Table of Contents
In brief
- The most engaging stories were those examining power, not identity, including Te Pāti Māori political scrutiny alongside positive Māori reporting.
- Coverage of the Benjamin Doyle affair drew attention to gaps in media response.
- Climate and vaccine stories resonated when evidence, assumptions, and accountability were examined with more objectivity.
On the Centrist name
First, a thank you to our readers.
One of the most revealing signals over the past year was our About page. It consistently ranked among the most visited pages on the site, with readers asking why is Centrist called ‘Centrist’?
The answer is straightforward. Centrist aims to centre the reader. The site is designed to be read alongside other sources, not instead of them, helping people see what is being said, what is being left out. This is meant to stop lazy narratives from running downhill unchecked.
Centrist does not exist to tell voters where to stand. It exists to help them orient themselves at a time when trust in media is strained.
Power, pressure, and backlash
Stories involving Te Pāti Māori generated some of the strongest reactions of the year, including accusations of hostility directed at Centrist.
Yet one of the site’s most-read articles was a positive Te Ao Māori story on rising life expectancy, which readers engaged with easily and without controversy.
The backlash followed stories that examined political behaviour and power, not culture or identity. Where mainstream media often tread cautiously around political actors, readers increasingly sought out reporting willing to ask questions plainly.
This pattern suggested that readers were not rejecting Māori stories, but resisting the idea that political movements or figures should be insulated from criticism and examination.
When mainstream media closed ranks
The most-read Centrist story of the year was Ian Wishart’s Open Letter to NZ Media on Green MP Benjamin Doyle.
A sitting Green MP responsible for early childhood education had previously operated a social media account using sexualised language and references alongside images involving a child, before deleting posts and locking the account.
Centrist and other new media outlets reported the issue before it appeared in mainstream coverage. Readers noticed the gap.
Asking questions others treat as settled
The same impulse appeared in coverage of vaccines and climate policy.
One of the most-commented articles of the year, The conundrum of proving vaccine harms, did not argue for a particular conclusion. It examined the difficulty of evidence, causation, and accountability in a space where questions are often dismissed as illegitimate.
Similarly, climate coverage that questioned emissions claims, modelling assumptions, and the gap between policy rhetoric and measurable outcomes drew strong engagement. Readers responded to reporting, probing whether evidence was being examined or simply assumed, and who was being asked to carry the cost.
Across these topics, readers were asking for space to interrogate claims without being told that the debate was already over.
Symbols, signals, and political meaning
The only story to feature among both the most-read and most-commented articles looked at why Te Pāti Māori appeared to borrow symbolism associated with South African politician
Julius Malema.
Much of the criticism focused narrowly on broadcaster Oriini Kaipara’s red beret, with detractors asking, “What’s the problem with a hat?”
But the article argued that the symbolism did not stand alone. Kaipara was also wearing a South African flag. Read together, the signals appeared deliberate rather than incidental, making the Malema comparison difficult to dismiss as coincidence.
The volume and intensity of reader debate reflected a broader concern with how political symbols are imported, interpreted, and explained, or not explained, by mainstream coverage.
Top 10 most popular stories on Centrist in 2025
- IAN WISHART: Open Letter to NZ Media on Green MP Benjamin Doyle | CENTRIST
- Greens ECE spokesperson posts sexualised child images online, Peters asks “where’s the media?” | CENTRIST
- IAN WISHART: State Broadcaster in climate reporting scandal: Hides evidence of massive heatwave that dwarfs recent “hottest years” | CENTRIST
- Why is TPM borrowing South Africa’s Julius ‘Kill the Boer’ Malema’s symbols? | CENTRIST
- GRAHAM ADAMS: Tamihere’s woes | CENTRIST
- Despite campaign gaffes, Kaipara bests Henare in a landslide amid low voter turnout | CENTRIST
- Satellites reveal world’s worst methane emitters—New Zealand doesn’t even register | CENTRIST
- Palestine dispute deepens teachers’ strike tensions | CENTRIST
- Māori have highest increases in life expectancy, but gap remains | CENTRIST
- Mainstream media close ranks as Greens’ defence of Doyle’s sex innuendo backfires | CENTRIST
Top 10 most commented stories on Centrist in 2025
- The conundrum of proving vaccine harms | CENTRIST
- ‘Aotearoa’ declining in popularity, as NZ First pushes name bill | CENTRIST
- Hipkins’ COVID inquiry snub: Why it’s a PR disaster waiting to happen | CENTRIST
- Government unveils app, but next year it becomes New Zealand’s digital ID platform | CENTRIST
- Schools face political pressure over Treaty clause repeal, MPs and advocacy groups say | CENTRIST
- IAN WISHART FACTCHECK: How is Jacinda Ardern so sure about the impending climate disaster? | CENTRIST
- Peters urges calm, Swarbrick demands recognition of genocide in Gaza debate, expelled for ‘spineless’ comment | CENTRIST
- Why is TPM borrowing South Africa’s Julius ‘Kill the Boer’ Malema’s symbols? | CENTRIST
- ‘Death to all white people!’: Hobson’s Pledge alleges intimidation by Te Pāti Māori supporters | CENTRIST
- ‘Dial down the hysteria’: doctors say measles fear out of proportion to risk | CENTRIST
Editor’s Picks:
GRAHAM ADAMS: By-election puts co-governance in spotlight | CENTRIST
The $1,440-per-tonne climate illusion: Auckland’s food scrap bins don’t add up | CENTRIST
