The original headline has a question mark, but in our view there is no question about it and they’re doing it deliberately.
from centrist.co.nz
- Media amplification and failure to fact-check Wikitana Popata’s claims the government wants to ‘abolish’ the Treaty may escalate tensions.
- Current media reports conveniently omit Popata’s history of political activism, violence and extreme rhetoric.
- Substantiating information regarding a sensitive topic like the Treaty is central to journalistic integrity.
- The long running charitable Doubtless BayFishing Classic is entangled in the politicised “Treaty War”.
Where are the fact checkers?
There’s a fine line between covering a genuine spontaneous news event, and giving cranks free airtime to advertise what they’d “like” to do if only they had a marketing budget, and for some reason the mainstream media are on the wrong side of that line more often these days.
The media have been quick to fret about an increase in racial tension post-election, but their eagerness to cover threats by members of a Far North iwi to disrupt a fishing competition raises concerns about their own role in escalating racial tensions.
In the lead up to members of the iwi staging a protest that had a minor impact on the competition, Ngāti Kahu member Wikatana Popata told several news outlets that members of the iwi would blockade boat ramps to disrupt the Fishing Classic, a 40-year-old competition held in the Far North’s Doubtless Bay. Popata has concerns the coalition government is attempting to “abolish Te Tiriti.”
It appears Popata is referring to discussions regarding a possible referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi’s so-called Principles, but a critical aspect in this unfolding narrative is the role of fact-checking within the media.
As of now, there has been no government communication about “abolishing” the Treaty of Waitangi. This seems to be a deliberately distorted description about the government even considering anything that could lead to a referendum, not on eliminating the Treaty but on limiting the Treaty “mission creep” by activists.
Also omitted from the current mainstream reporting is Popata’s history of extremism. He was convicted in 2009 of assaulting former Prime Minister John Key at Waitangi. He was then convicted of assault in 2011 in relation to a drunken robbery. He was also a Labour party advisor on race in 2019; another omission in the current reporting.
I suggested in the comments of the TV news item that the Ariki and Kaumatua of Ngati Kahu meet with the competition Organisers and go over the whole thing and set the scene for next year.
Because the TV News article made it all sound so bad, I imagined there would be financial loss for the charities and the organizers. So I suggested Ngati Kahu reimbuse the charities and the losses of the organizers. Having now seen a better fact checked TV news item, i would suggest the meeting still occur, but that they target the TV news channel for false reports and fake news since the competition was barely affected by the protesting.
No doubt the dissidents will be handled by their elders in a bit of Marae Justice. The dissidents have sullied the mana of Ngati Kahu so it will be interesting to see what follows from that. It is not a Police matter as nobody was injured albeit the peace was disturbed.