high. “The two-way trade between New Zealand peaked to $1 billion for the first time last year,” Mr Key said. “But we should not be complacent with the new high reached. New Zealand’s trade with China crossed $10 billion in 2009, a year after the Free Trade Agreement was signed with that country.”

Mr Key says he has met with India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh last year and they are keen to move forward with formal negotiation talks for an FTA between New Zealand and India.

Mr Morarji’s newsletter covers events and activities of the association and the local Indian community. “He was a very popular man, and devoted to serving the community,” said Indian international student Inderjit Singh, who studies hospitality in Rotorua. “Being away from India, I used to look forward to his newsletter which keeps us informed of the activities of the association. Many of us still cannot believe he is gone.”

Mr Morarji was returning from a New Zealand Indian Central Association meeting in Morrinsville in Waikato when he met with the accident.

Originally from Navsari, Gujarent, he was raised in Mumbai and migrated to New Zealand later where he ran an electronics business. Mr Morarji, who took office as association president last year, leaves behind his wife and two sons. He was 52.

The centre’s television student team Sophie and John Pulu has made a short video about the centre, which can be viewed on YouTube.

• Early March: An evening with Samoan author and storyteller Sia Fiegel (TBA). Email them for more information.
• 8 March: Launch of the book Being the First: Storis Blong Oloketa Mere Lo Solomon Aelan, edited by Alice Aruhe’eta Pollard and Professor Marilyn Waring on International Women’s Day. The book is published by the PMC for AUT’s Institute of Public Policy and RAMSI. Honiara, Solomon Islands. Read the book online.
• May 2-3: UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia (A focus on the Pacific and the PMC is very involved). Find out more online.
• May 24: Conflict reporting seminar with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and launch of the special edition of Pacific Journalism Review in partnership with the Australian Centre of Independent Journalism (ACIJ) and Massey University journalism school, at the AUT Conference Centre.
• December 1-3: International Creative Industries Conference, including a stream on investigative journalism and Pacific journalism at AUT. Find out more online.

Updates of events can be viewed on the centre’s website.

The report, to be released in March, monitored race-related complaints made to the New Zealand Press Council (NZPC), Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for the past five years. The Press Council received the least number of race-related cases (seven) in the period 2005-09. The BSA received 19 complaints, seven of which were received in 2009. The ASA received the most complaints (45), but the ratio of race-related complaints to the total number of complaints was very low. For example, in 2009, the ASA released decisions on 647 complaints and only 10 of these were race related. Overall, the level of race-related complaints about the media to standards bodies remains very low.

The report recommends that a further survey of diversity in newsrooms and journalism schools be undertaken by the JTO in 2010, and that the opportunities and challenges of the internet and social media for race relations be explored.

Race Relations Report 2009: Media

The following is a draft section of the 2009 Race Relations Report to be published by the Human Rights Commission in March 2010. This section reviews developments in relation to diversity and the media and is drawn primarily from the Commission’s media diversity newsletter, Nga Reo Tangata. Other sections of the report deal with international engagement, action on diversity, the Treaty of Waitangi, racial discrimination, migration and settlement, civil and political equality, economic and social equality, religious diversity, language and diversity research. The full report will be published in advance of Race Relations Day on 21 March. Comments on this draft are invited and can be sent to nzdiversity@hrc.co.nz .

What happened in 2009?

• Discussion of diversity in the media continued through a range of forums
• The Pacific.Scoop diversity news website was launched by the AUT Pacific Media Centre
• Māori Television turned five, and the Māori Television Service Act was reviewed.
• Operating funding for iwi radio was boosted by $1.2 million over 2009/10 and 2010/11.
• The Māori Television Service, together with TVNZ and TV3, was identified as the preferred free-to-air broadcaster for the 2011 Rugby World Cup
• The level of race-related complaints to media standards bodies has been very low over the past five years.
• The New Zealand Press Council considered two race-related complaints in 2009. One was partially upheld.
• The Broadcasting Standards Authority considered seven race-related complaints. None were upheld.
• The Advertising Standards Authority received 10 race related complaints and two of these were settled.
• Adrian Stevanon won first place in the 2009 New Zealand Excellence in Reporting Diversity Awards for young journalists.
• Radio Tarana, aimed at the Auckland Indian community, was ranked among the top 10 radio stations in the greater Auckland region.

Forums on diversity in the media

Discussion of diversity in the media continued in a number of forums organised by the Office of Ethnic Affairs, New Zealand on Air and the Human Rights Commission.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs organised ‘ethnic media bus tours’ in Christchurch and Auckland. The Christchurch tour brought together ethnic media and journalism students to experience first hand how mainstream media operate in Christchurch. Over 20 people from a range of ethnic and community media backgrounds boarded the bus, including student representatives from the Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Swiss and South African communities who are currently studying a variety of media courses. They visited the Press, the Christchurch Star, and radio station Newstalk ZB. As part of the programme, a presentation provided a definition of media, the impact and influence generated by media and ways of dealing with media in the New Zealand context. The Auckland tour, attended by over 30 representatives of ethnic media included visits to Māori Television and Newstalk ZB. The tour was preceded by a forum that included members of the Press Council, the Broadcasting Standards Authority and a former editor of the New Zealand Herald.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs hosted a workshop in Wellington for people with a specific interest in the role of ethnic media. About 30 members of Wellington’s ethnic media attended the workshop, which aimed to develop stronger, positive connections across diverse communities, improve access to information by utilising ethnic media to convey vital information to their communities, and promote networking.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs held a dialogue forum in Auckland on the role and perception of Muslims in the New Zealand media. Participants included representatives from various organisations, including Muslim media, the Broadcasting Standards Authority, Māori Television, Radio New Zealand and Radio Live. The discussion focused on capacity building, learning to work with the media, countering misrepresentation, the role of youth, the plurality within the Muslim community and the concept of freedom of speech. A similar dialogue forum was held in Hamilton, where the invited guests included the editor of the Waikato Times, the Head of the Screen and Media Department at Waikato University and an academic/practitioner from Wintec.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs held a South Asian Forum in Auckland. The theme was ‘Connecting South Asians to the Media’. The event brought together South Asian communities and media, and provided a platform for training and information exchange to empower South Asian communities to engage more effectively with media to promote their identity, issues, events and culture.

NZ on Air held an Ethnic Diversity Broadcasting Forum with the Office of Ethnic Affairs in Auckland. The forum focused on broadcasting in the context of New Zealand’s ethnic diversity now, and into the future. Topics of discussion included media and cultural identity, finding the ethnic voice on mainstream channels, reaching ethnic audiences, drama in black, white and colour, and ‘Screen and Heard’ – the NZ broadcast media scene in 2020, with speakers and panelists from the BBC, Australia’s SBS, New Zealand’s major broadcasters and writers and producers. Around 100 ethnic and mainstream broadcasters, decision makers and media practitioners attended the forum. Key issues highlighted included the importance of catering to an increasingly diverse audience both in terms of ethnicity and age groups, the funding required to make high quality programmes to reach diverse population groups, the commercial viability of ethnic-specific programming and the importance of drama in educating and reflecting population diversity.

The Human Rights Commission hosted the annual Media Diversity Forum at the New Zealand Diversity Forum in August. This year’s topic, New Media, New Audiences, provided insights into the Asian media channels serving an audience of a quarter million people in New Zealand. It featured key players in the new media landscape. The panelists included representatives of Skykiwi.com, World TV, Indian Weekender and a researcher on Asian media in New Zealand, Phoebe Li from the School of Asian Studies, University of Auckland. Ms Li spoke about her thesis “A Virtual Chinatown: the Diasporic Mediasphere and Chinese Migrants in New Zealand” that compared the growth of Chinese language media in New Zealand to an “imagined Chinatown”. Her research found that locally based Chinese language media focused on news from mainland China, but were keenly interested in the 2008 general election. Her research found recent migrants from mainland China maintain strong ties to their homeland.

The representatives of the Asian media channels spoke of the need to persist in a competitive media environment. While each was a business, editorially each saw part of their responsibility as preserving the culture and language of their respective homelands.

Short profiles about the media channels show strong community support and growing market share:

World TV Ltd. Launched in June 2000 in association with the SKY satellite digital service World TV Ltd (WTV) broadcasts 24 hours daily in 7 TV channels and 2 radio channels throughout New Zealand. It has arrangements for programming from mainstream media in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and self production. WTV also publishes a monthly magazine. In March 2006, WTV added 3 new TV channels to serve the growing population of Korean and Chinese and the first 24-hour free-to-air Chinese TV channel joined the service in August 2007. There are over 10,000 households subscribing to WTV with the total number of viewers reaching 50,000, which is approximately 26 percent of the market.

Skykiwi.com is the largest Chinese website in New Zealand, and serves as a platform for introducing New Zealand culture and lifestyle to the Chinese community. During 2007 and 2008, Skykiwi.com ranked #1 based on market share of visits among all New Zealand websites in the Hitwise “News and Media – Community Directories and Guides” category.

The year saw the launch of the Indian Weekender, a weekly newspaper aimed at the estimated 110,000 people in the Auckland region of ethnic Indian extraction. These include people from the Indian subcontinent (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan) South East Asia, Fiji, South Africa and Mauritius. The publishers Kiwi Media Group print 15,000 copies of each issue, and claim a readership of 60,000 a week to an audience interested in news, features and entertainment geared towards ethnic Indian residents of the Auckland region. The new newspaper has a digital presence and under the editorship of experienced journalist Dev Nadkarni has enjoyed strong community support.

Radio Tarana, aimed at the Auckland Indian community, was ranked among the top 10 radio stations in the greater Auckland region in 2009. A Research International survey found Radio Tarana to have increased its audience by more than 50 per cent to 4.6 per cent, making it the region’s ninth most listened to radio station, beating long-established mainstream stations, Radio Hauraki, More FM, Radio Live, Radio Sport and Solid Gold FM. It is the only ethnic radio station in New Zealand to be ranked among the top 10. Established 13 years ago, Radio Tarana 1386 AM is a 24-hour, free-to-air radio station broadcasting news on the hour, current affairs, sports, talkback and music. The station is the exclusive provider of BBC Hindi and Urdu Fiji News in New Zealand.

Opportunities

Auckland University of Technology (AUT) School of Communication Studies established a Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism, with the inaugural intake due in 2010.

AUT also continued its post-graduate Asia-Pacific journalism course, aimed to develop international reporting expertise. Associated with this course is an exchange agreement between AUT and the China Daily enabling students to work on internship in Beijing, while AUT sponsors a China Daily employee for New Zealand media studies. Asia New Zealand provides funding support for airfares for internship students in China and Indonesia.

The AUT Pacific Media Centre established an Asian Journalism Fellowship for the first time in 2009 with sponsorship from the Asia New Zealand Foundation. The inaugural recipient was a Burmese exiled journalist, Violet Cho, who is also an in indigenous ethnic Karen. She was sponsored by both the foundation and AUT’s School of Communication Studies to do a postgraduate BCS (Hons) programme and work as a contributing reporter for Pacific Scoop. She filed many reports on the ethnic Burmese community in New Zealand and spoke at public seminars about diversity media for the PMC in Auckland and at Victoria University of Wellington.

A new scholarship is being launched to attract Asian New Zealanders into journalism. The Asia New Zealand Foundation is offering to pay up to $5000 on completion of a successful candidate’s course of journalism study for the 2010 calendar year.”The scholarship is designed to encourage greater representation of Asian communities in mainstream New Zealand journalism.”

AUT and community newspaper Indian Newslink have launched a journalism scholarship. Indian Newslink will pay the tuition fee, student services fee and Student Association fee for one student admitted every year into one of the university’s one-year postgraduate programmes, including the postgraduate diploma in Communication Studies (journalism) and the Bachelor of Communication Studies (Hons). The programme, open to all New Zealand citizens and permanent residents, is aimed at creating a new generation of quality journalists and fostering professional standards of journalism in New Zealand.

Awards and Achievements

TVNZ Tangata Pasifika journalist Adrian Stevanon won first place in the 2009 New Zealand Excellence in Reporting Diversity Awards for young journalists. The NZ Excellence in Reporting Diversity Awards were launched by Whitireia Journalism School in 2008 to recognise top work being done by journalists with less than five years’ experience. They reward outstanding reporting of diversity in NZ society, whether it’s focused on ethnic communities or minority groups, who traditionally have not been portrayed well by the media. Other winners were Rebecca Todd, The Press (second), Michelle McCullough, Dunedin Star, Ruth Grundy Southern Rural Life and Courier Country (third equal) Tasha Black, Newswire, and Carolyn Thomas, Western Leader (highly commended). Prizes were funded by contributions from editors of all the major media and the awards were held under the auspices of Whitireia Journalism School, the Journalists Training Organisation and the Human Rights Commission.

Fiji-born reporter Dominika White won the Māori Television Prize and AUT University Pacific Media Centre Storyboard Award for diversity journalism for her articles in Spasifik magazine.

Canterbury’s community access station Plains FM 96.9 scooped a NZ Radio Award for the fourth year running at this year’s New Zealand Radio Awards. Naoko Kudo won the award for Best Spoken/Informational Programme in Any Language for Japanese Downunder which she has produced and presented since 2002.

Sunday Star Times reporter Karen Arnold was the runner up in the Statistics New Zealand’s 2009 Journalism Award with her story “Culture Clash as Migrants isolated and ignored”. The story focused on new migrants in Southland and the local government’s struggles to educate the wider community about the importance of welcoming them to the province.

Pacific Media Centre

Pacific.Scoop, a partnership between AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre and Scoop Media, was launched in Auckland in August. This is a new portal for Asia-Pacific and diversity stories covering the region from East Timor to Tahiti, including New Zealand. While most of the stories come from senior AUT student journalists, many have also been filed by students from Divine Word University, Madang, PNG, National University of Samoa, and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the University of Technology, Sydney. Many leading Pacific Islands journalists and commentators are contributing reports and analyses. It also draws on the Pacific Media Watch monitoring service. The website attracts 30,000 unique visitors a month.

The Centre published a special edition of the Pacific Journalism Review in May on diversity, identity and the media. The review is a peer-reviewed journalism and media research journal.

The Pacific Development and Conservation Trust awarded a grant to the Centre’s Pacific Media Watch monitoring project, which is dedicated to regional media freedom, plurality and diversity issues. A Tongan journalist currently edits this service.

Korean drama series

The 54-episode Korean drama series “Jewel in the Palace” (Dae Jang Geum) aired on Triangle Television is the first multi-cultural, long form non-English series to be shown on New Zealand television. Set in the Chosun Dynasty of 500 years ago, the series also feature Korean cuisine and costumes of the period.

Māori Television

Māori Television celebrated its fifth birthday and the first anniversary of the Māori language channel “Te Reo” in March. Since its launch in 2004, Māori Television’s audience reach has tripled to more than 1.5 million New Zealanders each month. As part of the fifth birthday celebrations, new research into Māori Television’s social and economic impact was released, and its revamped website was unveiled.

An independent review panel, Te Kāhui o Māhutonga, considered the operation and effectiveness of the Māori Television Service (Te Aratuku Whakaata Irirangi Māori) Act 2003. Their key recommendations were aimed at ensuring that the legislation governing Māori Television is updated and relevant and that Māori Television is well positioned to achieve its goals, fully participate in technological advancements, and continue its success as an indigenous language broadcaster. Areas identified for improvement were language quality and the current funding model.

Māori Television attracted a lot of attention when it made a bid for the free-to-air broadcasting rights for the Rugby World Cup in 2011. Government Ministers intervened to broker a combined bid with Television New Zealand and TV3, which was successful.

Funding boost for Iwi radio

Operating funding for iwi radio was increased by $1.2 million over 2009/10 and 2010/11 in order to maintain high-quality te reo programmes and extend their community involvement. The provisions announced in the Budget amounted to an additional $50,000 for each of the 21 iwi stations. The increased funding will come from Te Māngai Pāho and Te Puni Kōkiri. Iwi stations deliver 61,000 hours of te reo content each year.

Māori world views and broadcasting standards

The BSA published a paper on Māori Worldviews and Broadcasting Standards: What Should be the Relationship? to provide a platform for discussion of the relationship between broadcasting standards and Māori worldviews and interests. This paper follows up questions raised by the BSA’s 2005 publication The Portrayal of Māori and Te Ao Māori in Broadcasting: the foreshore and seabed issue, including whether the standards as currently framed adequately reflect Māori realities, concerns and interests.

Access to the BSA

The Broadcasting Standards Authority also translated its ‘How to Complain’ information into three further languages – Niuean, Somali and Vietnamese (making it available in a total of thirteen) and ran a multi-lingual bus-based poster campaign in Auckland and Wellington. The posters – in Chinese, Samoan and English – reminded caregivers that AO (Adults Only) time begins at 8:30pm on free-to-air television.

Complaints about the Media

The Race Relations Report has monitored all race related complaints made to the New Zealand Press Council (NZPC), Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for the past five years. Of the three bodies, the Press Council received the least number of race related cases in the period 2005-2009 (seven in total, of which four occurred in 2007). The BSA received 17 complaints, of which the highest number (seven) were received in 2009. The ASA received the most complaints (45) but the ratio of race related complaints to the total number of complaints was very low. For example, in 2009 the ASA released decisions on 647 complaints and only 10 of these were race related. Overall, the level of race-related complaints about the media to standards bodies remains very low.

Print

There were two race related complaints to the New Zealand Press Council in 2009. One of them was partially upheld.

• A complaint was received about the accuracy of the words in a Bromhead cartoon published in the Sunday Star Times in January. The complainant added that errors he pointed out went uncorrected. The cartoon depicted an Israeli soldier firing a machine gun. A speech bubble contained the words: “Ten innocents, one Hamas… Twenty innocents, Two Hamas… Thirty innocents…” The complaint was not upheld.
• A complaint was received about a Taranaki Daily News article in which a Māori warden was reported as saying the Parihaka peace festival was the scene of drug abuse. The complainant said that the article “Parihaka drug shock for warden”, presented as the opinion of one woman, comprised “unsubstantiated conjecture”, and breached Press Council principles of Accuracy (including Fairness and Balance), Comment and Fact, Discrimination, and Headlines and Captions. He added that the article was “the latest in a string of incidents” with “a gratuitous focus on the negative for Māori”. Its intent was to “grab a sensational headline at Māori expense” and its effect was to “defame” Parihaka and the festival activities. The Council partially upheld the complaint on the ground of lack of balance.

Broadcasting

The Broadcasting Standards Authority considered seven race-related complaints. None were upheld.

• In March, a complaint was considered about an interview aired on Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report. The host was interviewing the South African Rugby Union President about the possibility of a rugby game between the New Zealand Māori team and the South African team. During the interview the guest commented about New Zealand having a deep problem of racism with reference to Māori and the host responded by pointing out that South Africa had a bigger problem with apartheid. The complainant focused on the way the host had handled the interview and saw it as a breach of fairness. He complained that the host had failed to “engage in a meaningful interview, to draw out the issues at hand, to engage the interviewee effectively, and… to gauge the mood and cultural differences of his interviewee”. The broadcaster claimed that the interviewee had ample opportunity to express his opinions and was not unfairly treated and that the host’s response about New Zealand not having apartheid was merely a statement of fact and not provocative in any manner. This Authority agreed and did not uphold the complaint.
• In April, the BSA issued a decision on a complaint about the ‘Paul Holmes Breakfast’ show, aired on The Radio Network (TRN). The host discussed the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and made comments about Muslims and terrorism. The complainant said he was concerned about the way the host presented the programme, which he believed was totally biased and targeted Islam as a religion and Muslims as followers. He contended the broadcast contained offensive comments, biased discussion, incorrect information and discriminatory statements which would have “offended all Muslim listeners”. He alleged the broadcast breached controversial issues, accuracy, fairness, and discrimination and denigration standards. The Authority did not uphold the complaint, though it accepted that the host’s comments concerning Muslims and terrorism were provocative, particularly at the beginning of the piece. However, the statements lacked the necessary invective to cross the threshold for denigration. Since the overall tenor of the piece had been modified by the end of the programme, the Authority found that the host’s comments were not unfair to Muslim people.
• In the July-September quarter, a complaint was received about a Radio Tarana programme, ‘Zindagi Forever’ claiming that the programme breached standards relating to discrimination and denigration, and responsible programming. The complainant alleged that the radio host had ridiculed and denigrated Hindu concepts and the Hindu religion, while promoting Christianity. Radio Tarana stated that it had had the programme translated, and was satisfied that in no part of the programme did the host refer to the Hindu culture, and “neither did he ridicule the Hindu culture”. The Authority concluded that the broadcast did not encourage discrimination against or denigration of Hindus or the Hindu religion and declined to uphold the complaint in relation to any of the standards.
• In the July-September quarter another complaint was considered by BSA regarding Radio New Zealand’s ‘Nine to Noon’ programme in which the host spoke to a number of women about their experiences with dowry abuse in New Zealand. The complainant alleged this to be in breach of controversial issues, accuracy and discrimination and denigration standards. He argued that the broadcast was unbalanced, because it discussed a matter of Indian culture in New Zealand, without presenting a countering response. He also felt that the discussion was offensive to men, particularly fathers. The Authority considered that the programme did not discuss a controversial issue of importance, breach accuracy or discriminate against anyone and therefore did not uphold the complaint.
• In the October-December quarter the Authority considered a number of complaints concerning an item on TV3′s Nightline programme concerning Māori TV’s bid for the free-to-air broadcasting rights to the Rugby World Cup. The item included a satirical sketch about what Māori TV’s coverage would look like. The complainants considered that it breached the standards on good taste and decency, controversial issues, accuracy, fairness, discrimination and denigration and responsible programming. The Authority found that it was legitimate satire and lacked the necessary invective to cross the threshold for denigration of Māori as a section of the community. It did not uphold the complaints on any of the grounds cited.
• In the October-December quarter the Authority considered a complaint about an interview on TVNZ’s Breakfast programme in which the host interviewed a Professor of Māori history about 21 hui selecting a ‘Māori’ flag to be flown on Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitangi Day and in which both the host and the interviewee commented that the process was a waste of time and money. The complainant considered that the comments were in breach of the standards of good taste and decency, law and order, controversial issues, accuracy, fairness, discrimination and denigration, and responsible programming standards. The Authority did not uphold the complaint, finding that alternative viewpoints had been presented on One News the previous evening, and that although the comments reinforced stereotypes they did not reach the threshold necessary for encouraging denigration.

Advertising

Complaints were made about nine advertisements to the Advertising Standards Authority relating to race. Two of these complaints were declared settled and none was upheld.

• In January, a complaint was made about an advertisement for Mitre10 showing two young boys in a sandpit discussing, in the manner of two adults, a weekend construction programme for putting up a retaining wall. One of them addresses a third boy, and asks if he can “Give us a hand on Saturday”, to which he responds using an Australian accent, “Mate, you’re dreamin’.” The other two boy comment to each other, “Aussies. No surprise there.” and a message says, “DIY It’s in our DNA”. The complainant viewed this as racist towards Australians. (Complaint 09/006; no grounds for ruling)
• In May, a complaint was received about a newspaper advertisement headed ‘Israel: The Missing truth’ published in New Zealand Herald. The advertisement went on to say that “In 1948, the UN proposed two states for two peoples from the British Mandate of Palestine. The division was along demographic lines, with the Jewish portion (most of which was the Negev desert) containing a Jewish majority and the Arab portion an Arab majority. The Jews accepted the partition, the Arabs did not”. This advertisement was paid for by Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Mideast…” A post office box number was supplied. The complainant, was of the view that the advertisement was racially biased and designed to promote racial prejudice and violence, and should not have been published in the New Zealand Herald. (Complaint 09/272; no grounds to proceed)
• In June, a complaint was received about a newspaper advertisement for South Auckland Motors. Part of the text of the advertisement said “Our Demo Sale…saves you from a Korean car”. The complainant felt that the advertisement “denigrates a country and its people, as well as a competitor’s product. It is a racist advertisement.” In response to this the advertiser clarified that they had no intention of denigrating Korea and its people and discontinued the advertisement. (Complaint 09/330; Settled)
• A complaint was received in July about a billboard advertisement for Tui Beer containing the message: “We shouldn’t tease ginga’s. Yeah Right”. The complainant found the statement to be “a race and physical attribute attack on a section of the community”, and challenged why it was acceptable to single out red heads. (Complaint 09/402; no grounds to proceed)
• In July, a complaint was received about a poster advertisement of Public Service Investment Society. The poster advertisement contained the heading: “Our nation was built on pitching in and helping each other. We built a place to bank the same way.” Wording below said: “Imagine a different way of banking. A co-operative way. Where the aim is to help everyone of our customers to get ahead, no matter who they are, or where they are starting from. …” The complainant was of the view that the advertisement was offensive to Māori and also that was untrue as “NZ history demonstrates that NZ was built on the dispossession of the Māori people.” (Complaint 09/429; no grounds to proceed)
• In August, a complaint was made about an editorial styled advertisement printed in a community newspaper ‘Hamilton This Week’. The advertisement criticised the provision of Māori seats for Auckland super city by making statements such as, “Māori candidates promoting racist policies make themselves unattractive to the wider electorate and make their electoral failure a self-fulfilling prophecy, “and “Those promoting policies that discriminate on race, no matter how fancy their clothes, their qualifications or their language are, by definition, scuzzy little racists”. The complainant objected to the “overarching denigrating tone of the advertisement, reflected inter alia in the advertisement’s name-calling, which in our view amounts to hate speech. We are also opposed to the unbalanced presentation of the Treaty of Waitangi.” (Complaint 09/371; not upheld)
• In August, a complaint was received about a radio advertisement for Hell Pizza, which advertised their 30min delivery special, featured a pizza delivery boy with an exaggerated accent delivering pizzas to a private home. There was a reference to spray painting his windscreen and putting bricks on the driveway. The customer who answered the door to accept delivery of the pizza says: “Good work team” and cheering is heard. The complainant saw this advertisement as racist. In response to this complaint The Radio Network agreed that “this advertisement is entirely inappropriate. It should never have gone to air and has been withdrawn.” (Complaint 09/462; Settled)
• A complaint was received in August about a television advertisement for marmite by Sanitarium Health Food Company NZ. It showed a couple sitting on the couch watching television. The woman makes comments about a television programme in an exaggerated Australian accent. Her partner gives her a slice of bread with Marmite on it and the woman changes the channels to watch a rugby test. The commentary for the rugby game includes: “… and the home side have stolen it! Here’s trouble for the Wallabies!” A visual contains the line “What makes Kiwis Kiwis?” and a jar of Marmite is shown. The complainant said, “As an Australian I find this ad demeaning and offensive.” (Complaint 09/491; no grounds to proceed
• Two complaints were received in September about a billboard advertisement for Hell Pizza featuring a cartoon of two angels, one in red with white wings and the other in white with red wings and horns. A speech bubble from the red angel said: “Lighten Up” and another speech bubble from the white angel said: “Hell Pizzas are 90% Fat Free”. Also pictured next to the red angel was a dog which also had a speech bubble that said: “(Like Dog)”.The complainant was of the view that the billboard, which was a sequel to a previous one, was offensive and racist as it referred to the recently reported news story of a man who had cooked and eaten a dog. (Complaint 09/551; no grounds to proceed).

Auckland Metro Drug Squad head Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Cahill says police are very concerned with the alarming increase in the number of Chinese students being used by organised crime groups to assist in the importation of the drug, which contains the main ingredient used in the manufacture of the Class A drug methamphetamine commonly known as “P”.

Waitemata Police District Asian Liaison Officer Raymond Wong says he is finding it far more effective to get the police warning across to Chinese students through the local Chinese media.

“The most effective way to get the message across to the Chinese community is through Chinese media and Chinese script,” said Mr Wong. “We are happy that the Chinese newspapers, television and radio stations are co-operating and helping in the fight.”

Mr Wong said many students failed to realise the seriousness of the offence, which carries a penalty of eight years imprisonment, because the drug is just a cold and flu remedy in China. He said the Chinese media were helping to help these students understand that if they became involved, they could face very serious charges and possible deportation, depending on their residency visa.

Mr Stevanon has won first place in the 2009 New Zealand Excellence in Reporting Diversity Awards for young journalists, with judges saying they were “blown away” by his portfolio, especially a story about Samoa changing traffic from right to left.

In the Tagata Pasifika story he told Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi that he would take a day to adjust to driving on the other side of the road. The Prime Minister responded with a smile that he was obviously a “slow learner” who he “would not employ”. Mr Stevanon says he’s “stoked” to win the diversity award.

Whitireia Journalism School head Jim tucker (a judge) said Mr Stevanon displayed impressive journalism skills, as stories about the Pacific can hold cultural traps for any journalist.

The awards were created last year following a visit to New Zealand by Arlene Morgan, an associate dean at New York’s Columbia Journalism School in 2006. She ran a similar awards programme in America for 10 years and encouraged Mr Tucker to develop the awards here to recognise high quality work by journalists covering diversity.

One of the judges, NZ Journalists Training Organisation executive director Mike Fletcher, says the media is coming to grips with diversity.

Another judge, Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres, says coverage of diversity is increasing across the board and community papers are devoting more space to diversity issues. “The increase is not just in the big media outlets, but places like the deep south are also taking diversity seriously.”

Human Rights Commission communications manager Gilbert Wong, who also helped judge the awards, says not only is there more diversity reporting “but there is more diversity amongst reporters”.

However, Mr Tucker says there is still a long way to go: “The entries this year were a bit disappointing because of the standard of writing and the lack of in-depth reporting. Though, that did not apply to our prize winners, whose work was impressive.” He says some entrants who submitted single story entries may not have understood the aim of the awards. It suggested covering diversity was not something they did very often. He was much more impressed by those who entered dozens of stories, showing day-to-day commitment to diversity reporting.

Rebecca Todd from the Christchurch Press won second prize with a series on Islam that Mr Tucker says was well written and insightful.

Michelle McCullough, Dunedin Star, placed third equal with Ruth Grundy, Southern Rural Life and Courier Country. Ms McCullough’s stories confronted the issue of same-sex partners going to the school ball, a series that led to two schools switching their policies.

Mrs Grundy says doing her series on migrant workers in Southland’s agricultural industry was humbling: “Especially when I think of the achievements of those who made the decision to leave their home countries and start a whole new life here – I doubt I would show the same courage if the situation were reversed.”

The awards were judged by Mike Fletcher (NZ Journalists Training Organisation), Caroline McGrath (Office of Ethnic Affairs), Joris de Bres (Race Relations Commissioner), Gilbert Wong (Human Rights Commission), Whitireia Journalism School senior journalism tutor Queenie Rikihana, and Jim Tucker.

Prize winners:

• First: Adrian Stevanon, TV1 and Tagata Pasifika
• Second: Rebecca Todd, the Press, Christchurch
• Third Equal: Michelle McCullough, Dunedin Star; and Ruth Grundy, Southern Rural Life and Courier Country
• Highly commended: Tasha Black, NewsWire; and Carolyn Thomas, Western Leader.

See more on Newswire.

What are the ERDA awards?

The NZ Excellence in Reporting Diversity Awards were launched by Whitireia Journalism School in 2008 to recognise top work being done by journalists with less than five years’ experience. They reward outstanding reporting of diversity in NZ society, whether it’s focused on ethnic communities or minority groups, who traditionally have not been portrayed well by the media.

There are many interesting – and positive – stories to be done about minority communities, rather than highlight them only when they do something wrong, which has usually been the case in the past. As Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres now observes, there is a shift in media approach as New Zealand has become more demographically diverse. The media industry is recognising this shift by devoting more space/time and reporting resources to coverage.

The ERDA awards grew from a visit to NZ in 2006 by one of the world’s leading authorities on diversity journalism, Arlene Morgan of New York’s prestigious Columbia School of Journalism. Arlene ran a programme at Columbia called Let’s Do It Better, which invited journalists from across the US to submit their work for scrutiny at Arlene’s annual week-long workshops.

From that process, in 2006 Arlene and her colleagues produced a book and DVD called The Authentic Voice: The Best reporting on Race and Ethnicity, which is a collection of the top examples they saw. Arlene visted NZ twice and both times offered tough criticism of what the NZ media was doing (or not doing) about reporting diversity. Her Columbia programme ended in 2008, but Arlene’s interest continues. She has watched the launch and growth of the NZ awards with pride, she says.

The network aims to promote and protect the basic human right to the freedom of expression and its defenders particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Freedom of expression has always been a core part of Amnesty International’s work and the media have long been at the forefront of the human rights struggle,” said the group’s activism support manager Margaret Taylor, who is also a journalist.

“Media workers are also human rights defenders in their own right because their actions depend on, and fuel, freedom of expression. For simply telling the truth, they are often targets of abuse.”

The network will offer journalists direct access to Amnesty’s independent research and experts around the world.

To join the media network, contact Pui-Yi Cheng.

Premiering on Sunday, December 6 at 11.30am, the series is driven by new kiwis – the many migrant and refugee groups who make up New Zealand today – revealing issues faced by these communities through the presentation of insightful personal stories.

“New Zealand’s cultural landscape is changing, and the arrival of migrants from the furthest reaches of the globe and our United Nation commitment to resettle and provide for up to 750 refugees a year is creating a vibrant multicultural society,” said producer Julia Parnell.

“Many thrive in their adopted country; others find life less satisfying, struggling through the language barrier to accomplish basic tasks such as buying food, finding a home and seeking medical help, or more challenging issues such as trauma support, negative stereotyping and difficulty in earning a sustainable income.” She said the series would provide an “authentic voice” for these communities.

“We explore life then and now for our country’s Islamic slaughter man, for the Russian family of artists counting down to their citizenship ceremony, for the tango dancing Turkish architect who’s making her mark in Christchurch. Minority Voices is full of entertaining and informative stories as diverse as New Zealand is today,” Ms Parnell added.

Mao recently got a lot of attention in the technology and business world for his open letter to Google, challenging the search engine giant to support anti-censorship efforts and change its strategy in China.

He will be talking on the impact of blogging in China and the future of new media.

Mao is a venture capitalist, blogger, software architect, entrepreneur and researcher in learning and social technology.

He is now Vice President of United Capital Investment Group and Director to Social Brain Foundation, advisor to Global Voices Online and several web 2.0 businesses.

An early adopter of social media, Mao cofounded the Chinese Blogger Conference held in 2005 in Shanghai and 2006 in Hangzhou.

Mao is a regular speaker/keynote to Wikimania, the Chinese Internet Conference and other global events on internet culture. As a trained software engineer, he has a long history developing both business and consumer software.

Where: Sun Oct 18, 3pm, WT1103, AUT Tower, Queen St. Mon Oct 19, noon, WT1305 WT AUT Tower, Queen St.

Chief Executive Huhana Rokx said this week, “The use of the Rugby World Cup to promote a language is not new. In 1999 the Welsh Rugby Union promoted the ailing Welsh language in a high profile and meaningful way when it hosted the Rugby World Cup of 1999.”

“The promotion of the Welsh language through the Rugby World Cup resulted in major national awareness of the language and helped progress revitalisation efforts significantly. I believe that if we show our commitment to the Māori language like the rest of the world shows its fascination with our haka, we would not now be questioning why the Māori language and New Zealand’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup should go hand in hand”, says Huhana Rokx.

It is most certainly a test of our national consciousness around Māori language issues,” says Huhana Rokx.

Huhana Rokx added that people need not fear that they will be bombarded with the language in broadcasts. The aim was not to turn people off the language. Instead there might be bilingual signage and publications for the event, and some easy-to-learn phrases that fit comfortably with the game of rugby.

“Despite appealing for help on our radio station, we didn’t get any tips,” said WTV reporter Ling Ling Liang.

“Knowing the Chinese community, someone will speak up if they knew anything, so we made a conclusion at that point that the missing girl may not be with a person from the Chinese community.”

Korean embassy police attaché, Consul Key Sun Shin said he had also organised meetings with the local Korean media to help in the case.

“We really wanted to help the police in any way we can,” Mr Shin said.

Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong had also organised a team of 20 members from the Asian community to assist police in their search efforts by door knocking Asian homes and businesses.

Police investigations into the possibility of an Asian woman kidnapping little Aisling Symes caused concern amongst the community, say journalists working in Chinese media.

Police had said Aisling was a victim of an “opportunistic abduction” and the Asian woman might have held crucial information.

Mandarin Pages editor David Soh said many in the community felt the police suggestion was a “red herring”, and a distraction to the bigger picture.

Chinese radio and TV journalist Ling Ling Liang said some talkback callers on Chinese Voice AM936 were concerned about women in the community being targeted.

During the investigations, police swooped on several Asian women walking with European children following calls from members of the public resulting in the police asking the public not to persecute “Asian women walking down the road”.

The body of the 2-year-old was found in a stormwater drainpipe meters from where she went missing seven days later.

Inquiry head Inspector Gary Davey said police had spoken with the Asian woman and is now satisfied she is unable to help police further.

“We had to cover all possible scenarios, including abduction, and tease all lines of inquiry, including sightings of an Asian woman in the area,” Mr Davey said.

The regional director (Albany) and research director for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences says the award is a ‘tremendous honour’.

“It represents 30 years that we have been making a conscious effort at Massey to make our sociology teaching and research relevant to New Zealand society,” Prof Spoonley said.

His work included writing or editing more than 20 books on sociology, biculturalism, racism, ethnic relations and international migration.

The award was for his contributions as a researcher, commentator and “leader of initiatives to encourage collaboration across disciplines and institutions to increase opportunities for researchers in the social sciences”.

The society also praised Professor Spoonley for this role as “a commentator in the media concerned to promote attitudes that contribute to the development of an inclusive, just and equitable multicultural New Zealand society rooted firmly in its bicultural heritage”.

Earlier this year, Professor Spoonley published a biography of prominent Maori scholar and leader Dr Ranginui Walker titled Mata Toa, and last month, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of California, where he will study Latino migrant children and compare them to Asian and Pacific migrant children living in New Zealand.

In a statement in Nevada, USA, this week, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism Rajan Zed said the “avatar” was one of the central themes of Hinduism and insensitive handling of faith traditions sometimes result in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols and hurting the devotees.

Mr Zed explains that avatar is a Sanskrit term, meaning descent or incarnation, and Hinduism is the oldest and third largest world religion with about one billion followers, and should not be taken lightly.

Budgeted at about $300 million, Avatar is Cameron’s first work as director since Titanic in 1997.

Srikanth Rayadurgam, a 23-year-old AUT University student went missing on October 1, and family members say they have not heard from him since.

Indian Newslink said it has been co-coordinating efforts with the missing man’s brother-in-law Nagesh Kakanoor, sister Padma Priya, friends, the New Zealand Police, Indian High Commissioner, community leaders and MPs since he was listed as missing.

Mr Kakanoor suspects foul play, Indian Newslink reported, saying it was out of character for Srikanth to be away from home without informing them in advance or contacting them thereafter.

It will continue to run the police appeal for anyone with information about Sirkanth, his whereabouts or where he had been seen to contact Sergeant Aumua at the Avondale Police Station on 8205748.

“It will bring the culture into New Zealand living rooms, and we are excited,” said Audrey Chung, vice president of the Korean Society of Auckland.

The 54-episode drama series “Jewel in the Palace” (Dae Jang Geum) will be the first multi-cultural, long form non-English series to be shown on New Zealand television.

It will screen at 9pm, twice a week on Sundays and Tuesdays starting October 18, with English subtitles.

Set in the Chosun Dynasty of 500 years ago, the series will also feature Korean cuisine and costumes of the period.

Korean Embassy consul Key Sun Shin said he hoped New Zealanders would be more willing to sample Korean food after watching the series.

“I hope Jewel in the Palace will be just the start to a new face of Kiwi broadcasting, more along the lines of SBS in Australia,” said Jim Blackman, founder and chief executive of Triangle and Stratos.

He said the screening of the series had strong backing from Korean Ambassador Kwang-il Noh and the Korean Embassy, consulate and tourism staff.

According to the last Census, there are more than 32,000 Koreans living in New Zealand.

New Zealand and Korea are currently negotiating a free trade agreement.

Jewel in the Palace will screen on Triangle Television through UHF channels 41, 42 and 52. It will simulcast on its sister channel Stratos Television on Sky Digital 89, Freeview 21 and TelstraClear cable 89.

Jian Guo Da Ye, or the Founding of the Republic, topped the per screen average and more than 10,000 people viewed it the first week it opened early this month, says the group’s head of distribution Milt Barlow.

“The Chinese just love going to the movies, and this just shows that there is a huge market still largely untapped, and that market is growing and important to us,” said Mr Barlow.

“Working closely with the Chinese media and community has also worked for us.”

The group worked with ethnic media and the community to promote the film, including media screenings for Chinese media reporters and a private screening session for the Chinese consul general and her guests.

The Founding of the Republic is a China state-funded film about the communist revolution, and features stars like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi and Stephen Chow.

Mr Barlow looked forward to similar interest in The Message, a film centred on the Sino-Japanese war, to start screening later this month.

At Victoria, hosted by the Victoria International Development Society, she introduced the controversial film Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country about citizen journalists. She also had meetings with the Centre for Global Action and New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and visited Whitireia Journalism School. PMC director Associate Professor David Robie said the new annual fellowship would be awarded to promising young Asian journalists or veteran media specialists with expertise to share in New Zealand.

For Asian Journalism Fellowship (sponsored by the Asia NZ Foundation) criteria and application forms.

This is a new portal for Asia-Pacific and diversity stories covering the region from East Timor to Tahiti. While most of the stories will come from senior AUT student journalists, many are also being filed by students from Divine Word University, Madang, PNG, National University of Samoa, the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the University of Technology, Sydney. As well as the students’ stories, many leading Pacific Islands journalists and commentators are contributing reports and analyses. It also draws on the Pacific Media Watch monitoring service. The regional editor is Dr David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre. Visit Pacific Scoop online or email them for more information.

For the second year running, entries are being sought for the Excellence in Reporting Diversity Awards, run by Whitireia Journalism School in Wellington in conjunction with the Human Rights Commission and the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

The awards are given as a way to identify and reward the best of diversity reporting by the country’s young journalists.

Prizes include cash grants of up to $500, from a fund pledged by every major news media organisation in New Zealand. Entries will be judged by a panel in Wellington, including Race Relations Commissioner, Joris de Bres; Head of Journalism at Whitireia Jim Tucker; Asia New Zealand Foundation media advisor, Charles Mabbett; and New Zealand Journalists Training Organisation executive director, Mike Fletcher.

The competition is open to journalists with less than five years’ experience, and entries must be submitted by November 13, 2009.

Entries will be shortlisted to 20 finalists, all of whom will receive a plaque from the Human Rights Commission.

“Diversity journalism” covers stories about minority groups, ethnic or others, published in newspapers, magazines, on New Zealand news websites, or broadcast on radio or television in 2009.

Catherine Wellington of the Dunedin Star won last year’s inaugural award for her part in covering a major series the paper did on discrimination in the southern city.

Other award winners were Justin Latif of the Western Leader and Melissa Davies of TV3.

For full details, please go to the awards page on Whitireia Community Polytechnic’s website.

Chief executive officer Sameer Goswami said: “Keeping in mind our promise of bringing the best from back home, every day, we are launching Punjabi TV as an add-on channel to the wonderful Dildar Punjabi community in Australia and New Zealand.”

He said Punjabi TV focused on the promotion of Punjabi culture, language and music, and entertainment for the Punjabi speaking community. The new channel is available as an add-on or a stand alone on the Vision Asia platform.

Programming will range from religion and comedy, to cookery and reality shows, movies, news, music and Bollywood news.

“Punjabi TV is a complete family entertainment channel with something for each and every member of the family. It will have an instant connect with the Punjabi community residing in Australia and New Zealand,” said Manish Vasisht, managing partner and CEO of Channel Guide.

Punjabi TV is already available to audiences in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Vision Asia is an independent multi-channel pay television platform servicing the cultural and entertainment needs of the people of South Asian background living in Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Mao recently gained prominence in the technology and business world with an open letter to Google, challenging the search engine giant to support anti-censorship efforts and change its strategy on China.

The number of internet users in China rose by 40 million to 338 million in the year to June, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The growing strength and influence of the web population has prompted concern in Beijing about potential unrest, and the government has stepped up its control over the internet in recent years.

Mr Mao caught the attention of Whitireia Journalism, School head Jim Tucker, when he spoke at the Global Intermedia Dialogue in Bali last year. Mr Tucker arranged for Mr Mao’s visit, which is funded by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

“His account of how rapidly social media networks were growing in China was very compelling. I thought then – our journalism students need to hear what this guy has to say,” Mr Tucker said.

Mr Mao will be here between October 19 and 24, where he will speak to journalism students at Auckland University of Technology, Waikato Institute of Technology and the Whitireia Journalism School in Wellington.

Mr Mao, who first ventured into blogging in 2002, told the Guardian: “Initially, I didn’t even tell old friends and family my blog address (isaacmao.com). The reason was that I was afraid to come across as sticking my neck out to be very different from the mainstream.”

By 2007, that very first blog had been joined by 47 million others in China.

According to his Wikipedia entry, in 2005, Mr Mao started a movement for adopting Chinese bloggers on overseas website servers.

Dr Grant Hannis, senior lecturer in the university’s Department of Communication, Journalism and Marketing, has been awarded the Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, which funds the recipient to spend time in the United States undertaking research.

“Newspapers reflect and lead public opinion on matters such as race relations,” said Dr Hannis., who heads the journalism and journalism studies programmes at Massey’s Wellington campus.

“I am very interested in seeing how the press has performed those roles, both today and in the past.”

Dr Hannis’ research will build on work he has already published on how Chinese have been represented in New Zealand print journalism.

Department head, Associate Professor Frank Sligo, said the award will help foster links with the university’s counterparts in the US.

“This is a great contribution to our internationalization activities, further strengthen our reputation in journalism studies scholarship, and has the potential to create lasting linkages with a US centre for Journalism Studies research,” he said.

Dr Hannis will leave for the United States next August.

Dev Nadkarni, chief editor of the Indian Weekender, told an audience at the Diversity Forum, facilitated by the Human Rights Commission, in Wellington last month: “Good and experienced ethnic journalists are languishing as bus drivers, supermarket shelvers – or at best, subeditors.”

Mr Nadkarni said his newspaper, launched in March, has been able to tap into the Indian journalism talent neglected by mainstream media.

Indian Weekender, a fortnightly, has captured a third of the readership in the Indian diaspora of 110,000 people, catering for readers with cultural roots from Fiji, India, South Africa and the Indian subcontinent of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Mr Nadkarni said.

It recently added an online edition, www.iwk.co.nz, and last month also added a mobile phone-based edition.

Mr Nadkarni, a former co-ordinator of the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme and a journalist from Mumbai, migrated to New Zealand from Fiji in 2005.

He said the aim of Indian Weekender was “to feel the pulse of the Kiwi Indian” and engage with the wider community.

Other speakers at the Media Diversity Forum ‘New Media, New Audiences, organised by the Human Rights Commission, included Henry Ho, chief executive of World Television. Mr Ho spoke of the television channels run by his station catering for the Chinese, Japanese and Korean audiences. Dorathy Li, chief editor of skykiwi.com spoke about the success and growth of the popular local Chinese website.

Phoebe Li, an Asian Studies doctoral candidate from Auckland University spoke of her “virtual Chinatown” thesis, and said local Chinese media had boosted “brand awareness” with mainstream media following the provision of crucial information by Chinese media during a recent high profile Chinese kidnapping and murder case.

“We want to be the online site the Chinese turn to when they want any information about New Zealand, and we have identified that immigration and education are the most searched topics about New Zealand,” said Dorathy Li, skykiwi.com chief editor.

“Because of a slowdown in immigration and international student numbers from China, our membership has been kept steady at about 140,000, but looking to China can really boost that number.”

The number of Internet users in China is 84 times the population of New Zealand, and its online population, the largest in the world, rose by 40 million in the first six months of 2009.

Skykiwi.com has also launched a social networking site for members, called iHome, described as “New Zealand’s Chinese Face book” by Miss Li.

China’s fast-growing online population has made the Internet a forum for the country’s citizens to express their opinions in ways rarely seen in its strictly government-controlled traditional media.

Miss Li says the aim of allowing members of both skykiwi.com and iHome to remain anonymous, is to generate more robust discussions on issues among the Chinese.

“Unlike Facebook, skykiwi.com members who register can choose to remain anonymous, so people can freely talk about anything and everything,” she said.

“Chinese international students who come here travel back to China often, and we are hoping that they can continue to access skykiwi.com while they are there, and also tell others in China about the website.”

Also in the pipeline for the website are plans for an English channel and a news channel reporting “unique New Zealand news from a Chinese perspective”, said Miss Li.

She has spent most of the last 12 months researching her project about mental health issues facing refugees, and is writing a series of magazine features on the subject.

Ms Cropp’s first article was published in last month’s North and South magazine, entitled “No Refuge”, which focuses on refugee and migrant mental health, and looks in detail at the issues and challenges faced by these New Zealand communities.

Her next article will be coming out in Little Treasures later this year,

Ms Cropp was a former journalist with the now defunct Auckland Star, Radio New Zealand, and the Dominion Sunday Times and as a former news director at NewstalkZB in Christchurch.

Now a freelance journalist, she has helped organise several freelance writers’ conferences, and instigated the annual Freelance Choice Award to recognise good editors.

She has also authored a book on investigative reporting in New Zealand, and has received numerous awards including the Qantas Journalist of the Year Award and a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship.

Journalists wanting to experience reporting from South Asia may be able to get financial support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

The foundation says mid-career reporters are particularly encouraged to apply for its media travel grant to South Asia, which closes on 15 September.

The programme offers New Zealand journalists the chance to travel to Asia to research and prepare stories.

The foundation says preference will be given to candidates who “can provide a stimulating, well researched, focused proposal, outlining story ideas.”

Other preferences include being able to demonstrate their material is likely to reach a substantial audience, have a proven track record in journalism, have previous journalistic experience in international affairs and are New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.

The foundation is also offering Media Discretionary Grants in addition to the travel grants.

There are no specific criteria for applying for these grants – project details and circumstances will be judged on merit.

“Through the discretionary fund, we also support media staff exchanges, internships and work placements to a variety of Asian media outlets.”

Application forms can be downloaded from the foundation’s website: www.asianz.org.nz.

Māori TV says it will screen the documentary on the life of exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, called 10 Conditions of Love, on 1 September at 8.30pm.

The documentary is about Ms Kadeer and husband Sidik Rouzi’s struggle for autonomy and religious freedom for the mostly Muslim Uighurs in their homeland.

Beijing has produced its own documentary, Xinjiang Urumqi July 5 Riot: Truth, which branded Kadeer a terrorist and accused her of instigating and orchestrating the ethnic riots which left at least 197 people dead.

A spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy says her Government is against plans for the independently produced documentary to be shown by Māori TV in New Zealand.

“We are firmly opposed to any foreign countries providing a platform for her (Kadeer’s) anti-China separatist activities.”

Pacific Culture and Arts Exchange chairman, Jim He, said screening the documentary will create misunderstanding and ill feelings towards ethnic Chinese communities here.

“It will upset a lot of Chinese and China supporters in New Zealand,” Mr He said.

Documentary producer John Lewis said Māori TV bought the screening rights for US$2000 (NZ$3067) and will be the “first broadcaster in the world” to be screening “the documentary China doesn’t want the world to see.”

China celebrates its 60th anniversary on 1 Oct this year. About 3000 Chinese in New Zealand are expected to gather for a rally, which will include a flag raising ceremony, parade and lion dancing outside the Telstra Clear Stadium in Manukau.

A 2007 survey of New Zealand journalists undertaken by the New Zealand Journalism Training Organisation showed that only about two per cent of journalists working in mainstream English language news media were Asian.

Asian New Zealanders make up about 10 per cent of the population.

To qualify for the scholarship, candidates will need to be New Zealand citizens or residents, Asian or part-Asian in ethnicity and be under the age of 25. The candidate must also be accepted into a course of journalism study at an NZJTO affiliated journalism school.

Mr Mabbett says the ability to speak an Asian language will be an advantage.

Applications close on November 30. For more information, contact the Asia New Zealand Foundation on 04 470 8701 or email cmabbett@asianz.org.nz.

He said Mr Etuata had “demonstrated great leadership skills since taking over the acting CEO role nine months ago.”

Mr Etuata’s intimate knowledge and greater understanding of the Pacific audience will significantly enhance the value of the network and the organisation, Mr Pereira said.

A keen fitness instructor, Mr Etuata sits on a number of trusts and boards, including the Pacific Music Awards Trust, Samoan Sports Association, and is the Secretary-General of the South Pacific Bodybuilding Federation.

“I believe in this organisation,” says Tom Etuata. “I am honoured to take it forward. In light of the recent economic recession there will be some tough decisions to be made but I am more than positive about its sustainability and future.”

Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong said, “The Muslim faith spans across more than 40 different ethnic communities in New Zealand. The online directory is a way for these communities to work together to achieve their goals.”

“When we read about Islam in the New Zealand media, it is usually linked to terrorism, fuelling the idea that the religion promotes terror, which is absolutely not true,” said Mr Khan.

“Many Muslims in New Zealand are doing good work in our society, and we hope the media can report on some of them to dispel the myth that followers of Islam are just terrorists.”

“The recent incidents involving the Australian terror plot and bombings in Jakarta, which killed a New Zealander, bring the issue of terror closer to home. The people behind the attacks do not represent mainstream Muslims, who denounce violence and terrorism,” said Mr Khan.

Mosques and Islamic centres throughout the country will hold open days this Saturday (15 August), where the public will be able to participate in interfaith panel discussions, watch Islamic cultural performances, and enjoy crafts displays and ethnic food.

For information on events in your area visit: www.islamawareness.co.nz.

Media note: Javed Khan retired as President of the Federation of Ethnic Councils in July after six years. The new president is Dr Anwar Ghani of AgResearch in Hamilton.

These include World Television chief executive Henry Ho, Radio Tarana’s Robert Khan, Skykiwi chief editor Dorathy Li and Indian Weekender editor-in-chief Dev Nadkarni.

A plenary forum later in the afternoon will focus on current issues facing Asian communities from a media perspective, where speakers will include New Zealand Herald diversity and ethnic affairs senior reporter Lincoln Tan.

Both sessions will be chaired by Gilbert Wong from the Human Rights Commission.

The term “Asian” encompasses people whose heritage comes from countries including India, China, Indonesia, Philippines and South East Asia, and together they form a collective audience of more than a quarter million people.

“That has been enough of a critical mass to create a media sector that is not repeated anywhere else in New Zealand,” said Mr Wong.

Following the first session, cross-cultural marketing and communications agency, Bananaworks, will present ways to connect with the Asian market.

Jim Tucker from Whitirea Polytech will announce details for the 2009 Media Diversity Awards.

The Diversity Forum will be held at Te Papa, in Wellington, on 22-24 August. The full programme of over 40 events and workshops is available on the Human Rights Commission website.

Presented by the New Zealand Chinese Association Auckland and the International Society for the Studies of Chinese Overseas, the popular and iconic event affectionately known as the “Banana Conference” peels open the journeys, stories and identities of high profile Chinese personalities.

The Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas International Conference brings to life talented voices of Chinese descent making an impact in New Zealand and on the global stage.

“Our event throws a spotlight on stories of those who have overcome personal and professional challenges on the road to success. Stories provide us with a means to connect with each other and understand the complexities around who we are,” said Kai Luey, Chairman of the New Zealand Chinese Association Auckland Inc.

“The collaboration with ISSCO adds a deeper dimension, lifting the conference from local stories to a global conversation around the place of the Chinese overseas. Audiences can enjoy a rare chance to sample a variety of international viewpoints from Russia to South Africa, from Australia to the United States,” added Professor Manying Ip, Oceania Director, ISSCO.

Star-studded speakers span the creative arts, media, academic, community and business sectors and include: Libby Wong (Writer and former Hong Kong Legislative Councillor); Marcus Lui (Creative Director, The One Centre, Sydney); Mai Chen (Chen Palmer, Public Law Specialists); Don Ha (Real Estate Entrepreneur); Paul Spoonley (Massey University); Ron Sang (Architect and Art Collector); Victor Huang (Animator, Weta Digital); Peap Tarr (Urban Artist); Natalie Chan (Fashion Designer and Milliner); Jock Phillips (Editor, Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand); Peter Li (University of Saskatchewan); Tan Chee-Beng (Chinese University of Hong Kong).

Going Bananas is a leadership initiative that continues the work of the New Zealand Chinese Association to prepare New Zealand Chinese for the future. This year’s event is the fourth.

Cultural storytelling forms the backbone of the conference and contributes to its ability to disrupt stereotypes and build a community of interest in Chinese lives and experiences.

Last minute registrations are still available on the Going Bananas website.

Auckland is home to one third of the country’s population and after Pākehā, the largest broad grouping is Asian, at 18.9 per cent of the Auckland region population.

Asian is a loose adjective. It can mean any person whose heritage comes from a great swathe of the world from India to China, to Indonesia, the Philippines, and South East Asia.

But together they add up to a collective audience of more than a quarter million people. That has been enough of a critical mass to create a media sector that is not repeated anywhere else in New Zealand. A profusion of media channels have been created in print, broadcast and internet to meet the needs of the diverse Asian communities of Auckland.

The New media, New audiences panel at the Diversity Forum at Te Papa on 24 August will feature key players in the new media landscape. Guests include: Henry Ho, Chief executive of WTV, a series of television channels that broadcast in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Japanese; Robert Tarana, chief executive of Radio Tarana, the station of choice of the region’s Indian communities; Dorathy Li, chief editor of Skykiwi, the virtual home away from home of the young Chinese communities of Auckland; and Dev Nadkarni, Editor In Chief of the Indian Weekender.

The 9am panel at Te Papa is followed by a presentation from Bananaworks, the cross cultural marketing and communications agency.

Later in the Diversity Forum plenary in the afternoon, a further Asian media panel will focus on the current issues facing Asian communities from a media perspective. Speakers will include: Dev Nadkarni, Indian Weekender; Dorathy Li, Skykiwi; and Lincoln Tan, The New Zealand Herald. Both panels will be chaired by Gilbert Wong of the Human Rights Commission.

Dunedin Star journalist Catherine Wellington took the top prize for the paper’s special edition on ethnic minority communities in Otago. Catherine won a scholarship from Asia NZ Foundation to fund work experience in Asia.

Other winners were Justin Latif of the Western Leader and Melissa Davies of TV3.

“The awards are designed to reward New Zealand journalists with less than five years’ experience,” said Jim Tucker, awards chair.

Details of this year’s awards will be announced on August 23 and the judging will be held in Wellington in December. The awards are supported by the NZ Journalists Training Organisation, the Human Rights Commission, the Asia NZ Foundation, the Pacific Cooperation Foundation and the Whitireia Journalism School.

Manukau-based Gerrard Otimi has been charged over alleged stamping of passports with visas for overstaying Pacific Island immigrants at a cost of $500.

The New Zealand Herald reported that $40,000 had been uncovered by police as well as blank “hapu certificates”, and the police and immigration departments have called for duped Pacific Islanders to come forward, although there is no guarantee of amnesty.

Maka said reports should put the spotlight on the perpetrators and not the victims. “The mainstream (media) is not sympathetic. They don’t know how it is, and perhaps they don’t want to know,” he said. “But they tend to sensationalise the issue.”

A statement from the council said most media fail to recognise two major issues “driving people to take such extreme steps”. These include a “very mixed history” in NZ Immigration Department’s dealings with Pacific Island issues, including a “high level of poor decisions”.

The council also claimed that complaints from Pacific Islanders about misinformation and mishandling on the part of immigration consultants were “not treated as high priority as removing the overstayers themselves.”

Chang, web editor for Stuff’s businessday.co.nz pages, said: “If everyone looks, talks and thinks the same, you end up with bland, middle of the road news coverage. Fairfax Media has welcomed the alternative perspectives I bring and have worked hard to develop me as a journalist that can function in any environment.”

Now, Fairfax – a leading newspaper, magazine and web publisher – is again on the search for other bright young journalism prospects for its journalism intern scheme.

This is the fourth year the company has sought keen interns to undergo training next year at one of five leading journalism schools, after which they would join publications or websites of their choice.

Clive Lind, Fairfax editorial development manager, said the company is particularly keen to attract budding journalists from culturally diverse backgrounds to reflect the wide diversity of the company’s publications: “Searching for interns means trying to tap into diverse communities to find prospective journalists who demonstrate aptitude and the skills to be top class reporters.”

Applications for this year’s intern programme close at noon on August 5, and final selections are expected to be made by the end of October. Successful applicants will be bonded to Fairfax for two years. For further details, visit the Fairfax Careers webpage, or contact Clive Lind, Editorial Development Manager, on 04-4969845

ECTV Korea will provide useful settlement information, including health, education and crime prevention, says programme producer and presenter Grace Ryu: “The information Koreans get about New Zealand back home can be very different to the reality they face when they get here, so we hope the programme will help them in getting the facts right.”

As an example Ms Ryu said that many Korean migrants have been told that New Zealand is crime-free and let their guard down when they come here, making them easy targets for criminals. Ms Ryu, who is also a member of the Waitemata Police District Ethnic Advisory Committee, said that Koreans represent a high number as victims of crime in areas such as burglary and handbag snatching.

Ms Ryu added: “Besides that, by having a programme advocating Korean cultural values, their families and our community, Korean migrants can be proud of their culture and celebrate being Koreans.”

ECTV screens on Triangle TV channel 6 on Sundays at 1.30pm and repeats Mondays at 7am. It also screens on Sky TV channel 89 on Wednesdays at 4pm.

“However, more often than not, this is not the case because like all New Zealanders, members of our ethnic communities have individual thoughts and views on the issues,” Mrs Wong said in her foreword for ‘Ethnic Whispers’, the newsletter of the Office of Ethnic Affairs. She said individuals of ethnic communities often shy away from making public comments because they would be portrayed as a representative of the entire community, which they know is not the case.

Mrs Wong said there needed to be trust, recognition and understanding between the media and the ethnic communities, and time needed to be invested to build strong relationships. “One way to achieve this is to have more individuals from ethnic communities aspiring to be journalists and in return having the mainstream media offer job opportunities to journalists from all ethnic backgrounds.”

The Minister said ethnic communities have been projected to make up 18 per cent of New Zealand’s population in 11 years’ time, “So it makes sense that there should be a push in the media to have greater understanding of our ethnic communities.”

Arriving in New Zealand in 1970, he was a founder member of United Sri Lanka Association of Wellington and has been a spokesperson since 1983.

Radio journalist Asoka Basnayake said Dr Manu was well respected, not just by Sri Lankans, but also many New Zealanders and will be sorely missed: “He is a person who many in the media will go to for views on matters involving Sri Lanka.”

The late Dr Manu also used to write for The New Zealand Herald as one of its contributors.

Radio New Zealand’s Kathryn Ryan was part of the Wellington Invitation Eleven who played (and lost) against the Refugee All Stars at Newtown Park in Wellington on Sunday to kick off World Refugee Day activities. Nine to Noon will feature the series of stories at 10.45 am each day. For other World Refugee Day events around the country see the World Refugee Day website.

The Office and Ethnic Affairs and New Zealand On Air hosted an ethnic diversity forum earlier this month, which asked: How will the changing demography of New Zealand be served and represented in the broadcasting media?

Producers, writers and broadcasters from throughout New Zealand came to discuss the changing face of New Zealand and the implications for their industry. British High Commissioner George Fergusson, who spoke at the forum, quipped that New Zealand “is not like Britain anymore” and there were some “fascinating challenges”. He emphasised the need to serve the diasporas at least as much as the mainstream.

Jim Blackman, chief executive of Triangle and Stratos, said: “As New Zealand changes its face, there is a need to focus more keenly on the preservation of culture, and the preservation of language.” Mr Blackman noted that ethnic broadcasting is not commercial, and that all small channels face the challenge of switching to digital broadcasting over the next few years. This is hugely costly.

Another speaker, Pacific Beat producer Stan Wolfgamm, suggested ethnic communities tell inclusive stories and give the message that they are part of New Zealand to break into the mainstream media.

The forum convenor will be Human Rights Commission communications expert Gilbert Wong, and presenters will include key Asian media leaders. The forum will look both at the media preferences of Asian communities, and how Asian communities are represented in the mainstream. There will also be a forum by Asian media consultancy Bananaworks on reaching Asian markets.

Editor Dev Nadkarni says this was a response to readers’ request. The paper’s editorial team wrote in its June 12 edition that “Rather than merely shoving our print content onto the web as most publishers tend to do, our aim is to both complement and supplement our print effort with an online component.”

“Many of our print stories will have the added dimension of multimedia, with video and audio versions. We hope to grow the online edition into a balance between form and functionality.”

Launched in March, Indian Weekender is the main competitor to the long-established Indian Newslink newspaper, also a fortnightly, aimed at the increasingly competitive market of about 120,000 Indians in New Zealand.

Mr Nadkarni said he is also discussing with mainstream media, such as The New Zealand Herald, the possibility of including some of its news stories that may be of interest to Indian readers in both its print and online editions.

TU MAI published its 100th edition and relocated from Hamilton to Wellington in September 2008. In April, FOMANA, the commercial arm of FOMA – Federation of Māori Authorities, supported by NZ Trade and Enterprise launched its online KOHA magazine, which profiles indigenous businesses and targets potential investors wanting to do business with Māori.

TU MAI publisher Ata Te Kanawa approached FOMANA soon after, offering to add a hard copy version of KOHA to her TU MAI product and include it in an established distribution and subscriber database, in exchange for the rights to sell advertising around the business focused content of the print version of KOHA.

“The team at FOMANA had contemplated the merit of a hard copy version but distribution seemed problematic for them so the offer was welcomed, and of course it adds considerable business grunt to the lifestyle content of TU MAI,” said Te Kanawa.

Radio station Planet FM has grown to become the most diverse medium in New Zealand. The station was set up in 1987 by the Auckland Ethnic Council to allow non-English speaking communities to hear news, songs and literature in their languages,.

“Sadly though, this public broadcasting service is not adequately funded. The major constraint on its content is the need for the programme makers to pay to air their material,” said Ms Byrne. “One of our hopes is that those with the least ability to pay are no longer the only ones who have to pay for media that’s relevant to them.”

Ms Byrne said the station was currently obliged to choose those who pay, rather than those with the best ideas or the most needed content. She also said the Australian government spends in excess of $20 million of Vote Broadcasting on non-English radio and more again in information campaigns. “The least we can do is add existing multilingual broadcasters to government agency advertising budgets.”

Sunday Star Times reporter Karen Arnold was the runner up in the Statistics New Zealand’s 2009 Journalism Award with her story “Culture Clash as Migrants isolated and ignored”. She said in the report: “Civic leaders including Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt and Southland District mayor Frana Cardno, accused locals of being racist, saying new migrants had been isolated and ignored by some sectors of the community.”

Almost 80 per cent of Southlanders are of European ethnicity compared to 56.5 per cent of those living in the Auckland region, and 67.6 per cent nationally. The award was for the best use of statistics in a story. Judges Rod Oram, Jim Tucker and Geoff Bascand said they were impressed with the quality of the overall entries and had looked for readability and the use of statistics to tell a story of general interest.

Meanwhile, the director of the University’s Pacific Media Centre, Associate Professor David Robie is in Tonga until June 17 for discussions with Atenisi University staff about plans to found a Tongan communication studies and media programme there.

Associate Professor Robie will be inducted as one of the international fellows of the Tongan university, together with Professor Ian Campbell, Head of History at the University of the South Pacific; Loata Mahe; Dr Eve Coxon; Dr Malakai Koloamatangi; Dr Opeti Taliai; Dr Wendy Cowling; Niko Besnier; and Patrick O’Driscoll.

The global indigenous television broadcasters’ alliance says the initiatives aims to unify television broadcasters worldwide to retain and grow indigenous languages and cultures. A news sharing initiative, Indigenous Insight – a weekly 30-minute current affairs programme produced by Māori Television will showcase the best news stories from WITBN Council members.

The programme exchange scheme will see the “free” exchange between members of four programmes per year. Inaugural chairman Jim Mather, who is also chief executive of Māori Television, says the development of collaborative relationships between the indigenous broadcasters creates opportunities for increased audiences, better access to resources, enhanced knowledge transfer and enhancement of schedules through the exchange of programming.

“Indigenous Insight will be unique – an international indigenous current affairs series, probably the only one of its kind in the world that will provide comprehensive coverage of the issues affecting indigenous communities,” Mr Mather says. “The programme exchange scheme also represents an innovative and cost effective means to secure new and attractive programming content in exchange for programme material already commissioned for broadcasting on our channels.”

The nine WITBN Council members are National Indigenous Television (NITV), Australia; Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), Canada; TG4, Ireland; Māori Television, New Zealand; NRK Sami Radio, Norway; BBC ALBA, Scotland; South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), South Africa; Taiwan Indigenous Television (TITV)/ Public Television Service (PTS), Taiwan; and S4C, Wales.

Author and AUT mass communications lecturer David Lin’s study subject is the free Chinese newspapers that form a significant part of the media consumed by Chinese in New Zealand. His work has been published as a paperback book in Germany. “Little work has been done on Chinese print media in New Zealand and the free newspapers have often been regarded as ephemeral and of little interest to media scholars,” Mr Lin said.

“However, they offer insights into the experiences and attitudes of Chinese people in New Zealand both those who have settled here for many years and also more recent migrants. This study is intended to show how these varied newspapers reflect ideas about cultural identity in a diasporic setting.”

Two case studies were used to examine and elaborate the idea of how the Chinese print media in NZ present Chinese cultural identity. “People argue about important questions such as ‘who we are’ and ‘what is our identity’. By studying these newspapers, we can gain insights into how the Chinese cultural identity is transformed by the experience of immigration,” he said.

Mr Lin said the Chinese community in New Zealand is varied due to the diversity of its origins and the different stages at which the different groups of people arrived: “They show many differences in countries or regions of birth, languages, dialects, religions, values, behaviour and cultural identities.”

“Chinese immigration has aroused many and varied reactions in New Zealand. Some saw the Chinese as vital stimulants for a somewhat moribund national economy… others reacted with fear and hostility.” Mr Lin said the study looks at the different types of Chinese newspapers and how they reflect the various voices of Auckland’s Chinese community by reporting on the same issue differently. The book Chinese Print Media in NZ present ideas of Chinese Cultural Identity can be ordered from Amazon books.

The media have played a major role over the past few years in promoting te reo, and television, radio and print have vied for the annual Māori Language Awards. Last year’s winners were TV3, the Gisborne Herald and George FM, with I AM TV winning the first time entrant award. The Māori Language Commission also has phrase booklets, bumper stickers, tatts, posters and t-shirts which make great give-aways. Visit the Māori Language Week website for details.

This paper follows up some questions raised by the BSA’s 2005 publication The Portrayal of Māori and Te Ao Māori in Broadcasting: the foreshore and seabed issue, including whether the standards as currently framed adequately reflect Māori realities, concerns and interests.

By setting out the present context for the BSA’s work and outlining the decisions the BSA has made on issues of particular concern to Māori, the BSA hopes to provide a ready resource for everyone who is interested in that discussion.

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“Back in Japan access radio doesn’t really exist. We’re very lucky to have this opportunity in New Zealand allowing volunteers, like me, to produce great radio around the country,” said Ms Kudo.

Naoko Kudo’s show is presented in English, with event information in Japanese. A regular soap opera, interviews and the latest Japanese music are also featured. Hundreds of volunteers like her create thousands of hours of radio every year on community access stations from Auckland to Invercargill.

Since the community access category was first included in the NZ Radio Awards in 1993 there have only been three years when Plains FM’s programme producers have not made it to the finals. Twenty finalists and nine winners is an exceptional achievement for the little community station with the big heart and the most wins of any access station in the country. Other finalists in this category were: Inclusion Fusion – Ron Main (Fresh FM, Nelson) and Wheels On Fire – Matthew Wills & Sonia Boyd (Arrow FM, Wairarapa).

The review report’s key recommendations aimed at ensuring the legislation governing Māori Television is updated and relevant and that Māori Television is well positioned to achieve its goals, fully participate in technological advancements, and continue its success as an indigenous language broadcaster.

But areas identified for improvement are language quality and the current funding model.

Māori Television chief executive Jim Mather welcomed the review report as a positive mechanism to work towards continued success and improvement, and that a Māori language plan and policy is being developed.

“It is very pleasing to note that the focus of the wider Māori language discussion has now moved from quantity to quality,” Mr Mather says. “In the past (the) focus has been on getting more and more Māori programming to air; now the industry is maturing and focus is going, rightfully, on to quality.”

A Research International survey found Radio Tarana to have increased its audience by more than 50 per cent to 4.6 per cent, making it the region’s ninth most listened to radio station, beating long-established mainstream stations, Radio Hauraki, More FM, Radio Live, Radio Sport and Solid Gold FM.

It is also the only ethnic radio station in New Zealand to be ranked among the top 10.

The survey was conducted between February 14 and March 17 and saw the station increase by 26,300 listeners from its previous survey, which was a record for any radio station in New Zealand between two survey periods.

Robert Khan, the station’s managing director, described the results as ”stunning”.
”I am overwhelmed with the ratings and pleased with our performance,” he said.

”As well as continuous and remarkable increase in our listenership, it is gratifying that an ethnic radio station is competing with mainstream broadcasters.”

Established 13 years ago, Radio Tarana 1386 AM is a 24-hour, free-to-air radio station broadcasting news on the hour, current affairs, sports, talkback and music. The station is the exclusive provider of BBC Hindi and Urdu Fiji News in New Zealand.

The free publication, known for its features on careers and food, is now being published in Japanese, Chinese and Korean. “We used to have only Japanese and a little English to help Kiwis understand, but it is important to also let other communities like the Chinese and Koreans understand us,” said editorial staff Takayuki Nozawa.

With a print-run of 18,000, the magazine is distributed throughout the country through outlets such as ethnic food halls, language schools and Asian supermarkets.

Editor Dev Nadkarni is a former journalism co-ordinator at the University of the South Pacific and chief reporter Thakur Rajit Singh is a former Fiji Daily Post publisher and a current columnist for the Fiji Times. “We Kiwi Indians have that rare opportunity to have the best of both worlds and most of us have made the best of that opportunity too,” Nadkarni wrote in his first editorial.

“Over the years, as in over a hundred countries around the world, people of ethnic Indian extraction have grown to be a force to reckon with both economically, and more recently, politically. “That has been possible mainly because of Indians’ great propensity for ingenuity, hard work, adherence to their cultural values and the innate ability to assimilate into any culture while yet preserving their own identity.’ “It is these attributes of Indians in New Zealand, Kiwi Indians, that we at the Indian Weekender wish to celebrate.”

Most Indians live in Auckland, which includes a strong Indo-Fijian community. Publisher Giri Gupta said the paper aimed to tell the ”many untold positive stories” about Indian community successes. The Indian Weekender is distributed nationwide and has a print run of 8000.

Its aim is to support and develop Pacific Island people working in the media industry through training and advocacy by building partnerships. Its constitution was changed in 2007, and a new motto and mission was introduced: Network, Communicate, Educate.

The remaining committee members include: Phil McGrath (TVNZ7), Angelina Weir (Pacific Business Trust), Peter Rees (Spasifik), Susana Talagi (TV3) and Vaimoana Tapaleao (NZ Herald).

Niue – Saturday 16 May

This week Daya Sao-Mafiti puts the fire into fierce as schools from Auckland, Niue and Kaitaia as they show us why Niue is called the Savage islands.

Cook Islands – Saturday 23 May

Join Natasha Tekoronga and Johnson Raela as they shake it up with the pounding beats from the Cook Islands stage of the Polyfest. While the action heats up from the top competing groups in Auckland, hip hop legend Savage checks some of the special flavours from Polyfest, Cook Islands style.

Tonga – Saturday 30 May

Valerie Vili’s people bring the thunder, as Tongan students from over 60 Auckland schools stampede the stage of the Polyfest. This week Yvonne Taufa explores Tongan culture at its finest with the big dance styles from the world’s smallest Kingdom.

Māori – Saturday 6 June

Ex-Shortland St star Scotty Cotter checks out some of the most daring and dazzling moves in young kapa haka culture as the schools battle it out for the Polyfest prize on the Māori stage.

Samoa – Saturday 13 June

In this finale of Polyfest -the biggest dance Polynesian dance festival in the world, we rock it to the rhythms of Samoa as host Mario Faumui shows us the fastest claps and slaps in the Pacific.

“This is something that we have been talking about and fighting for years about, and suddenly, it just happened,” he said. He said the more reasonable time will let viewers who wake up later on a Sunday morning to watch the programme dedicated to issues and happenings concerning Asian New Zealanders.

Reaction is mixed to the new time slot. For Malaysian immigrant Janice Low it has been a “routine” for her to watch Asia Downunder before attending church at 10am, but the new timing meant she has to give it a miss all together.

But late Sunday riser Randy Parton says he watched the programme for the first time last week, and that it was enough to turn him into the programme’s “newest fan”.

Samoan and Pacific media will have special programming and stories to mark the week, but mainstream media are also being challenged to recognise one of the largest ethnic communities in New Zealand. There are 131,000 Samoans living in New Zealand, making them the fourth largest ethnic group after New Zealand Europeans, Māori and Chinese. The Samoan language is the third most commonly spoken language after English and Māori.

TVNZ’s Tagata Pasifika will feature the week in its 21 May programme, which is re-broadcast throughout the Pacific, Māori TV and TVNZ 7. The Pacific Media Network will promote Samoan Language Week through its programmes on Niu FM, Radio 531 PI, and its website- including short ads, interviews, and language learning material. The Samoa Multimedia Group Ltd (which includes Radio Samoa and the Samoa Times) is launching its new studios for Radio Samoa 1593AM in Auckland during the week, and promoting Samoan Language Week through its networks.

Wellington’s Samoan Capital Radio will be working with the Samoan Teachers Association and the Samoan Studies Centre at Victoria University to encourage young people to text messages in Samoan during the week.

Samoan Language week is being promoted by FAGASA (the Association of Samoan Language Teachers) in association with the Human Rights Commission and a range of Samoan community, media and educational groups.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said that the week provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the contribution of the Samoan community to New Zealand society, as well as to promote the Samoan language and culture. He said that very few people realise that the Samoan community is the fourth largest ethnic group in New Zealand and that the Samoan language is the third most commonly spoken language.

He encouraged mainstream media to feature stories about the Samoan community during Samoan Language Week as well as promoting some basic phrases that everyone can use. Activities will be taking place at schools throughout New Zealand and also in churches and communities. Details of some activities and demographic information on the Samoan community are available on the Samoan Language Week website.

It was against similar conditions in the early 1990s that David Soh, a migrant from Malaysia, launched Mandarin Pages – and while other publishers are scaling back or shutting down, Mr Soh says he is looking at launching another community newspaper for central city dwellers.

“It is times like these, when advertisers can’t afford to place ads in mainstream papers is when ethnic newspapers can go in for the kill,” Mr Soh said. He said although there had been a 10 per cent decline in display advertising, the paper is seeing a growth in its classified advertisements. “Advertisers, who usually place their ads in the mainstream papers, are now coming to us because of affordability,” Mr Soh said.

Mandarin Pages, New Zealand’s first free-sheet Chinese newspaper, started in 1991 as a weekly with a circulation of 5,000, but it is now printed daily (except Sundays) with a 17,000 print-run. The paper is also increasing its focus on its editorial content rather than just advertising, and has recently employed three reporters. “I think the mainstream media is still not catering to the growing diversity of New Zealand people, which leaves the market wide open for businesses like ours” Mr Soh said.

The event will run concurrently at the ASB Showgrounds between 10am and 4pm daily. Organiser Mel Fenandez said: “It’s the biggest migrant event of its kind ever organised in New Zealand, and the new addition will ensure that migrants have an opportunity to keep in touch with their home cultures and for Kiwis to experience them.” For more information contact Mel Fernandez (09-4761987/ 027 4958477).

The station has failed to generate an income stream in the capital, and had been subsidised by Triangle’s Auckland service. Triangle had offered programmes such as PBS Evening News from Washington and Middle East coverage from Al Jazeera English-language news service.

“What a loss for us all,” wrote Lindsay Shelton in Scoop. “Triangle has been an oasis of sanity on Wellington’s free-to-air television system since it began transmission here in August 2006.” She added: “For Wellingtonians like me who want to continue to watch the varied perspectives on Triangle, the only option is to buy a Freeview box…we’ll also have to buy a satellite dish, however, because Triangle’s Stratos programmes are not available on the Freeview terrestrial service – this would I understand cost a further $400,000 per year.”

Those graduates include Kristina Koveshnikova, who is currently working part time at the New Zealand Herald, Guanting Liu to China Daily in Beijing, Claire Rourke to the Jakarta Post, and Keira Stephenson to the Philippine Daily Star.

“I am really excited at the prospect of working in a media organisation that would be totally different to that of New Zealand,” said Kristina, who wants to pursue her journalism career in either Singapore or Hong Kong.

Charles Mabbett, Asia New Zealand media adviser, presented the international internship scholarships at the AUT University in April and spoke warmly of the four-year partnership with AUT over Asia-Pacific journalism.

“There are many stories out there which are newsworthy and do not get reported because they are a niche,” said the Bachelor of Communication Studies graduate at the AUT University communication studies awards earlier this month. White believes “diversity” should include people with disabilities, elderly and those who are not necessarily in the news; not just a term representing Māori, Pacific Islanders and Asians.

Peter Rees, editor of Spasifik, praised White as a deserving winner for the award.

“She has a good grasp of issues important in the region – and domestically – particularly indigenous issues that are making an impact in our Māori and Pacific communities which make up our core readership,” he said.

Some of the news stories White wrote last year included the New Zealand election, which was reported from a Pacific perspective, and a profile of renowned Fijian women’s rights campaigner Virisila Buadromo, winner of last year’s International Woman of Courage Award.