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Coxhead, Craig --- "Maori, crime and the media: the association of Maori with crime through media eyes." [2005] NZYbkNZJur 22; (2005) 8.2 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence 264

Last Updated: 19 April 2015

MAORI, CRIME AND THE MEDIA: THE ASSOCIATION OF MAORI WITH CRIME THROUGH MEDIA EYES.

Craig Coxhead*

INTRODUCTION: AN EXAMPLE OF MEDIA MAYHEM

On 13 April 1999 the front page of the Waikato Times ran an article which began with the headline: "Warning: this man kills") The article then proceeded, in a very simplistic and crude manner, to describe the attributes and profile ofthe man most likely to kill you on the Waikato roads. The profile read as follows:

AGE:
Early 20s
RACE:
Maori
JOB:
None
CAR:
Older model
WHEN:
Friday afternoon
WHERE:
A State Highway

Under the headline for the article was a mug shot of a young Maori male. The article highlighted the media's negative and racist attitude towards criminals and Maori by incorrectly2 presenting a simple profile of a young Maori man as being a prime offender in fatal crashes.

Craig Coxhead is of the tribal groups of Ngati Makino, Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Awa and Ngati Maru. Craig graduated from Waikato Law School with a LLB Honours in 1994 was admitted to the bar in 1995 and completed a LLM in 2000. Craig has been lecturing at the Waikato School of Law since 1999 where he lectures in Legal Systems, Civil Procedure and Maori Claims Processes, a graduate course which looks at available processes for the resolution of Treaty of Waitangi claims. Prior to lecturing Craig was in private practice working mainly in the area of Treaty of Waitangi work, Maori Land issues, Criminal and general civil litigation. Craig was co-president of Te Hunga Roia Maori from 1997 — 1999.
1 See Appendix 1 for a copy of the article.

  1. The Waikato Times ran a subsequent article, albeit on page three, admitting that their story was misleading and incorrect. This article is entitled "Single Profile of Offending driver incorrect" and is attached as Appendix 2.

2005 TheAssociation of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 265

The initial reaction to the report was one of disgust, coupled with a degree of amazement at such blatantly expressed media racism. However, in reviewing a sample of articles it was found that the media generally present Maori3 in a negative light. This served as motivation to examine and respond to this particular example of such negative media portrayal of Maori.4

Further incentive for seeking to analyse Maori, mainstream media5 and crime, in its broadest sense, comes from attempts to obtain New Zealand and particularly Maori writing relating directly or indirectly to this topic. There is a scarcity of New Zealand scholarship in this area. In 1993, McGregor noted a paucity of academic research about the coverage of crime news in New Zealand:

Media scholarship about crime news is scant in New Zealand and it is

ten years since Kelsey and Young examined gangs, the news media and the concept of "moral panic". In part, the paucity of research reflects the low level of debate and scholarship about the news media generally in this country. 6

  1. Prior to European contact, the word Maori simply meant normal or usual. There was no notion of a dominant Maori hegemony. There was no concept of a Maori identity predicated around cultural or national semblance. Instead the distinguishing features, which demarcated groups, were mainly attributed to tribal affiliations and the natural environment. For further discussion refer to Meredith, P Understanding the Maori Subject (Unpublished paper, 1998) and Durie, M Te Mana, Te Kawanatanga: The Politics of Maori Self-Determination (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1998).
  2. Researching and writing from this basis will obviously impact on the way in which I access and interpret the information, ask questions and write the overall chapter. It could be argued that this method is biased, emotive and not value-neutral. (For further discussion see Davies M, & Seuffert, N Situated Knowledges, Identity Politics, and Policy Making (1996). It could also be argued that this method does not follow traditional western knowledge which is built on the premise that knowledge can be objective. However, as Chen in "Discrimination in New Zealand: a personal journey ("VULR (1993) 137) noted "using experiences as a basis for analysing the law can challenge prevailing legal ideologies; it can enlist empathy and understanding from people whose own experiences do not ordinarily lead them to challenge official views".
  3. Reference is made here to all types of broadcasting, although the media discussed in this chapter are mainly newspapers and television. It should be noted that this chapter does not consider the impact of Maori Television. It is too early to assess whether Maori television will have a positive or negative effect in terms of reporting Maori.
  4. McGregor, J Crime News as Prime News in New Zealand's Metropolitan Press (1993).

266 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

While it is acknowledged by McGregor that there has been some reporting undertaken in relation to specific journalistic practices? , she notes that the way in which crime, policing and law-and-order news is portrayed is seldom scrutinised. My own experience of searching for New Zealand research on the media portrayal of crime in New Zealand has shown that there remains a scarcity of such material.

While there is a dearth of New Zealand scholarship and debate on crime and the media, there is a virtual void of Maori material relating to Maori and media, let alone Maori, crime and the media.8 It is hoped that this chapter will contribute towards the filling of that void.9

The chapter begins with a consideration of how the media portray Maori, looking in particular at New Zealand's media within an historical context of colonisation. Attention is then focussed on the important aspect of media production and 'news values'. The chapter then turns to crime and the media, and seeks to analyse the media's obsession for crime. The last part of the discussion looks at how the media's

  1. Reports such as Auckland District Law Society, Public Issues Committee The Mass Media and the Criminal Process (1989) which examined the implications of media reports on obtaining a fair trial. Also note Robson, J L The News Media and Criminal Justice (1976).
  2. In terms of Maori writings, which for the purposes of this chapter I consider to be writings by Maori, relating to crime and/or the media see Te Punga, R. C "Maori and Crime" in McKean, W. A (ed) Essays on Race Relations and the Law in New Zealand (Wellington: Sweet & Maxwell (N.Z.) Ltd, 1971), Walker, R Nga Pepa a Ranginui: The Walker Papers (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1996), Hohepa, M. Jenkins, K and Pihama, L Maori Media and Issues of Representation a symposium presented at Conference-Nelson, NZARE 1996, also Walker, R "The Role of the Press in defining Pakeha Perceptions of the Maori", Whaanga, P "Radio: Capable of Carrying a Bicultural Message?", Fox, D "Te Karere: The Struggle for Maori News", O'Regan, T "The media and the Waitangi Tribunal: The Ngai Tahu Experience", Rice, V "The Maori Loans Affair and the Media's Scandal Mentality", and Fox, D "Aotearoa Broadcasting System Inc" all in Spoonley, P & Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1990).
  3. It must be recognised that through out this chapter I tender my views and thoughts which are my Maori perspective on matters. My Maori perspective may not be the same view and perspective as held by other Maori. My perspective and knowledge gained is through my up bringing and association with my tribal regions, within in my particular whanau, and through academic institutions. To state that there is one or a Maori view would be incorrect.

2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 267

portrayal of Maori and the media's presentation of crime are brought together by virtue of what can be termed 'association'. Within this last section the proposition is put forward that the media's negative portrayal of Maori and its associated negative representation of crime results in an amplification of negativity, as depicted in the Waikato Times article.

MAORI AND THE MEDIA.

The news media has immense power to shape peoples thoughts, opinions, beliefs and behaviour. It is our main source of knowledge about society and the world's events.10 While a critical examination of the impact of the news media is beyond the scope of this chapter, it should nevertheless be kept in mind that it exerts a powerful influence on how we define who we are and what we should be like.

The media has reported and continues to report on Maori in a predominantly negative manner. In the 1995 study entitled Balance and Fairness in Broadcasting News (1985 — 1994) it was observed:

The paucity of Maori news stories run by traditional broadcasters is compounded by negativity, sensationalism and stereotypical depiction which accompanied stories ... 1 I

The Waikato Times article is yet another example of negative reporting of Maori. The article makes a number of statements which infer negative and destructive actions on the part of their fictional young

  1. Kelsey, J and Young, W The Gangs: Moral Panic as Social Control (1982), Maharey, S "Understanding the Mass Media" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (1990) and Ericson, R. V, Baranek, P. M & Chan, J. B. L Representing Order, Crime, Law, and Justice in the news Media (1991).
  2. McGregor, J and Comrie, M Balance and Fairness in Broadcasting News (1985 —1994) (1995) 39. Also see Maharey, S "Understanding the Mass Media" and Spoonley, P "Racism, Race Relations and the Media" both in Spoonley, P., and Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (1990).

268 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

Maori male. These disapproving comments are continually built upon, following a mug shot of a Maori male under a front page headline of "WARNING: THIS MAN KILLS". Statements such as:

"He's an unemployed Maori in his early 20s and he's likely to be driving an early model car..."

... when he slams head-on into your car after he fails to take a left bend."

" There's also a good chance he will be a repeat offender with previous traffic and criminal convictions."

... young male Maori who, according to police, have little regard for others on the road". 12

serve to build up a negative image of the young Maori male as unemployed, poor, destructive, and a repeat offender.

Historical Context

Prior to any discerning examination of the present situation, it is important to obtain some understanding of the historical context of the New Zealand media in order to gain insight into the reasons why particular events and subjects are presented as they are.

The negative portrayal of Maori by the media can be contextualised within an historical background of colonisation. Ranginui Walker states:

The relationship that exists between the Maori as the tangata whenua of New Zealand and the Pakeha who settled in the country in the last 150 years is one of social, political and economic subjection. This unequal relationship is derived from the process of colonisation by an industrialised imperial nation of a tribal people isolated for a thousand years."

12 McGehan, K "Warning this Man kills" Waikato Times, 13 April 1999, 1.

  1. Walker, R "The Role of the Press in defining Pakeha perceptions of the Maori" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (1990) 38.

2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 269

It is within this context of an unequal relationship and subjection that some understanding of the media may be gained. The media in New Zealand has been controlled by Pakeha. It is seen and experienced by Maori as a Pakeha institution.14

While it is not the intention to fully scope the process of colonisation and post colonisation within New Zealand, it is intended to make brief comment on some relevant historical background.15

The starting point is Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Treaty) and the coloniser's misinterpretation of the document, whether purposefully or not, as a cession of sovereignty rather than a concession to govern. Those chiefs who signed the Treaty did so in the belief that their own sovereignty and mana was protected by the Treaty.I6 Walker considers that the chiefs were soon to be disillusioned.

From the coloniser's initial misinterpretation further steps were taken in a planned and pre-meditated process of assuming domination and ensuring the subjection of Maori. The introduction of a land purchasing process,I7 an influx of settlers, the establishment of a settler government, war, confiscation of lands and numerous acts of Parliament,18 all led to the alienation of Maori from their land and a disruption of the collectivism which bound Maori groups together. Walker contends that Maori stoutly resisted colonial despoliation.I9 This resistance was, however, to no avail.

  1. In this chapter the term Pakeha is employed generally to mean people of European birth or descent, an indigenous expression to describe New Zealand people and expressions of culture that are not Maori. For further discussion on "Pakeha" see Pool, I Te Iwi Maori: A New Zealand Population Past, Present & Projected (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1991) and King, M Being Pakeha now: reflections and recollections ofa white native (Auckland: Penguin, 1999).
  2. For further discussion see Walker, R Ka Whawhai tonu matou: Struggle without end (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1990) and Havemann, P (ed) Indigenous peoples' rights in Australia, Canada and New Zealand (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1999).

16 Walker, R supra n 13 at 38.

  1. For further discussion see Williams, D V. Te Kooti Tango Whenua: The Native Land Court 1864-1909 (Wellington: Huia Publishers, 1999).
  2. For example the Maori Representation Act 1867, Native Land Act 1867, New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, Native Reserve Act 1882 and Public Works Act 1864.

19 Walker, R supra n 13 at 39.
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From the early 1900s to today Maori continually fought against and responded to Pakeha control of their lives. Warfare, continued petitioning of the Queen and Parliament, formation of collective groups, land marches and protest are all reflective of the constant Maori quest for justice.2°

Within this process of colonisation and subjection the media (or, as Walker prefers to refer to it, "the Fourth Estate") emerged as an integral component of the Establishment. The Fourth Estate functioned and functions to maintain the status quo and the structural relationship of Maori subordination.21 Similarly, overseas commentators have observed. within their own particular contexts, the media maintaining colonial attitudes in the maintenance of the status quo and the perpetuation of racism.22 Freeth's view of English television executives was that "underneath the bland exterior of most TV executives all the colonial attitudes survive."23 Freeth then proceeded to summarise those who, in his view, perpetuated racism in society. Included in his list was the media.

While Walker contends that the "Fourth Estate" is an essential component in maintaining the status quo, Ericson, Baranek and Chan have viewed the media in hegemonic terms, as important in the support of the dominator's dominance:

Hegemony addresses how superordinates manufacture and sustain support for their dominance over subordinates through the dissemination and reproduction of knowledge that favours their interest and how subordinates alternatively accept or contest this knowledge. 24

  1. For further discussion see Sharp, A. Justice and the Maori: Maori Claims in New Zealand Political Argument in the 1980s (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1990).

21 Walker, R. Nga Pepa a Ranginui: The Walker Papers (1996) 143.

  1. Freeth, T "Racism on Television: bringing the colonies back home" in Cohen, P and Gardiner, C (eds) It aint't half racist, mum: Fighting racism in the media (1982), and Hartmann, P and Husband, C "The mass media and racial conflict" in Cohen, S and Young, J (eds) The manufacture of news. Deviance social problems & the mass media (1973).

23 Freeth, T supra 22 at 27.
24 Ericson, R. V, Baranek, P. M & Chan, J. B. L supra n 10 at 12.
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 271

Historical Examples

Historical examples of the media's negative portrayal of Maori are numerous. Some prominent events that have attracted and continue to attract much media attention include the Haka incident, Maranga
, Waitangi protest action26 , gangs27 , the Maori Loans Affair28 and the Waitangi Tribunal29 . In exploring the Haka incident Walker wrote:

At the University of Auckland a small group of activists took violent direct action to put a stop to the racist parody of the haka performed there annually by the engineering students. For years Maori had attempted to negotiate an end to the event. Nonetheless, by failing to remain passive, in their assigned subordinate position, they presented a threat the state could not tolerate, as was implicit in the media treatment of the incident.

In May 1979, the Auckland Star reported the haka party incident with the bold headlines 'Gang rampage at varsity' and 'Students at haka practice bashed'. The headline was sensationalist and inaccurate. Although there was not one single gang patch in evidence on any one of those involved in the raid on the university, no headline could have evoked a more emotive response from the general public. The patch-wearing gang member is the nightmare incarnation of the worst fears of the Pakeha'...

It was not until the Auckland Star ... reported the Auckland District Maori Council's reasons for providing 'Maori help for the haka attack group' that it was made clear that there was anything other than a Pakeha

  1. Maranga Mai was where Maori activist dramatised Maori land grievances in a play performed at Mangere College in South Auckland in 1980. It received a lot of opposition with the negative responses of some Pakeha being given prominent treatment in the media. For a full discussion on the reporting of the play see Walker, R Nga Pepa a Ranginui: The Walker Papers (1996).
  2. This refers directly to Maori protest action related to the refusal of the Crown to honour the Treaty of Waitangi.

27 Discussed in detail later in this chapter.

  1. For full discussion of the "Loans Affair" see Rice, V "The Maori Loans Affair and the Media's Scandal Mentality" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (1990).
  2. The Waitangi Tribunal is a Crown established body that hears grievances relating to the Treaty of Waitangi. While some Maori see the Waitangi Tribunal as a "toothless tiger" due to its recommendatory and resource constraints, some Pakeha have perceived the Tribunal as an instrument of possible injustice to Pakeha.

272 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

view of the incident. Even so, when the haka-party case went to court, it was reported as a 'light-hearted stunt' ... Only two writers put the issue in its correct context of racism.3°

The Maori 'Loans Affair' relates to the attempt by key Maori people to secure a major offshore loan. The initiative of securing overseas funds emerged from the 1984 Hui Taumata (summit conference) of Maori leaders. Although Government Officials intervened to stop the loan from eventuating, the incident nevertheless remained a hot issue in the media for over two months. Walker notes:

Maori people were shell-shocked by the unprecedented level of Maori-bashing indulged in by the media over the so-called 'Maori loans affair' as headline followed headline.31

It is interesting to note that the negative media surrounding this issue far exceeded the reports related to the share market crash that lost millions of dollars in real terms.32

When gangs attracted the negative media coverage that they did in 1979, this had the added effect of Maori once again being presented in a negative light. Walker noted that the negative coverage of gangs seemed to be regarded as an 'acceptable' form of Maori bashing. He stated:

Although there are only an estimated 2000 gang members throughout New Zealand, the continuous negative coverage of their activities by the press is felt as a discomfiture and embarrassment by the 400,00 otherwise law-abiding Maori. The long running denigration and criticism of gangs in the media functions for Pakeha as a constant reproach to Maori society, and a reminder of subordinate status, while at the same time providing sensational copy. In other words, gang-bashing by the media is a socially acceptable, oblique form of Maori bashing.33

30 Walker, R supra n 21 at 144-5.
31 Ibid, 151-152.
32 Pihama, L supra n 8 at 6.
33 Walker, R supra n 21 at 150-151.
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 273

The Waikato Times article is a further example of the media attempting an acceptable, oblique form of "Maori bashing". Drink driving and dangerous driving are emotive topics, which can create social resentment towards the perpetrators. The media bashing of drink driving may be seen as acceptable, due to the intolerance society has for such action. In the same way, media bashing of dangerous driving may be acceptable to society due to the seriousness of the effects of such destructive action. Within this article, matters are taken one step further and the inference is drawn that drink drivers and dangerous drivers are young Maori males. Through such an association, the media proceeds to denigrate drink drivers and dangerous drivers while at the same time denigrating Maori. It is admitted within the article that there is an intention to "give the problem more prominence and make it socially unacceptable".34 If further such articles are published, purportedly in order to give the problem more prominence, this will result in further "Maori bashing".

Walker views the historical context of the operation of the Fourth Estate in New Zealand as assisting the maintenance of Pakeha. dominance:

The Fourth Estate is controlled by Pakeha. It selects the events it deems newsworthy, which usually centre on violence, conflict and competition. When the events involve Maori and Pakeha, it consistently represents the Pakeha status quo, helping them to maintain their power.35

Further to the historical context, Walker quite rightly mentions issues such as control of the media and selection of newsworthy articles. These factors, among others, need to be understood as integral elements that contribute to the manner in which media present images of Maori. These factors are discussed in the following section of this chapter.

34 McGehan, K "Warning this Man kills" Waikato Times, 13 April 1999, 1.

  1. Walker, R supra n 13 at 45, also see Maharey, S "Understanding the Mass Media" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (1990).

274 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

NEWS VALUES ARE WHOSE VALUES?

News values exercise enormous influence in the production of news. It is not the intention here to deliberate on all aspects of the media process or all aspects of news production.36 Nevertheless, the influential nature of news values makes some commentary on them necessary. Moreover, through understanding what is perceived to be a crucial factor in determining how the media present crime and how the media portray Maori, some insight can be gained into the reasons why events, subjects and topics are presented as they are. As Kelsey and Young recognised when examining the media coverage of gangs:

The general understanding of the functions of the media is of importance in analysing the content, images and attitudes evident in the coverage of gang activities ..."

McGregor views news values as some of the most problematic concepts of journalism,38 in the sense that they are not formally codified or defined. Nor is there any universal agreement about what constitutes newsworthiness. Indeed, one journalist may consider an event to be a front-page story while the same event may not be considered worth reporting at all by another journalist.

Notwithstanding the problems McGregor, in quoting Teun Van Dijk, has provided a description of news values as follows:

  1. For full discussion on the production of news see Kelsey, J and Young, W The Gangs: Moral Panic as Social Control (Wellington: Institute of Criminology, Victoria University Wellington, 1982) and Young, J and Walton, P (eds) Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order (1978) and Cohen, S and Young, J (eds) The manufacture ofnews. Deviance social problems & the mass media (London: Constable, 1973)

37 Kelsey, J and Young, W supra n 10 at 13.
38 McGregor News Values and Reporting of Maori News (1991) 1.
2005 TheAssociation of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 275

News values that embody professional beliefs and attitudes about newsworthiness of events are practical, common sense evaluative criteria, which allow strategic attention, allocation to and selection of sources and selection of texts, summarisation, choice of perspectives and finally the topic and style structures of news reports. News values are derived from a complex interplay of social representations.39

The importance of news values cannot be over stated, for it must be remembered that the media cannot and do not merely transmit events unaltered and uncensored onto our television screens and into our newspapers. There are countless events taking place every hour of every day. Not all events attract media attention. The media will selectively draw from a pool of events those items that they consider worthy. With the selected items the media creates "news" by defining for us what they consider to be "newsworthy" and what is not.40 The position has been summarised as follows:

`News' is the end product of a complex process which begins with a

systematic sorting and selecting of events and topics according to a socially constructed set of categories.41

It is interesting to ponder the news values that were considered for the Waikato Times article, for it was considered sufficiently newsworthy to demand front page status. Was it the fact that drink driving is a crime topic? Or was the article considered front-page material for other reasons? One can only assume that a combination of factors, including the crime and Maori elements, played a role in propelling this article to the front page. On the same day that the article appeared, the University of Waikato held a graduation at Te Kohinga Marama marae where several hundred Maori graduated with degrees. This positive event attracted no coverage in the Waikato Times, while the article profiling a typical drink driver obtained front page status.

39 Ibid, 3.
40 Kelsey, J and Young, W supra n 10, and Hartmann, P & Husband, C supra n 23.
41 Young, J and Walton, P (eds) supra n 36 at 52.
276 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

As McGregor observed, news values are problematic and it is therefore difficult to draw any conclusive determinations. The Waikato Times article obtained front page billing due to the sensationalism that it would generate. The article immediately catches the reader's eye, as a result of the headline and the mug shot.

News values are, by their very nature, subjective. News values are learnt by journalists through the process of what McGregor refers to as "newsroom socialisation".42 While each individual will have a different perspective of events, the criteria of newsworthiness, how news is selected and what angle a story should be reported from, are some of the issues learnt through reading newspapers, talking to more experienced colleagues and observing the procedures of editors. Therefore, notwithstanding the subjectivity of news values, there emerges a unanimity and consensus among journalists and commentators about what constitutes news values and the criteria of newsworthiness.43 McGregor considered the unanimity amongst journalists about newsworthiness as "surprising".44 It would be "surprising" if there was not some unanimity, or what Campbell describes as sameness,45 given newsroom socialisation and the predominance of Pakeha journalists within the New Zealand media.46 Within the newsroom socialisation process journalists learn what is perceived by other journalists as being a good or bad story. Journalists learn what their employees and editors perceive as being newsworthy. Hence, journalists learn through this process the same values and ideas possessed by senior and fellow journalists.

42 McGregor, supra n 38 at 1.
43 Ibid, 2.
44 Ibid.

  1. Christopher P. Campbell in his book Race, Myth and the News (1995) noted that the most striking aspect of watching and rewatching news for nearly 40 hours from 29 American cities was the sameness of the programs, the news stories. At page 132 Campbell states that what he is interested in is "... the sameness of the racial mythology that is embedded in the broadcasts across the United States, and the sameness has very much to do with the homogeneous practices of the local television news organizations."
  2. Robson, J. L The News Media and Criminal Justice (1976), Robson refers to the homogeneity of subject content of New Zealand daily newspapers. His observations were essentially that newspapers in New Zealand tend to report the same stories in a like manner.

2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 277

It would be totally incorrect to presume that all Pakeha possess exactly the same beliefs, ideas, values, perceptions and attitudes.'" However, in saying this it must also be recognised that Pakeha will exhibit some general conformity, uniformity and sameness of beliefs, ideas, values, perceptions and attitudes. In the same manner it would be totally incorrect to presume that all Maori possess the same beliefs, ideas, values, perceptions and attitudes. However, Maori culture can be recognised as an ethnic group of people who have some general uniformity and sameness in beliefs, practices, ideas, values and attitudes. What can be stated with some surety is that the there is definitely a difference between Pakeha and Maori culture. With the dominance of Pakeha within journalism" it is therefore not "surprising" to find some homogeneity and conformity on the issue of news values given their general uniformity and sameness of general beliefs, practices, values and attitudes.

The subjective nature of news values, along with the predominance of Pakeha within the media, leads to a disparity in reporting of Maori

news:

  1. Within New Zealand there is much debate around whether there is a Pakeha culture, and if there is then what is it. See Chapter 3 of Sharp, A Justice and the Maori: Maori Claims in the New Zealand Political Argument in the 1980s (Auckland: University Press, 1990) and see the chapter on Ethnicity in Spoonley, P Racism and Ethnicity: Critical issues in New Zealand society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988) also see Spoonley, P "Racism, Race Relations and the Media" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1990).
  2. At page 7 McGregor in News Values and Reporting of Maori News (1991) notes "In one of the few pieces of research about New Zealand journalist, Lealand (1988) stated the number of Maori, Pacific Island and other minorities working in journalism comprised less than 5 per cent of the national survey of New Zealand journalist conducted for the Journalist Training Board (compared with about 12.8% in the New Zealand population). Of the 1227 journalist in the survey who indicated their ethnicity, only 28 were Maori. A further 16 indicated they were European/Maori. The combined group represented less than half the proportion of such people in the general New Zealand population." McGregor at page 8 of News Values and Reporting of Maori News (1991) also noted that "47% of New Zealand news executives sampled indicated no Maori journalists were employed by their organisation. About half of the news executives respondents saw a need for more Maori journalists within their organisation... "

278 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

The final product in the New Zealand mainstream media often has an emphasis on conflict, on the "bad news" and defines Maori people in "problem terms". In essence, the news values employed by the New Zealand news media ... are Pakeha news values.49

The Waikato Times article definitely emphasies conflict and specifically defines Maori in "problem terms". The article is extreme in its definition of drink driving and dangerous driving as a Maori problem by noting, incorrectlys° , that Maori make up 27.4% of Waikato's population but account for 28.5 % of fatal crashes and 43% of the region's drink-drivers. The supposition drawn from this information is that Maori as a minority cause more accidents per capita then others. This suggests that Maori are causing more drink drive and fatal crashes than others in society and, in particular, others in the Waikato region. The conclusion is that the fatal crash and drink drive problem is a Maori problem. Matters are sensationalised with the presentation of worrying statistics of the number of deaths and injuries suffered through fatal accidents. These statistics, viewed along side the many negative comments concerning the Maori male, infer that young Maori males are responsible for a large proportion of the deaths and injuries. The statistics infer such a situation but do not confirm who is actually responsible for the 200 deaths. Indeed it could be that no Maori males were involved in any of the fatal crashes resulting in death.

It is not "surprising" that Pakeha journalists decide what is and what is not news according to their own cultural definitions and values. They choose the angle for the story, they choose what to report on, they choose whom to speak to, and they choose what to write about. Consequently, Maori news is reported in most instances from a Pakeha perspective and cultural base. Further, the monocultural news values which largely dominate New Zealand are central to the presentation and distortion of Maori and Maori issues.

  1. McGregor supra n 38 at 7, also see Kelsey, J and Young, W supra n 10 at 7 where it is viewed that decisions on news are "made on the basis of current outlook, attitudes and perspectives of those making them, and the assumptions they make of the views of the public at which they are aiming". It is noted in this chapter that the views of the decision-makers will be predominantly Pakeha. On this basis one assumes the public that Kelsey and Young see decision-makers identify is predominantly Pakeh5 public.

50 Supra n 2.
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 279

News values are central to the distortions of Maori aspirations, to the lack of explanation of issues affecting Maori, to the absence of positive news about Maori and to the stereotyping of Maori people by the mainstream media.51

The Waikato Times employed three Maori journalists at the time the article was printed, but it was a Pakeha who wrote this article.

It has been stated above that the importance of news values can not be overstated. This is particularly so when consideration is given to the number of times news values or news judgements that are made within the production of news. Kelsey and Young believed news values influenced the final production of news at least three different levels. The three levels are, collection, selection and presentation.52

Within the collection process identified by Kelsey and Young it is apparent that, for practical reasons, it is impossible for every news event to be collected together, let alone reported. The media are therefore required to make decisions as to what is collected, how it is collected and what resources are used to collect information to be reported.

It is interesting to observe that Maori news, according to McGregor, is not reported at the same frequency as other news.53 Crime is reported frequently. The frequency of crime news in the media is discussed later in this chapter. What is interesting is how the frequency of the collection and reporting of Maori news and crime news are at extremes, Maori news being reported infrequently and crime news being reported frequently. Given that the collection of news must take into account the limited resources of staff and reporters based on McGregor's statistics, that there are more resources being put towards the collection

51 McGregor supra n 38 at 16.
52 Kelsey, J and Young, W supra n 10 at 7.

  1. McGregor, J and Comrie, M supra n 11 at page 1 of the report findings are summarised as "Of the total of 915 stories sampled across four broadcasters (TVNZ, TV3, Morning Report and Mana News) 39% were political stories, 25.8% related to crime and 16% were health stories. Of the 176 Maori stories, 126 were broadcast by Mana News and coded as Maori Stories. Only 50 Maori stories were broadcast by the other three broadcasters taken together. Maori stories formed 19.2% of the sample."

280 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

of crime news than the collection of Maori news. It is proposed later that there is a definite media-incited association between Maori and crime. It appears that no such association can be made in terms of the allocation of resources to each area concerned.

The second level identified by Kelsey and Young was that of selection.54 Accordingly:

... news values provide the criteria in the routine practices of journalism which enable journalists, editors, and newsmen to decide routinely and regularly which stories are 'newsworthy' and which are not, which stories are major 'lead' stories and which are relatively insignificant, which stories to run and which to drop.55

Given the news values held by the 'selectors' it is no wonder that Maori are reported negatively.

The final level of production is presentation. Once an event has been collected and selected it must be presented in both meaningful and credible terms. According to Kelsey and Young:

Not only must the event be described, but it must be assigned an acceptable meaning. Business sense dictates that the goods produced must be acceptable to the market consuming them, so care must be taken to ensure that the newspapers publish what they think their readers want. News is therefore framed according to a set of assumptions about the particular views and attitudes held by the public, even although the reporter may not share those attitudes. 56

  1. For further discussion on the selection process see Ericson, R. V, Baranek, P. M and Chan, J. B. L supra n 10 and Galtung, J & Ruge, M "Structuring and selecting news" in Cohen, S and Young, J (eds) The manufacture of news. Deviance social problems & the mass media (1973).
  2. Young, J and Walton, P (eds) Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order (1978) 54.

56 Kelsey, J and Young, W supra n 10 at 10-11.
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 281

While recognising that Kelsey and Young were commenting on 'gangs' and not explicitly on the topics of crime or Maori, these comments hold true for the presentation of most media pieces. In relation to Maori, the question that therefore arises is for whom is Maori news is being produced? Based on the proposition forwarded by Kelsey and Young, stories (including Maori stories) are described for the public. The question that much be asked is: who is the public? Is it the Maori public or the Pakeha-dominated public?

It is clear that the Waikato times article was written for Pakeha consumption. The article does not have an acceptable meaning for me as a Maori. As Kelsey and Young suggest, an article will be presented in a particular manner for a particular public. This article tells us that the Waikato Times wished to depict Maori as criminal to a Pakeha public. This article tells nothing about why Maori are overrepresented in fatal accident statistics. This article tells us nothing in terms of how to address the problem, except for the comment that this situation needs more prominence so it will be seen as unacceptable, which one reads as further Maori bashing.57 This article certainly appears to be framed for a predominantly Pakeha public.

CRIME AND THE MEDIA

The media is obsessed with reporting crime.58 In a 1995 study of New Zealand news, of the 915 stories sampled 236 or 25.8% related to crime. These statistics also show that between 1985 and 1994 crime stories in television news increased from 18% to 41% for TV One news and from 40.9% to 53.6% for TV3 news.59 Indeed the vast amount of crime news being reported prompted McGregor to consider such questions as:

57 Supra n 12.

  1. Grabosky, P and Wilson, P Journalism and Justice: How Crime is Reported (1989), Howitt, D Crime the Media and the Law (1998), Schlesinger, P & Tumber, H Reporting Crime: The Media Politics of Criminal Justice (1994).

59 McGregor, J & Comrie, supra 11 at 1.
282 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

Is there too much crime news? Is crime coverage, as claimed by some commentators, bad for society because it exaggerates the frequency of some crimes, distorts the reality of crime, and displaces other more meaningful content which could aid public understanding of the criminal justice system?6°

Since the earliest days of journalism, crime news has been central to the news media.61 Given its apparent preoccupation with crime, it is important to explore the broad issues of why the media retains such an obsession with reporting crime and how the media portrays crime.

Grabosky and Wilson, in discussing the Australian media in particular, noted the media as having four roles. The first of these is the role of generating income. The media is business. Secondly, the media has a role as entertainment. Thirdly, the media informs the public about affairs of the day. Crime and criminal policy have always ranked high on the public agenda and consequently consistently feature in the news. The fourth role, which Grabosky and Wilson consider may not be performed consciously, is to provide a focus for the affirmation of public morality.62 Crime news is clearly relevant to all four roles of the media.

Crime news, some would have us believe, is inextricably linked to the commercial rationale of the news media, the view basically being that crime sells:

Crime news is, we suspect, 'good' for the news business because people read about it, listen to it or view it. Crime news sells newspapers or pulls in radio and television audiences, and thus increases the profitability of those who own media outlets. Nearly 150 years ago Benjamin Day's New York Sun hit the streets of New York and made Day a rich man. His success was partly based on graphic and, occasionally lurid accounts of

  1. McGregor, J Crime News as Prime News in New Zealand's Metropolitan Press (1993) 21.

61 Ibid,1.

  1. Grabosky, P and Wilson, P supra n 58. Also see Behrens, "Crime News .. Whose Freedom?" in Comrie, M and McGregor, J (eds) Whose News? (Palmerston North, N.Z: Dunmore Press, 1992).

2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 283

the exploits of criminals and their punishment (in particular, the hanging of a 'car-hood' murderer) and his formula of entertaining rather than illuminating his readers. Some would argue that crime news is used by modern day proprietors in the same manner.63

On this basis the Waikato Times article, if viewed in purely criminal terms, can be seen as good for business: such a headline immediately attracted readers into buying the paper. However, as identified above by Grabosky and Wilson, while the media rationale for reporting crime can be seen in commercial terms, the media has other roles besides that of generating commercial profit.

The role that the media plays in informing the public about crime has implications for public perceptions, ideas and thoughts. The media is the main source of such information, as it is with most of our knowledge of the world's events." Of particular interest is the part that the media plays in what Grabosky and Wilson have referred to as the affirmation of public morality.65 Howitt sees the public morality more in terms of being a representation of society as it wishes to be66 . In this respect crime, plays a fundamental role:

Crime represents society as it wishes not to be, and so is crucial to our understanding of society. Not surprisingly, then, ever since improved transport and cheap newsprint in the nineteenth century led to truly mass media, crime has been an extensive feature of all mass media of entertainment. 67

The Waikato Times article identifies and condemns unacceptable behaviour. Simply put, it is unacceptable to drink-drive and to drive dangerously. There is no argument that drink driving is unacceptable. The article intensifies the unacceptability of the behaviour by suggesting that to act in such a manner will result in death. Not only does the

63 Grabosky, P and Wilson, P supra n 58 at p 2.
64 Kelsey, J & Young, W supra n 10 at 5.
65 Grabosky, P and Wilson, P supra 58.
66 Howitt, D supra n 58.
67 Ibid, 1.
284 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

article represent crime in its natural negative state but it also encompasses other portrayals that receive constant negative media coverage, such as images of Maori and the unemployed.

The law defines what society judges to be illegitimate types of action. Ultimately the law provides society with a basic definition of unacceptable as opposed to acceptable actions. Criminal activity is viewed as that which is unacceptable to society.68 Crime informs us of what we should not do and is therefore immediately viewed by society in a negative manner. The media, in presenting crime, therefore reinforces law-abiding behaviour, and denounces negative, destructive and unacceptable behaviour.69

Young and Walton have suggested that crime, by its very nature, is news because it re-affirms the consensus society has reached as to what is morality." Kelsey and Young support this proposition, noting that "crime is news because of what it represents to society".7I While crime can be seen as news, it is still the media who describe, interpret and present the crime to the public. It is the media who determine what crime society is informed about and how that crime is to be presented. Crime may be news by its very nature, defining as it does unacceptable behaviour, but it is still the media who retains the ultimate power of definition.

ASSOCIATION OF MAORI, AND CRIME

Does the media associate and equate Maori with crime? Howitt has examined the idea of an association between black people and crime and the media's contribution to such an association:

In some ideologically based beliefs, black people and crime are

associated... Whatever the complete explanation of this, the beliefs are, in part, a socially constructed 'fact' to which the media contribute."72

  1. Young, J and Walton, P (eds) supra n 36 and Ericson, R. V, Baranek, P. M and Chan, J. B. L supra n 11.

69 Kelsey, J and Young, W supra 10.

  1. Young, J and Walton, P (eds) supra 36. For a summary on the "the consensus" see Cohen, S & Young, J (eds) The manufacture of news. Deviance social problems & the mass media (1973).

71 Kelsey, J and Young, W supra 10 at 9.
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 285

Howitt picked up on the arguments previously put forward by Hal173 when he contended that African-American and African-Caribbean youngsters in America and the United Kingdom had become identified with the media created crime of 'mugging'. The media characterised mugging as an urban, inner city, poverty-related crime that was linked to unemployment. Further media images of Black youngsters epitomised the inner-city problems of unemployment and poverty. The images of black children as structurally unstable, from broken homes, and living in one-parent families, Howitt contends, provide us with `common-sense' notions about the risks of crime in such children.74 In essence, what Howitt and Hall propose is that the images presented by the media of who a 'mugger' is are mirrored in the image the media presents as to who and what a young Black person is. Cohen concluded that the overall meaning of the media coverage of "mugging", as examined by Hall, was that black equals crime.75 Not only does this association apply to Black youths but also to Black families, with many of the images of black families stressing many of the factors associated with crime. It is through what can be termed the 'mirroring of images' that an association is made. Mirroring is a subtle yet potent form of association whereby the presentation of what the media equates, redefines or defines as a black person (or, in the New Zealand context, a Maori) mirrors the media's presentation of what equals or equates to a criminal. In the Waikato Times article the image of a criminal is mirrored as a young, unemployed, Maori male. The article equates, or mirrors, Maori with crime.

A more obvious expression of association is when the media present outright racist statements, associating blacks with crime. Howitt noted that an extreme example would be where it is stated that "there are groups of violent black criminals who rob white people and rape white women."76 The Waikato Times article, by the newspaper's own admission, presented a single profile of a young Maori male as being

73 Young, J and Walton, P (eds) supra 36.
74 Howitt, D supra n 58 at 143.

  1. Cohen, P "Race, reporting and the riots" in Cohen, P & Gardiner, C (eds) It ain't half racist, mum: Fighting racism in the media (1982) p 23.

76 Howitt, D. supra n 58 at 143.
286 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

the prime offender in fatal accidents.77 The association in this article is explicit. More than simply inferring that Maori males are criminals, this article goes further by stating, incorrectly, that young, unemployed Maori men are most likely to kill on Waikato roads.

Another obvious expression of association is through race-labelling or race-tagging. Race-labelling or race-tagging is the unnecessary use of racial or ethnic references.78 Race-tagging occurs when the media makes references to a person's race or ethnicity when such referencing adds nothing to the newsworthiness of the report or serves no public interest. The reference to race serves no purpose as it is surplus to the story. Race-labelling can occur in a number of media type stories, but it is in the area of crime-reporting that race-labelling of Maori is most prevalent:

The practice of race-labelling Maori crime news was widespread, unjustified, and inasmuch as the practice was virtually limited in its use to the Maori people, discriminatory.79

Campbell has observed that race-labelling in America had fallen out of favour in the print media because of its racist implications. What he also observed was that television news still relied on visual imagery for storytelling, even if the images contributed to the kinds of stereotypical beliefs that advanced racism and discrimination.80 The Waikato Times article uses the visual imagery to advance what are racist images and comments regarding Maori.

The use of statistical information can also be seen as obvious association. In the American setting there is little doubt that crime statistics record more crime by black people relative to the black population. The crude yet frequently made assumption, based on the

  1. "Single profile of offending driver was incorrect" Waikato Times, 14 April 1999, 3.
  2. Kemot, B "Race-Tagging: The misuse of label and the Press Council" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W (eds) Between the Lines: Racism and the New Zealand Media (1990) p 53.

79 Ibid.
80 Campbell, C P Race, Myth and the News (1995) p 71.
2005 TheAssociation of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 287

statistical information, is one of Blacks therefore being classed as criminals. It is easy to see how such a correlation can be made. However,

...crime statistics are, at best, a summary of discrete acts by individuals reporting crime; they cannot represent the realities of crime precisely. So, for example, if black people are over-represented in statistics on crimes known to police, greater activity in black areas may be responsible. Other factors which may lead to this over-representation include racial biases in reporting by victims, prosecuting black people more readily and charging black people's crimes as a more serious offence. All of these things would create a distorted impression of the extent of the criminality among black people.81

McGregor's concern with the use of statistics in crime news related to the substantial discrepancies between official counts of criminal activity and press reports of crime. She noted three overseas studies that found newspapers' use of statistical information distorting impressions of the relative frequency of different types of crimes. The studies also revealed that the amount of official crime trend was not correlative to the reporting of crime, and that the distribution of crimes reported by the press was markedly dissimilar from the distribution of crimes to the police.82 McGregor concludes that "the "facts" portrayed in news stories about crime differ from the "facts" as they appear in official criminal statistics."83

There are interesting statistical matters raised in the Waikato Times article. Firstly, some of the statistics are wrong. To the Waikato Times' credit they ran a story the following night, albeit on page three, acknowledging their mistakes. Secondly, within the article it is stated that young Maori males account for 28.5% of fatal crashes. On this basis it is difficult to see how the article can claim that the person most likely to kill you on the roads is Maori, given that 71.5% of fatal crashes are not caused by young Maori males. Further, the article states young Maori males account for 43% of the region's drink-drivers. Another

81 Howitt, D supra n 58 at 143.
82 McGregor, J supra n 60.
83 Ibid, 6.
288 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

way these statistics could have been reported would have been to state that 57% of the region's convicted drink-drivers are not young Maori males.

The above associations are more obvious to the public as they are captured in print. There are also less obvious associations that some of the media employ. Cohen made an interesting observation of association when he noted:

The fact that it is often crime reporters who are sent out to cover riots

or race stories is a comment in itself on how news editors see their significance."

This is but another example of the media associating crime with race, in most cases minorities.

During late 1978 and the whole of 1979 gang activities dominated the media. The predominance of Maori and Polynesians within the major gangs made the issue racially sensitive to both Maori and Non Maori.85 The perceived "gang problem" generated media, political, court and public attention to the point of the gangs being regarded as Public Enemy Number One. However, the study into the "gang problem" undertaken by Kelsey and Young86 found that the media had sensationalised the gang situation and, in so doing, had amplified the social panic relating to gangs. The study also noted:

There were of course, many non-Maori members within gangs, and there were many gangs, such as the traditional South Island gangs, who were almost exclusively Mehl But the perception, however mistaken, that the major gangs were predominantly Maori attracted to them the label of a "Maori problem."

84 Cohen, P supra n 75 at 14.
85 Kelsey, J and Young, W supra n 10.
86 Ibid.
87 Kelsey, J & Young, W supra n 10 at 118.
2005 TheAssociation of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 289

The close linkage and association made between Maori and gangs, however ill-perceived, consequently lead to the gang problem being seen as a Maori problem.

The above associations reflect what has been previously addressed with regards to the negative portrayal of Maori within the media. The associations also presented the negative image of crime. The situation can be comprehended in simple terms: that the negative Maori image is associated with the negative image of crime. This has the effect of amplifying the negative representation of Maori.

Hartmann and Husband, in discussing Blacks and crime within the media, concluded that association results in real conflict being amplified and in potential conflict being created. They stated,

Blacks come to be seen as conflict-generating per se and the chances that people will think about the situation in more productive ways — in terms of the issues involved or of social problems generally — are reduced. The result is that real conflict is amplified, and potential for conflict created. "

The amplification in this sense is that the negative portrayal of Maori is compounded when there is an association with crime.

In the Waikato Times article young Maori males were associated with fatal accidents and drink driving, along with other factors, culminating in the image of a fictitious killer. The result was a presentation of young Maori males as dangerous drivers and drink drivers, being amplified to an image of young Maori male killers.

Through a number of methods the media makes a deliberate association between Maori and crime. This association at times leads to an out-of-proportion amplification of a situation, resulting in sensationalism and in Maori being projected in a negative manner.

88 Hartmann, P and Husband, C "The mass media and racial conflict" in Cohen, S

and Young, J (eds) The manufacture of news. Deviance social problems & the mass media (London: Constable, 1973).

CONCLUSION

This article equates Maori with crime. It uses visual imagery that contributes to the stereotypical belief that advances racism and discrimination. It continues to damage Maori-Pakeha relations.

The subject-matter covered in the article attracted media coverage ahead of a Maori university graduation. The media seems not interested in promoting Maori well qualified men who are owners of late model vehicles, in stable, two-parent relationship with children. The choice to portray such an image on the front page points strongly to what the media values.

Although some of the important statistics in the article were incorrect, how many readers would really care to have read the apologies on page three the following night? The article had already been a powerful conduit of information — incorrect information. The media confirmed the negative stereotype of young Maori males as unemployed, deprived criminals that kill on roads.
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 291
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Secondary Material

a) Books

Campbell, C. P Race, Myth and the News (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1995).

Cohen, S and Young, J The manufacture of news. Deviance social problems & the mass media London: Constable, 1973).

Crenshaw, K. Gotanda, N. Peller, G and Thomas, K (eds) Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that formed the Movement (New York: The New Press, 1995).

Ericson, R. V Baranek, P. M and Chan, J. B. L Representing Order Crime, Law, and Justice in the News Media (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1991).

Grabosky, P and Wilson, P Journalism and Justice: How Crime is Reported (Sydney: Pluto Press, 1989).

Havemann, P (ed) Indigenous peoples' rights in Australia, Canada and New Zealand (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1999).

Howitt D, Crime, The Media and the Law (John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1998).

Hurst, J and White, S. A. Ethics and the Australian News Media (Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd, 1994).

Jakubowicz, A. (ed) Racism, Ethnicity and the Media (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, New South Wales, 1994).

McGregor, J Crime News is Prime News in New Zealand's Metropolitan Press (Legal Research Foundation, 1993).

Pool, I Te Iwi Maori: A New Zealand Population Past, Present & Projected (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1991).

Schlesinger, P and Tumber, H Reporting Crime: The Media Politics of Criminal Justice Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).

Sharp, A Justice and the Maori: Maori Claims in the New Zealand Political Argument in the 1980's (Auckland: University Press, 1990).

Sparks, R Television and the Drama of Crime: Moral tales and the place of crime in public life (Buckingham, Open University Press, 1992).

Spoonley, P Racism and Ethnicity: Critical issues in New Zealand society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).

Walker R, Nga Pepa a Ranginui — The Walker Papers (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1996).

White, R and Haines, F Crime and Criminology — An Introduction (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1996).

Young, J and Walton, P (eds) Policing the Crisis — Mugging, the State, and Law and Order (London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1978).

b) Chapters

Butterworth, R "The Media" in Novitz, D and Willmott, B, (eds) In Culture and Identity in New Zealand (Wellington: Government Printing Office, 1989) 142.

Cohen, P "Race, reporting and the riots" in Cohen P and Gardner C, (eds) It ain't half racist, mum — Fighting racism in the media (London: Comedia Publishing Group, 1985) 14.
2005 TheAssociation of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 293

Freeth, T "Racism on television: bringing the colonies back home" in Cohen P and Gardner C, (eds) It ain't half racist, mum — Fighting racism in the media (London: Comedia Publishing Group, 1985) 24.

Hartmann, P and Husband, C "The mass media and racial conflict" in Cohen, S and Young, J The manufacture of news. Deviance social problems & the mass media London: Constable, 1973) 270.

Kernot B, "Race-Tagging: The misuse of labels and the Press Council in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W Between the Lines — Racism and the New Zealand Media (Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1990) 53.

King, M Being Palehei now: reflections and recollections of a white native (Auckland: Penguin, 1999)

Maharey, S "Understanding the mass media" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W Between the Lines — Racism and the New Zealand Media (Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1990) 13.

Pascall, A "Black autonomy and the BBC" in Cohen P and Gardner C (eds) It ain't half racist, mum — Fighting racism in the media (London: Comedia Publishing Group, 1985) 5.

Te Punga, R C "Maoris and Crime" in McKean, W A (ed) Essays on Race Relations and the Law in New Zealand (Wellington: Sweet & Maxwell (N.Z.) Ltd, 1971) 40.

Rangihau, J "Being Maori" in King, M (ed) Te Ao Hurihuri — Aspects of Allioritanga (Auckland: Octopus Publishing Group, 1975) 183.

Spoonley, P "Racism, Race Relations and the Media" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W Between the Lines — Racism and the New Zealand Media (Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1990) 26.

Walker, R "The Role of the Press in defining Pakeha perceptions of the Maori" in Spoonley, P and Hirsh, W Between the Lines — Racism and the New Zealand Media (Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1990) 38.
294 Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence Special Issue - Te Purenga Vol 8.2

Walker, R. Ka Whawhai tonu matou: Struggle without end (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1990).

Young, J "The Role of the Police as Amplifiers of Deviancy, Negotiators of Reality and Translators of Fantasy" in Cohen, S (ed) Images of Deviance (Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd, 1971).

  1. Articles

Chen, M Discrimination in New Zealand: a personal journey (1993) VULR 23, 137.

Davies, M and Seuffert, N Situated Knowledges, Identity Politics, and Policy Making paper presented Annual Conference of the Australasian Law Teachers' Association (1996) 2, 565.

Stokes, E Maori Research and Development — A Discussion paper prepared by Evelyn Stokes, University of Waikato, for the Social Science Committee of the National Research Advisory Council (Waikato: Unpublished, 1985).

  1. Reports

Auckland District Law Society. Public Issues Committee The mass media and the criminal process (Auckland: Auckland District Law Society, 1989).

Courts Consultative Committee, Report of the Courts Consultative Committee on He Whaipaanga Hou (Wellington: Crown, 1991).

Hohepa, M. Jenkins, K and Pihama, L Maori, Media and Issues of Representation (Draft papers of, A symposium presentation at Conference-Nelson, NZARE 1996, 1996).

Jackson M, The Maori and the Criminal Justice System, A new perspective: He Whaipaanga Hou (Wellington: Department of Justice, 1988).

2005 TheAssociation of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 295

Kelsey, J and Young, W The Gangs: Moral Panic as Social Control (Wellington: Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, 1982).

McGregor, J News Values and the Reporting of Maori News (Palmerston North, New Zealand: Working Paper Series of Department of Human Resource Management, Massey University, 1991).

McGregor, J and Comrie, M Balance and Fairness in Broadcasting News (1985 — 1994) (Palmerston North, New Zealand: Research funded by the Broadcasting Standards Authority (Te Mana Whanonga Kaipaho) and New Zealand On Air (Irirangi Te Motu), 1995).

Research International N.Z Limited, Trans-Tasman Poll: Crime and the Media (Auckland: Research International N.Z Limited, 1994).

Robson, J L. The News Media and Criminal Justice (Wellington: Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, 1976).

e) Newspaper Articles

McGehan, K "Warning this Man kills" Waikato Times, 13 April 1999, 1.

"Single profile of offending driver was incorrect" Waikato Times, 14 April 1999, 3.

WARNING: THIS MAN KILLS

By: McGEHAN Kris

Race: Maori

Job: None

Car: Older model

When: Friday afternoon

Where: A State Highway

Police have released a profile of the man most likely to kill you on Waikato roads. Kris McGehan reports. He's an unemployed Maori in his early 20s and he's likely to be driving an early model car on a Waikato state highway between midday and 6pm on a Friday.

The weather will be fine and the road conditions will be dry when he slams head-on into your car after he fails to take a left bend. There's also a good chance he will be a repeat offender with previous traffic and criminal convictions.

Four years of police statistics have culminated in a portrait of the classic Waikato fatal crash driver. "So many people blame the roads and the highways. But there is a group of people who don't care a damn about anyone else when they're driving," says Waikato traffic chief, Inspector Leo Tooman.

Just over 200 people have died in 172 fatal crashes in the Waikato since 1995. Around 136 people have been injured. Police figures throw up definite trends. Waikato's fatal crashes are most likely to occur between midday and 6pm on a fine Friday. The drivers are likely to be unemployed (24 per cent) and aged 20 to 25 (16 per cent). Twenty-five per cent of drivers are repeat offenders.
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 297

State highways are by far the most common place for a fatal crash (59 per cent) and most of the cars involved are over 10 years old (55 per cent).

Drink-driving is no longer the biggest cause of fatal crashes. At 15 per cent it lags way behind failure to keep left (42 per cent).

While Maori make up 27.4 per cent of Waikato's population, the figures show young male Maori are the drivers in 28.5 per cent of fatal crashes and account for 43 per cent of the region's drink-drivers.

Mr Tooman believes fatigue is a major factor in fatal crashes that is largely ignored. Loss of control and inattention figure prominently in the crash statistics.

"It's a bit like drinking and driving. If we can give the problem more prominence and make it socially unacceptable, then maybe people will stop driving when they are tired."

Single profile of offending was

incorrect

An article published in Tuesday's Waikato Times painted an incorrect portrait of the driver most likely to cause a fatal accident on Waikato roads.

The article claimed young, unemployed Maori men driving an early model car were the drivers most likely to cause a fatal smash.

While young, unemployed and Maori are all over-represented in fatal crash statistics, the single profile of a young Maori man as being the prime offender was incorrect.

Waikato traffic chief Leo Tooman said the statistics revealed several trends. Police now were using the information to reach groups who caused fatal smashes.

The statistics were compiled by police between January 1995-January 1999, a period in which 201 people died in 172 crashes on Waikato roads.

Police analysed information about the 'offending drivers' and found several groups were over-represented.

Males were responsible for 75 per cent of the crashes.

Males aged 20-26 caused 16.7 per cent of the crashes and males in the next age bracket, 25-30, were responsible for 11 per cent of the fatalities.

Unemployed people, the offending driver in 24.4 per cent of the crashes, were also over-represented. Maori, who make up about 18 per cent of the Waikato population, were the offending driver in 28.5 per cent of the crashes
2005 The Association of Maori with Crime through Media Eyes. 299

Tuesday's article incorrectly stated Maori made up 27.4 per cent of the Waikato s population.

The figures revealed more than half of the fatalities (68.7 per cent) happened on state highways and 24.4 per cent of the drivers at fault were repeat offenders.


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