Newspaper surveys show lack of Maori journos

Tu Tangata, Issue 36, 1 June 1987, Page 3

Newspaper surveys show lack of Maori journos

HE RERENGA KORERO

A national survey of New Zealand newspapers has shown that 2 % of editorial staff are Maori, that is twenty five out of a total of approximately 1200.

And those 25 hold predominantly junior reporting positions, which means they are unlikely to significantly influence coverage of Maori news.

The newspaper survey undertaken for Tu Tangata is part of a planned wider review of Maori journalists in the media incorporating television and radio.

The survey asked how Maori news was covered and the number of Maori journalists employed in relation to total editorial staff.

The other significant information to come from the survey was how defensive and even aggressive some newspaper editors were in reply to the mail questionnaire.

About half stated that Maori news was covered like any other news and many of these refused to say how many Maori journalists they had on their staff.

“I do not, and will not, survey my staff to find out who is a Maori, who is an Australian, who is English or who is Samoan, etc. Equally I do not know who is a Catholic Protestant, Jewish or Buddhist,” said one editor.

Some editors claim they would like to hire more Maori journalists but cite lack of applications from well-trained people.

“First and foremost they have to become competent journalists, and the Maori aspect is an added dimension that makes them very valuable. But until they can get past that first hurdle not a lot of papers can afford to take them on,” said Mr Mayston of the Rotorua Daily Post.

The editor of the “Ashburton Guardian”, Mr Rhys Mathias, said he had requested a journalist for work experience from the Waiariki Journalism course, with no success, and had so far not received a single aplication from a Maori journalist.

Another South Island editor, Mr Michael Day, of Gore, says that attempts made by his newspaper to

improve coverage of Maori news in The Ensign, had not been very successful. “I am not placing any blame here, but

am pointing out that the Maori renaissance does not yet seem to have reached the level here as it has in the North

Island,” he said. By contrast the “Greymouth Evening Star” was able to relate in detail the sorts of Maori stories it runs. It also publishes Maori language boxes ‘‘at certain times of the year, specifically during Te Wiki o te Reo Maori and at Christmas/New Year”.

The “Greymouth Evening Star” was also the only South Island daily newspaper with any Maori journalists on its staff, with three Maori journalists out of a total editorial staff of ten.

In the North Island, both the Auckland papers were proud to list the Maori and Polynesian journalists on their staff (with about 4% on each, the Herald’s definition of Maori being somewhat loose).

Mr Don Milne, Deputy Editor of the NZ herald, said his newspaper had a conscious policy of hiring Maori journalists but had received very few applications.

Assistant Editor of the Auckland Star, Mr Jim Tully, said his paper welcomed recent moves to attract more Maori and Pacific Islanders into journalism.

“The editorial staff of a daily newspaper should reflect the community it serves,” he said. “In Auckland that means, among other things, a Polynesian perspective and assessing developments and issues affecting the region.”

The Waikato Times has had a long tradition of thorough Maori news coverage, and also claims to have had up to five Maori people on their editorial staff recently.

Neither the “Dominion” nor “The Evening Post” responded very helpfully to the survey, but both have a reporter who specialises in Maori news.

The Wanganui Chronicle was the only daily newspaper to run a special page of Maori news, which it calls “Nga wawata o te Iwi Maori”, a Maori perspective.

“This feature has been appearing for around five years and is very popular,” said the editor, Mr J. McLees. “We regularly receive requests from kaumatua to include various items on this page.”

“The Auckland Star” also ran weekly columns on Maori and Pacific news, but discontinued them in March of last year. Detailed research had indicated extremely low readership, according to Mr Tully.

The percentage of Maori journalists on daily newspapers today is about 2 % of the total editorial staff, with 2.6% in the North Island and 1% in the South Island. This can be compared with a figure of .8% of all New Zealand journalists, sub-editors and editors being Maori in the 1976 census.