Theme of editorials T ABLE

THEME Mana Pikiao Pānui Pipiw harau roa Te Karak a Tū Mai Total

Land and resources 3 4 4 11 Human and indigenous

rights 1 1 1 1 4 Judicial, crime 1 2 3 Self-development, participation, representation 4 23 1 8 36 Environment 1 1 Race relations, discrimination 1 1 2 Health 1 1 Education 2 1 3 Language 1 1 1 3 Cultural survival, being

Māori

6 2 5 9 22 National government 3 3 Social and economical

conditions 1 1 2 4 8 Arts, entertainment 2 2 Sports 1 2 3 Mainstream media 2 4 1 3 10 Māori media 6 4 1 4 15 Other 1 3 4 Total 25 10 45 10 41 131

It is interesting to note, according to the data gathered in this study, the way Māori printed media have treated editorial themes differently. For instance, while Mana and Pikiao Pānui did not devote any of their editorial space to ‘land and resources’, The Karaka devoted 40 percent of its editorials to this theme. It was openly discussed as the following extracts show,

Twenty years after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed challenges emerged from North Island iwi to Ngāi Tahu rangatiratanga and mana. Boundary disputes have involved eight past generations of Ngāi Tahu and the investment of our precious resources defending these challenges…” (Te Karaka, Issue No. 16, March 2001).

This special issue of Te Karaka focuses on providing information relating to the current battles that Ngāi Tahu face regarding the allocation of fisheries assets and the attempted encroachments by other iwi on our northern boundary… (Te Karaka, Issue No. 19, April 2002). Over the past year we have continued to struggle to uphold the sanctity of our settlement. Our boundary continues to be challenged by Te Tau Ihu iwi. The Glenharrow case threatens the security of the Pounamu Vesting Act. The Ministry of Fisheries continues to disregard the settlement requirements and the allocation of Māori fisheries assets are still being debated… (Te Karaka, Issue No. 20, December 2002).

Mana and Tū Mai, the two nationally distributed glossy magazines,

consistently relied on ‘cultural survival, being Māori’ as their most important editorial theme category, comprising 24 percent for Mana and 21.9 percent for

Tū Mai. Among these editorials stand out the one on the celebration of

Matariki, the Māori New Year, noting the hidden depiction of some the idiosyncrasies of ‘being Māori’.

June –a time to celebrate the beginning of Matariki –the Māori New Year. Time for all us ‘Johnny-come-latelys, to legitimately be apart of traditional Māori folk lore, like it’s never been done, or heard of, before.

A hundred year old genuine reason to party, and we didn’t even know about it. Err…typical. But we’ve caught on with vengeance. A

sleeping giant has awoken. Sure, we are trademark late (again) but grasping Matariki like something we always knew about and treasured, is here, and here to stay.

The truth is though most of us are greenies to Matariki…but let’s not go there. We Māori can be fabulously arrogant when we want to. It’s our right –isn’t it? Anyway, one just has to admire the competitive spirit different regions, social circles, and organisations have adopted the ‘must do – must host’ Matariki function of sorts. Motivated by our very own favourite four-letter word –OURS…Yay! Does Matariki risk becoming too commercialised? Possibly. And probably, by our own. I guess some things never change.

Incredibly, immigrant Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Greek communities have been hosting their respective New Year celebrations since they arrived in Aotearoa many, many Matariki moons ago. And all we did was look on. Not knowing we were in fact entitled to our very own native celebration in our very own native country. Unquestionable Tangata Whenua status and a freekin, good, genuine reason for funding…damn!!… (Tū Mai, Issue No. 43, June 2003).

Editorials on Māori media focused mostly on its entrepreneurial aspect and the financial struggles of being niche publications as ‘A koha for the cause’ (Mana, Issue No. 43, Dec-Jan 2003) illustrates, “…[The] success [of Mana] has been a result of dozens of Mana staff, through the years, sticking with the kaupapa even though the financial rewards have ranged from the modest to the pitiful. Listening to the Mana Report in the morning, or reading this magazine, you’re entitled to assume that all this is the work of a team of well-paid professionals. And, yes, the work is professional. But there’s a significant element of koha in the production, too, from people contributing well beyond what the pay packet demands…”9

On the other hand, editorials on mainstream media were predominantly about their performance as in the case of ‘A Pākeha monopoly’ (Mana, Issue 35,

9 _{See also ‘Paying the fare’ (Mana, Issue No. 44, Feb-Mar 2003), ‘On the move?’ (Mana,} Issue No. 51, Apr-May 2004), Tū Mai’s overall formula for content (Issue No. 13, May 2000), What sells magazines (Issue No. 28, March 2002) and Tū Mai magazine survival (Issue No. 39, February 2003).

Aug-Sep 2001), ‘Who’s a cheeky boy, then?’ (Mana, Issue 54, Oct-Nov 2004), and on the negative portrayal of Māori by mainstream media (Tū Mai, Issue No. 44, July 2003). The theme and its negative tone were unequivocal in

Mana’s editorial ‘Mainstream mischief’ (Issue 48, Oct-Nov 2003),

Not so long ago I agreed to a request from Linda Clark to field some question on national Radio about how things were going with the Māori Television Service (MTS). I’ve been chairing the board for nearly a year, and Linda, on behalf of her Nine to Noon listeners, was wanting to check out why three board members were moving on –and if there was “tension” between the board and Government bureaucrats. Of course there’s been tension. Bureaucrats have, for many years, helped spend millions of Government dollars trying to block or limit Māori broadcasting. And their recent efforts to force the MTS on to a ghetto (UHF) channel is just one more example of that ungenerous behaviour.

The interview was going a little edgily, though politely enough, until I chided Linda for raising the subject of Māori television only because she’d “got a whiff of blood”. Linda’s response? “Derek. It is a pleasure to talk to you. Since you want to believe your conspiracy theory. I’ve had enough.” And she hung up.

Then, a little later that morning, when she’d read some emails from listeners who’d been “very upset that I cut off the very nice Derek Fox” she had this explanation.

“When Derek Fox…starts to go on about my motivation [which I had queried], and how I don’t like him [which I hadn’t suggested]…and there’s a great conspiracy [which I hadn’t said at all], I get a little thin- lipped.”

“I can’t help myself. It’s always happened. If he does it again, I’ll cut him off again. So I’m sorry if any of you were offended by my rather abrupt ending of that interview, and I will try to be more polite. But sometimes, you know, a girl just can’t help herself.”

Some print journalists can’t help themselves either. The Sunday Star-

Times recently had a front-page lead story implying that my expenses

hotel accommodation) were scandalous –and that it was high time the channel was broadcasting.

It was a scurrilous piece of journalism. No evidence of anything other than routine expenditure by the MTS, despite the paper’s appetite for signs of Māori misbehaviour…

Pipiwharauroa, the only newspaper in the sample, gave great attention to

issues concerning ‘self-development, participation and representation’ (51.11 % of its total). Māori political representation and local politics (Vol. 8 No. 3), the elections of iwi trust boards (Vol. 8 No. 9), a consultation on genetic modification and the ‘Māori option’ on their roll status (Vol. 9 No. 1) represent some of the subject matters included in Pipiwharauroa’s editorial analysis. They all urged Māori to be proactive with expressions like “Let’s be forever watchful on the current strategies continuing to reduce our natural resource base. We need passionate people to engage in the struggle to protect and nurture what is left of papatuanuku” (Vol. 8 No. 3); “So people, think carefully whom you vote for and ensure your interests will be protected” (Vol. 8 No. 9); and “I hope that many of you take an interest and participate in the process [of consultation hui on Genetic Modification]” (Vol. 9 No. 1).

The two iwi-based publications had differing approaches to their editorials. While Pikiao Pānui, for instance, devoted 40 percent to ‘Māori media’ and none to ‘land and resources’; The Karaka 40 percent to ‘land and resources’ and none to ‘Māori media’. These two publications seemed to address their particular iwi and organisational concerns in their editorials: The Karaka focused on economic development because it is the main goal of the Ngai Tahu Trust, publisher of the magazine; Pikiao Pānui, struggling to survive and eventually going into recess in winter 2003 due to unsustainable costs, primarily discussed the lack of funds and sacrifices Māori media –print in particular– have to overcome to carry on.

The results of Table 6 show that, overall, Māori print media spread their editorial attention over three subject categories: ‘self-development, participation and representation’ (27.48 %), ‘Māori cultural survival, being Māori’ (16.79 %) and ‘Māori media’ (11.45 %), accounting for 55.72 percent of the total.

The first hypothesis, then, that Māori print media tend to emphasise Māori issues, concerning that ethnic-specific group within the New Zealand society, was proven correct. The sample shows that the four major subject categories were Māori-specific topics (‘Self-development’, ‘Māori cultural survival’, ‘Māori media’ and ‘land and resources’).

When comparing the emphasis rank of themes by title (Table 7), except for Te

Karaka, all newspapers ranked first or second ‘cultural survival, being Māori’

as subjects for editorial discussion. The category of ‘self-development, participation, and representation’ also ranked in the upper quarter for all Māori printed media, except for Pikiao Pānui. For the remaining categories, there was considerable variation between the media studied as to the importance of theme categories.

TABLE 7