Copycat media abuse from ragtag bag of protesters

It is common practice for journalists to share contact details and locations in hostile environments such as war zones. Something is very wrong when news organisations in New Zealand share those details about their staff covering a story in downtown Wellington.

Stuff’s Head of News, Mark Stevens, disclosed last Friday that “competing media have shared contacts of journalists in the field to provide a safety network if things get dangerous”.

It followed incidents during the ‘Convoy 2022’ protest in the grounds of Parliament when journalists were abused, spat on, and assaulted. A Stuff reporter was pushed and shoved and a protester abused a Newshub news crew member and threatened to destroy his video camera. Protesters told reporters to “watch your backs on the street tonight” and that they would be “executed” for their reporting. Placards read “Media is the Virus”, “Fake News”, and accused journalists of treason. One placard parodied a Covid-19 health message: “UNITE AGAINST MEDIA 22”. Continue reading “Copycat media abuse from ragtag bag of protesters” →

Unanswered questions in MIQ victim stories

Recently I have been writing about victims, real victims. They are the dead and injured from the Christchurch mosque attacks and the hundreds whose lives were directly affected by those hideous acts of terrorism.

It has made me more than usually sensitive to the ways victims are portrayed by media and, the more I have thought about it, the more I have seen how much news organisations have invested in suffering. They are heavily subscribed.

Much of it is unquestionably legitimate: The creation of victims is one of the consequences of war, crime, natural disaster, illegitimate exercise of power, and human nature. In highlighting the plight of such victims, media help to validate measures that help to prevent the acts that create the causes. And it attracts media audiences.

This attraction is the problem, because I fear that journalists approach some ‘victims’ wearing blinkers that blind them to anything that might detract from a picture of suffering, misery, oppression and injury.

The Covid pandemic has produced a heartrending number of genuine victims but, to that devastating total, media have added a few whose ‘victim’ label is just a little askew. Continue reading “Unanswered questions in MIQ victim stories” →

Media should be careful where they tread in 2022

An iconic photograph of Diana Princess of Wales came to mind as I contemplated the year ahead. It shows her on a dusty Angolan track, dressed in blast vest and visor, flanked by signs with skull-and-crossbones and a stark warning. I recalled the image because media this year will need to be very careful where they tread.

Care, of course, comes with the territory but the figurative landmines that media could face this year go beyond the usual hazards. Some will be sown by the Covid pandemic while others will take advantage of the frayed tempers that result of seemingly endless restrictions. Some will be planted by groups marching to the drumbeat of polarised opinion while others will result from the mistaken placement of measures to protect New Zealanders. And a few will be ‘own goals’, where the media step backwards onto their own devices. Continue reading “Media should be careful where they tread in 2022” →