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# Media’s Mission to Change Our Name
- URL: https://goodoil.news/medias-mission-to-change-our-name/
- Published: 2019-07-03T21:00:12.000Z
- Updated: 2019-07-27T21:31:08.000Z
- Author: Juana Atkins
- Tags: Media, NZ, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 04:14

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

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/screen-shot-2019-07-03-at-3.31.37-pm.png)

**Stuff** **headline**

> 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](https://www.pettitts.co.uk/blog/best-family-holiday-destinations?ref=goodoil.news).  
>  
> 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.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/screen-shot-2019-07-03-at-3.46.33-pm.png)

I am not at all keen on being called an Aotearoan rather than a New Zealander. What do you think?