Mainstream media takes flak over inept reporting of Muslims

A counter-terrorism Hui intended to help heal the wounds inflicted in Christchurch two years ago sparked a walk-out which hit the headlines. The news media were also there to be questioned about their rights and responsibilities after March 15, 2019. 

When Police National Security Adviser Cameron Bayly revealed that two possible shootings in Christchurch had been foiled in 2019 – one before and one after the atrocity on March 15, 2019, it quickly made headline news. 

The revelation came last Tuesday (June 15, 2021) morning during a panel discussion at He Whenua Taurikura an annual Hui recommended by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack.

He Whenua Taurikura means ‘A land at peace.’ But the Hui created rancour when an invited speaker, Jewish Council Spokesperson Juliet Moses, referenced a rally in Auckland’s Queen Street in 2018 at which some had expressed support for Hezbollah.

That had not been condemned and leaders should be consistent when confronting terrorism, Moses said. 

Problem waiting to happen

That prompted members of the Christchurch Muslim community to walk out. 

One – Azad Razzaq Khan from the Foundation Against Islamophobia and Racism – said this “implied New Zealand Muslims support terrorism.” 

This led news bulletins that evening and next morning – and the anger was amplified by the fact no victims or witnesses of the Mosque atrocities were among speakers at the Hui. 

Following the startling news that a film studio wants to tell the March 15, 2021 story without consulting with victims or Muslim leaders in the City, this was a problem waiting to happen. 

However, it did not derail He Whenua Taurikura’s second day on Wednesday (June 16, 2021), during which Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand Leader Anjum Rahman gave an eye-opening talk on online extremism after the Christchurch attacks.

Social Media hyperactive

Rahman, who is an Advisor to the Christchurch Call and the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, showed how social media’s hyperactive algorithms still spread anti-Muslim stuff that extremists latch onto. 

Leaders from our news media also faced questions at the Hui.  

Stuff Chief Executive Sinead Boucher admitted that news media coverage of ethnic issues and communities is often only surface-deep and through a European lens. 

But she insisted our news media have a social conscience that social media does not.  

“I can think of a handful of examples in recent years where media have not published information because of the risk it could bring to someone’s safety,” Boucher told the Hui. 

New Zealand Herald Head of Premium Content Miriyana Alexander said that those gathered at the Hui would have different ideas about how news serves the public interest.

“We are often asked not to report something, because a certain group does not believe it is in the public interest. We are fiercely protective of that right (to report), while we acknowledge that rights carries responsibilities,” she said.

Naming the terrorist

A case in point was the reporting of Brenton Tarrant’s crimes back in 2019. 

Stuff did not publish his name for a while and only minimal details of his background and apparent beliefs. New Zealand Herald published a lot more about him back in March 2019. 

All mainstream news media agreed on protocols for reporting his trial last year and stuck to guidelines designed to ensure he couldn’t grandstand or promote his beliefs. 

“I have never seen that happen before in my time in media and I think it was a great credit to all organisations involved. It was a powerful thing to do and it laid a strong foundation for the ongoing coverage and relationships,” she said.

RNZ Head of News Richard Sutherland said that individual media organisations would probably have followed the same principles anyway, without a binding pact in place. 

But some free speech and media freedom advocates were alarmed by that.

Alexander – the current chair of the Media Freedom Committee which represents the mutual interests of the news media,  said that the media had been meeting twice a year with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (which organised this week’s Hui), with terror attacks or crises in future in mind. 

“Some protocols have been drafted.  I am not aware of this happening in any other jurisdiction and it’s evidence of the media’s desire to be a responsible member of our community,” Alexander said.

The Muslim Perspective

She analysed Representations of Islam and Muslims in New Zealand Media in 2017 and in March 2019 and told Mediawatch that she found reporting lacking in several ways. 

“There appears to be a growing misconceived hatred for a faith supported by 1.5 billion of the world’s population, but more importantly, this destructive trend is promoted by the media, consciously or not,” Rahman’s paper concluded.

She cited coverage of the so-called ‘Jihadi Brides’ issue. 

The Sunday Star story

The story was published at a time when government ministers were considering new measures to stop New Zealanders heading overseas as foreign fighters. 

“You have to wonder what was the purpose of that,” Rahman said.

“He was not interviewed in the story so how is it fair to call him ‘Firebrand… or man of peace?’ If you understand that the people you are reporting on in the marginalised position that they come from it’s not that difficult,” she said.

“I disagree. If you were to run that story past the Muslim community there will be some things they will point out to you. You find that the voices are diminished, because at the end there is a list of people who have been through Australia and joined ISIS,” she said.

“If you have a good introduction, but the final part is horrible, you go away thinking Muslim people are horrible,” Rahman said.

“But in the Royal Commission’s report, there was no mention of the media having any responsibility. I made a submission to the Royal Commission pointing out that the media was responsible for perpetuating negative stereotypes and ideas – largely from international media. I think that it is a start to recognise this,” she said. 

Colin Peacock is Mediawatch Presenter at Radio New Zealand. The above story has been published under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz