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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

RNZ: Clinging colonials

RNZ is a cringing colonial, Wellingtonian wankfest.  Their racism is a cherished Pakeha taonga - the gift of racial prejudice - to be passed from generation to generation of New Zealander as their collective cultural inheritance.  

RNZ is contracted to run just 350 hours of Maori programming per year on RNZ National, less than an hour a day, but last year of reporting it couldn't even manage that (342 hours) and the only under-performing minority quota.  Their annual report shows that basically the only non-European staff allowed at RNZ are the cleaners.  It has always been that way since 1925 and always will be that way.

RNZ's objective is essentially trying to define a New Zealand national identity as exclusively Pakeha, Anglophilic and Euro-centric, a national identity inextricably bound to Europe and the white people of the West.  This is very far from a whole identity.  RNZ is a perfect vision of New Zealand, not of Aotearoa.

When I saw the headline for Leigh McLachlan's piece on the powhiri debate on the RNZ website I was insensed enough to think about writing a blog.  It was the headline - not the article itself - which demanded a response.  The headline "Maori elders cling on to powhiri custom" was pejorative and doubly  inappropritae because it was in contrast to the long and thorough article which canvassed the issues from many perspectives - it did not conclude or start from the premise that keeping a Maori tradition is 'clinging'.  Clinging has pathetic connotations.  The only reason that headline would appear with that article is because, rather obviously, a non-Maori wrote the headline.  Why else would that word have been used if they didn't view Maori elders as pathetic for valuing their traditions?  

And why else would it have been changed when I went back today to blog on it:

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Maori elders hold on to powhiri custom

Maori elders say the tradition prohibiting women from speaking in powhiri doesn't have to modernise to suit peoples' western perceptions.
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The headline has been changed to 'hold on to' - not 'cling' anymore.  Erase the racism.  It has been 'updated'. 

I wonder who did this and why?  I bet McLachlan would have been particularly upset at the headline for her work being trash like that.  What is the story behind this?

That's what happens when they don't allow non-Europeans to be employed: the Pakeha mentality and their casual racism is their corporate culture and that comes out automatically in every dimension - in this case an offensive editorial error.  It is cheap and ineffective cultural camoflage for the on-air presenters to use token Maori phrases at pre-arranged points on the hour - such tokenism is made all the more gross when editors are hostile and incapable of understanding Maori as demonstrated by such things as this headline swap.

The white folk at every level are above the brown folk and the white folk can just do what they want, be as racist as they want without repercussions.   That is the definition, or symptom, of every European colony and NZ is no different, excepting that it's colonials are more smug and delusional about their situation than just about any other. Just as with RNZ's self-serving audience surveys that justify a monocultural focus, RNZ does not - and never has - represented Maori or anyone other than a Wellington clique. Diversity and fairness to this clique is safely quarantined under the rubric of gender equality - not ethnic inclusion.

...and will we hear about any of this racist bullshit and RNZ's colour bar, about Jon Stephenson's bullshit reporting... or do they have to dress in white robes and burn crosses while Jon Stephenson interviews his tape recorder in front of Broadcasting House before their own ponderous and trivial Media Watch programme calls them on any of this bullshit?

It is time to disestablish RNZ, dissolve the organisation. And don't get me started on TVNZ

1 Comments:

At 20/5/14 4:16 pm, Blogger Unknown said...

Obviously some people believe that this should be the way things ought to be - Europeans are still over 70% of the population.The same people may be reacting against the Maori renaissance. RNZ may be of the same opinion. MY opinion is a little different. However I will not apologise for being a Scandi- Celtic Kiwi.

 

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