There were so many complaints from angry white reactionary Kiwis complaining that Te Reo was on the radio/TV/Paper that in 2021, the BSA was forced to release a press release stating they would no longer consider complaints about the use of te Reo in media.
It’s the angry white reactionary Kiwis I feel most sorry for with the shutting down of the BSA, who will they complain to now?
Most race-related complaints to the BSA are NOT from minorities, a large share of “race-related” complaints are actually pushback against perceived pro-Māori framing, not complaints from Māori about discrimination so let’s stop pretending the BSA was some great guardian against ignorance or hate speech, it’s been a vehicle used to attack Māori and minorities, not protect them!
What we actually need are a Journalism Standards Authority.
In a time of such polarised social media anger masquerading as news, we need standards that the Fourth Estate holds up and can be challenged on so we can actually differentiate with debate that is fair (and built with a system that is accountable for the content created), and debate that is bad faith, manipulative and corrosive to democracy.
These journalistic standards are not nice to haves, they are a fundamental means to ensure journalism has standards and is respected by those who engage with it.
We need a means of challenging news narratives that lean into conspiracy or ignorance or tropes. Journalistic standards that ensure balance, good faith quoting, right of reply, whistle blower protections and Journalistic privilege would allow channels for those offended to challenge those narratives and make the journalist accountable to that code.
We need more checks and balances in journalism, not less!
