Media Bias Exposed | David Farrar | The Common Room

To many Kiwis the media are not seen as disinterested reporters. They are often seen as employees of companies with ideological agendas who not only don’t understand New Zealanders who are not left-leaning, but show active hostility towards them. But does the research back up this view? Watch David Farrar, pollster, blogger, and media commentator, share his views.

Script:
I want to talk about media bias in New Zealand. Now by media bias, I don’t mean that there is a cabal of journalists deliberately being biased, as you sometimes see in the United States. The bias I mean is unconscious bias, where many journalists have a worldview that makes it impossible for them to fairly report on values, beliefs and policies supported by people, not on the left of politics.

It has generally been accepted in many countries that more journalists lean left than right, but until recently, we have not had any hard data for New Zealand. Fortunately, the Worlds of Journalism Study in late 2022 has now provided some useful data through their survey of working journalists.

The study found a massive 81% of NZ journalists classified their political views as left of centre and only 15% as right of centre. So rather than have a 1:1 ratio of left-leaning journalists to right-leaning journalists, you have a 5:1 ratio.

This is in stark contrast to the New Zealand population. The 2020 election survey by Auckland University found 28% of respondents identified as left of centre and 43% as right of centre. So journalists are very unrepresentative of New Zealand in terms of political views.

New Zealand journalists were also far more likely to hold extreme left views. 20% of journalists said their political views are hard or extreme left, compared to 6% of adults. On the other side of the spectrum, only 1% said their political views are hard or extreme right compared to 10% of the adult population.

In the last few years we have also had the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. This fund in no way requires journalists to report favourably on the government, but it does require journalism recipients to subscribe to the government’s views on the Treaty of Waitangi, which means that debate on the hugely important issue of the role of the Treaty of Waitangi is almost entirely absent from most of the New Zealand media.

#media #newzealand #politics #msm #freespeech

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[chuckbirdnz]

David, I cannot help feeling that as well as the treaty that climate emergency is part of the deal.

[rossr]

People don't like being lied to.
Media says - Still gettn' paid.
If these outlets can't survive without the PIJF dollars then their business is just a hobby.

[geoffneal]

Dear media outlets cited - would love to hear your comments, please...

Do you think there is a media political bias problem?

If not, please explain why your opinion trumps this research.

If so, what do you plan to do ti fix it, not just for your news outlet(s), but to hold others to account?

[brianfasher]

The level of bias and corruption in New Zealand's current government, bureaucracy and media is disgusting. Don't just vote Labour out in 2023, vote them into minor party oblivion. My vote is going to ACT NZ.

[alternatsville]

Does everyone remember in the lock Downs the video from Australia of the horse being hit, or something, forget all details... I completely forget the claim but for 2 days the general public could see the video from several angles when it finally appeared on the news they showed the shot only one picture that would depict what they wanted it to depict, where is the story and the facts were actually completely the opposite. I called the journalists responsible for that piece at newshub the very next day and had a really interesting conversation and I actually have recorded it. Her claim was that the news was a point of perspective. Her claim to me was that the news is only a point of perspective so yes they do just tell you one point of perspective not the truth.

[kevinansley]

What clown still believes news in the light of government ownership?

[NzLandr]

I no longer watch or listen to NZ mainstream media

[sue.F]

A very good point indeed! Yes, let’s have the concept of diversity embrace political leanings too, otherwise the public will continue to distrust the media.

[pixelpimpnz]

Much like the argument of getting more women into jobs where they historically have low representation, perhaps the left leaning journalist problem is because people that have centrist or right of centre views dont consider journalism a job they want to do, as theyre generally more likely to end up in a field that relies more on actual facts like STEM, or pays better like Business, than a poor paying industry that has relied further and further on opinion pieces to generate clicks for advertising revenue.

[tindersurprise]

I showed a leftie mate of mine the 5:1 ratio of left:right journalists and he said "what's wrong with that?" Isn't it amazing? If it were the other way round, the crybaby intolerable left would be throwing tantrums left right and centre ;)

[sojourn]

You don’t think there is a cabel of journalists being deliberately biased?🤣🤣🤣 I think you need to get out more. Bias is deliberate.

[overover..]

The Labour / Stuff government needs to go

[mikebarton]

*This hasn't aged well at all!* 😂

[graestarr]

today all media feels like a reactionary grift. left, right and moderate.

[gerrydepp]

This must be why I never read any NZ jurnalism - either on paper or on the net - TV? whats that?. And very few people I know do give it much time. If they didnt get gov support they would be out of a job and real Journalism would return. But then real politicts might return too, and we cant have that...

[waterbourne]

...and then there's the Overton Window over the top of this which has been drifting, or being 'nudged' in the current parlance, further left over time.

[annlynch]

First, define the centre. The centre of a roomful of sporty teenagers will give a different answer to the centre of a roomful of bank managers.

[titiwhai]

Whatabout Asia NZ Foundation as a poll on migration?

[lowtech_]

Your idea of Left, is alot different than mine.

[neilwatts]

Even more remarkable then, that despite these statistics, so few supposedly left leaning journalists are employed in political reporting positions or promoted to senior editorial roles.
Could it be that in a corporate media environment where right wing free market ideology is the bread and butter status quo, and conservatism is institutionalised, the vast majority of journalists are overlooked for political positions in favour of the more conservative voices we consistently hear and read from the likes of NZME, 1NEWS, NewsHub etc?