For those of us on the right who have called the New Zealand Herald out for being left, woke and politically correct, the publication has, kindly (and maybe unintentionally), proven us correct. The Herald owners, NZME, could not have made the point clearer than by refusing to accept a front page advertisement from Hobson’s Choice. Hobson’s choice, to them, is to tell Hobson’s Choice that Hobson’s choice means they won’t accept the advertisement. This is disturbing and the message it sends should have alarm bells ringing.
It is difficult to know, from their decision, which of the unfortunate consequences to start with. Perhaps the wider one is free speech: a cornerstone of any democracy. Those who oppose it are largely from the left of the political spectrum. The Herald has, as we all know, been living in this space for some time. That is the first point whereby we are proven correct.
The next point to consider is the blatant desire by a small group to control the media. I am talking about the Māori Party and their few thousand fellow-travellers. They, in effect, want one rule for them and another rule for everyone else. That means it’s open slather for them to say whatever they like, while we effectively have no right of reply. Neither, as in the case of Hobson’s Choice, can we initiate anything that they might find offensive. This is not how democracy works.
The Herald happens to be the point of this article, but the media in general need to stop grovelling and kowtowing to this minority. They don’t run the country. In April this year, the broadcasting watchdog fined NZME for comments made by Kate Hawkesby, in June 2023, referencing the fact that Māori and Pacific Islanders were being moved to the top of hospital waiting lists. The broadcasting watchdog found them to be misleading.
In an article published on the World Socialist website in June last year, the headline reads “New Zealand factors ethnicity in prioritising surgery waiting lists”. Are we then to assume that heading is misleading also? I have viewed a few of the decisions made by the broadcasting watchdog and it always seems to go against broadcasters that lean right.
There is an obvious problem here. Newstalk ZB lives in the space of free speech and presenters are there to express their opinions. Inevitably someone is going to be offended by something they say. The listeners are free to express their views. This is Newstalk ZB’s raison d’être. If the station has to constantly be wary of what is said, that is not only restricting its ability to operate as intended but also curtailing free speech.
Let’s assume the boot was on the other foot. If the Māori Party had asked the Herald to publish an advertisement saying that the foreshore and seabed was being stolen from them by colonisers, would the paper have published it? Most likely, so as to avoid the ‘racist’ tag. Racism in this country has become a one-way street. If we consider ourselves a democracy then it has to work both ways. This pandering to a small minority is counterproductive to a harmonious society.
Recent listener and viewer surveys show the media are harming no one but themselves. Radio NZ, which had a substantial lead over NewstalkZB, now find their audience numbers have plateaued and, in Breakfast, Mike Hosking turned the tables on them. Three News under Stuff are losing viewers. Not that the journalists who spout their left-wing bias care, as long as their regular pay cheques arrive. Bob Jones wrote recently that in a few years there won’t be a newspaper to buy. It will be solely digital. Some of us of the ‘mature generation’ prefer one in the hand.
It is interesting to note that the Herald itself published a more in-depth article on the subject that Hawkesby’s comments copped a fine for. Nothing to see there of course. The broadcasting watchdog, along with the Human Rights Commission and other such organisations, needs to be done away with or at least have their wings clipped. As long as the minority have free rein then we are slipping further away from a civilised and democratic society. And that must not be allowed to happen.
