Let’s see how far we’ve come

On November 30, 2020, Stuff apologised in all of its newspapers and its online platform for its unfair portrayal of Māori.

The apology was the result of months of investigation by a team of Stuff reporters, led by Pou Tiaki editor Carmen Parahi and head of news Mark Stevens, who trawled through 160 years’ worth of news reports, cartoons, opinion pieces, letters to the editor and features to produce the series Our Truth: Tā Mātou Pono.

Under the headline: ‘‘No mātou te he¯ – We are sorry’’, the apology read: ‘‘From our first editions to now, our monocultural lens means we haven’t always fairly represented tangata whenua.

‘‘We’ve been racist, contributing to stigma, marginalisation and stereotypes against Māori.

‘‘To rebuild trust, we will use a multicultural lens to better represent Māori and all people of Aotearoa, supported by Treaty of Waitangi principles.’’

But one year on how far has Stuff come? It depends on who you ask.

A year ago, Wiremu Kingi Te Awe Awe, of Rangitāne, laid down a challenge to Stuff and its reporters to step out of their comfort zones and form relationships with local iwi, learn their stories, and report from a place of understanding.

But speaking from Te Rangimārie Marae in Manawatū on Monday, Te Awe Awe said that hasn’t happened. ‘‘I can speak for here, our local paper has to start putting their money where their mouth is. They’re talking about a relationship with Māori, but need to come and meet the people.’’

Te Awe Awe issued the challenge again, hopeful that in the new year stronger foundations can be built between mana whenua and local reporters. ‘‘I think they’re trying. I remember saying last year what we need to do differently, but I don’t think they’ve kept that up.’’

In Auckland, Dr Greg Treadwell (Ngāpuhi), of the Auckland University of Technology’s centre for journalism, media and democracy said Stuff had led the way for other organisations to increase representation of tangata whenua.

Looking back on the past year, differences had been noticed, but it would take time before Stuff, and its competing news agencies, get to where they needed to be, Treadwell said. ‘‘What Stuff did was an important signpost of what we should be doing. There’s definitely a shift unfolding across the media that’s being led by Stuff. I think Stuff should just double down on it, dig in, and keep working at it because New Zealand really needs it.’’

New Zealand was built on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Treadwell said, and if that wasn’t upheld in the reporting from journalists then a media organisation couldn’t claim to be a public service.

‘‘It starts from a position of partnership,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not enough to have Māori in the staff, you have to have all journalists understanding Māori.

‘‘There are so many young journalists who are taking a completely different approach and I feel quite positive, but I feel like some people may think it’s glacial.’’

Dr Tim McCreanor agreed with Treadwell.

A senior researcher at the Massey University-based SHORE and Whariki Research Centre,