Our Truth, Tā Mātou Pono: One year on, what's changed and what still needs to
Monday, 29 November 2021
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 hē – 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.
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“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 the company 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 AUT University’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, got 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, McCreanor said the Pou Tiaki section of the Stuff website was a pillar for Māori representation, but across the wider website and other news agencies it appeared to be business as usual.
That wasn’t necessarily a failure, he said, but more than 100 years of reporting from one perspective wasn’t going to be turned around in 12 months.
“I’m impressed by the section that covers Māori issues because that was never there before, [but] there’s still the mainstream mass media stories which don’t seem very different to me.
“I absolutely applaud what’s been done, but I’m acknowledging it’s a huge task to turn this around. It’s going to be many years in the making.”
It’s about decolonising newsrooms and the style of writing, McCreanor said.
“What we as a country and our mass media needs to do is find ways to tell stories about who we are and what we value in a decolonised way.”
Stuff’s head of news, Mark Stevens, said he was proud of what the company had achieved in the past year, but it was a journey that was far from over.
“In an ideal scenario, the day after I made that apology it would have been great if it was perfect.
“But the best thing for me is, for anyone who looks at the way our newsrooms operated 10 years ago, it’s changed. Journalists are pausing to reflect on their stories – is it monocultural, is it diverse? Even our editors, you can see them adding on that multiple lens.”
In the past year, the company introduced free te reo Māori classes for staff members, has seen an increase in Māori-identifying employees, uses more te reo Māori in stories, launched a dedicated Pou Tiaki team to represent Māori and other marginalised groups, introduced a company charter that includes upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and has more projects in the pipeline dedicated to upholding its commitment to changing a long history of failures.
Stevens said mistakes have been made since the apology, but it was the awareness and commitment in newsrooms and in leadership to do better that would ensure Stuff never returned to the news organisation it once was.
“Without a doubt, I’m proud of the steps we’ve made and the direction we’re going [in].
“I think the industry is improving, but even with us there are pockets of good work and pockets that could do better.
“The apology is still here. We’ve still got work to do.”