Summarised by Centrist
Dr Muriel Newman says “many New Zealanders will be of a view that the media is now getting an overdue reality check.” It all started to go awry in 2017 when the mainstream media fell all over itself promoting “Jacindamania”. It just got worse from there as journalists sacrificed balance for their activism.
Not only in issues of Māori sovereignty, but in climate alarmism.
According to Newman, the media consistently failed to challenge the government in several areas including violating Article 2 of the UN’s Paris Agreement. Namely, that climate change policies wouldn’t threaten food production.
Yet, Labour’s Net Zero policies did exactly that.
“(I)t seems extraordinary that Labour was able to impose massive penalties on [farmers] – in breach of the Paris Agreement – with little or no scrutiny by the mainstream media,” she says.
The media also failed to correct the record on New Zealand’s actual infinitesimal contribution to global greenhouse emissions:
“Expensive carbon levies on food, petrol, and power, could be removed, easing the cost-of-living crisis. But because the mainstream media has failed to report on this, first Labour and now National politicians are dragging their feet.”
Newman’s ultimate advice to the sector:
“Realistically, to survive, the media needs to restore public trust. To keep their traditional media channels alive, they will need to demonstrate professionalism rather than merely claiming it,” she says.
