THE ASSOCIATION OF CRIME STORIES AND MAORI IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND PRINT MEDIA

Authors

  • Timothy McCreanor Whariki Research Group, SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, School of Public Health, Massey University, Auckland
  • Jenny Rankine
  • Angela Moewaka Barnes Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu, Te Ropu Whariki, Massey University
  • Belinda Borell Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, Whakatohea, Te Ropu Whariki, Massey University
  • Raymond Nairn Te Ropu Whariki, Massey University
  • Anna-Lyse McManus

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol1iss2id240

Keywords:

Crime, Māori, news media,

Abstract

This paper explores associations between crime reporting and Maori ethnicity in a large representative sample of newspaper items gathered in Aotearoa New Zealand between November 2007 and April 2008, using content, thematic and discursive analyses and audience interpretations. The association of Maori and crime was prominent in these newspapers and Maori were frequently labelled as possible or actual perpetrators of crime on superficial judgements, often by victims. This practice associates Maori with all accounts of crime and embeds crime as a background for all other items about Maori. In contrast, newspaper coverage of Pakeha perpetrators of a crime against a Maori organisation worked to valorise the convicted thieves. This embedding of crime as a background to other stories about Maori, the pervasive but unacknowledged Pakeha1 norms, and media positioning of Maori as a threat in non-crime stories, is central to hegemonic discourses of Maori-Pakeha relations. Focus groups participants indicated that these discourses support real-world marginalisation and discrimination against Maori in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Author Biographies

  • Timothy McCreanor, Whariki Research Group, SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, School of Public Health, Massey University, Auckland
    Timothy McCreanor, Te Ropu Whariki, is a social scientist with a special interest in qualitative research and discursive methods in the study of culture, equity and justice.
  • Jenny Rankine
    Jenny Rankine is a researcher with particular interest in media representations in the fields of gender, ethnicity and culture.
  • Angela Moewaka Barnes, Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu, Te Ropu Whariki, Massey University
    Angela Moewaka Barnes is a Maori media researcher with special interests in studies of film and mass media representations of indigenous people.
  • Belinda Borell, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, Whakatohea, Te Ropu Whariki, Massey University
    Belinda Borell is a Maori social scientist with research interests in power, privilege and whiteness as domains within the study of the health and wellbeing of indigenous people.
  • Raymond Nairn, Te Ropu Whariki, Massey University
    Raymond Nairn is a research psychologist with a track record in the study of media representations and social justice.
  • Anna-Lyse McManus
    Anna-Lyse McManus is a Maori statistician.

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Published

15-07-2014

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Articles

License

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How to Cite

THE ASSOCIATION OF CRIME STORIES AND MAORI IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND PRINT MEDIA. (2014). Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, 11(1), 121-144. https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol1iss2id240