A New Zealand newspaper has sparked outrage after declaring “protest-free news” and printing a white power symbol to mark the country's official founding as a European colony.
The New Zealand Herald drew ire from readers over its outspoken refusal to cover otherwise high-profile protests by indigenous Maori on Waitangi Day. Commemorated on February 6, it is a state holiday marking the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the British crown and tribal delegations.
Waitangi Day is a major media event in New Zealand. Protesters frequently challenge parliamentary leaders during their visits to the historic treaty grounds.
It is a confrontation dating back to 1973, when Nga Tamatoa demonstrators occupied the site and declared a day of mourning for victims of the treaty's broken promises and the seizure of millions of acres of Maori land.
But the Herald told readers its editorial policy was to ignore demonstrations.
Posters advertising the edition read “Celebrating Waitangi Day ― this paper is free of protests”, while a graphic on the paper's front page carried the text “protest-free news pages” surrounding a clenched white fist ― a notorious symbol of the white supremacist movement.
Events overlooked by the Herald included a crowd of about 70 demonstrators who marched more than 179 kilometres from the country's northern tip, Cape Reinga, to block Prime Minister John Key's entourage from entering the nearby Te Tii Marae traditional social area.
Herald editor Shayne Currie boasted the edition had included seven pages of debate and discussion, but did not cover protesters' “antics”.
“It was old news anyway ― and we wanted today's paper to feature more considered and insightful debate, from all sides, rather than being about one to two people who hijack news bulletins and headlines each year,” he said.
But Maui Street blogger and indigenous rights activist Morgan Godfery said the “protest-free” policy was “a transparent dog whistle to the redneck buyer”.
Meanwhile, the protests themselves were more than a “grievance”, said Godfery. Colonisation was not a “distant tragedy, but an ongoing process”.
“Maori know it because they experience it,” Godfery wrote. “Pakeha might not, but that's no excuse to deny Maori their agency on Waitangi Day.”
[Reprinted from Morning Star Online.]