The BFD | Media’s Mission to Change Our Name

I have noticed for a while that Stuff has been calling New Zealand, Aotearoa instead of New Zealand in many of its news articles and now the NZ Herald and other New Zealand media have started doing it too. It is a subtle way to change the public’s language and it is undoubtedly the Media acting as activists rather than neutral reporters of news.

“Rishi had moved to New Zealand from India in 2002 before marrying his wife, who joined him in Aotearoa, in 2008.”

A Newspaper

Law reform in Aotearoa, however, will be different. Rather than a public vote via referendum, there will be a conscience vote in Parliament. So how do the results in Ireland relate to Aotearoa?
Although the issue will not be voted upon by the public, support for legalising abortion in Aotearoa is comparable to the outcome of the referendum in Ireland.

Newshub

Having been attracted to Aotearoa as non-New Zealander for another high-level position about a year ago, albeit not of the stature of McLiesh, I like to put Chapple’s view in some (international) perspective.

[…] I think the pick indicates a deep problem of lacking skills, capacity and knowledge that has slowly crept up in the Aotearoa public sector and elsewhere in the economy over the last decades and is now striking with a vengeance.

[…] It is a brave move for a small country like Aotearoa to hire so many international people for these top positions.

[…] Contrary to what Chapple thinks, for her new position, McLiesh doesn’t need in-depth knowledge of each and every detail of the Aotearoa policy and economy. […] Native Kiwis (and non-native Kiwis working in Aotearoa alike) are exceptionally collegial and willing to help in a professional setting.

[…]The real challenge for McLiesh, I feel, is not so much being able to get her head around Aotearoa’s most pressing problems and getting to know the right people to solve these. […]In my humble experience of having worked in a high-level position at the Victoria University of Wellington for about a year now, I have come to learn that there initially is a great eagerness to hear from ‘internationals’ how things are going elsewhere, but only if the message is that things are better in Aotearoa.

[…]It is exceptionally difficult to communicate that an international solution to a local Aotearoa problem may work, without having at least some native Kiwis in the room hearing you say that everything this country has done so far has, excuse my Ozzie slang, come a gutser.

[…] Thus, ideally, an international person transmits the message of how fantastic things are in Aotearoa.

[…] More problematically, going with the latter will ultimately not bring Aotearoa why it hired the international in the first place.
The real problem does not relate to the limitations of the international talent (ie, not being a native Kiwi with experience in the Aotearoa public sector) or the further hollowing out of local talent over the years to come, as Chapple argues. […]
I hope McLiesh is as quick to spot this problem as many of her international colleagues in Aotearoa and makes it a mission to address it.

Newsroom

Aotearoa’s mix of scenery, safety and adventure made it a stand-out choice for the whole family, said the UK-based Pettitts travel agency.

A Newspaper

If you were wondering why the media is so keen to change New Zealand’s name perhaps’ this press release from the CoL provides a clue.