The effect of media populism on racist discourse in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

While populism is commonly considered antagonistic to democratic liberalism, recent research demonstrates how populist rhetoric may highjack traditional liberal discourses and opportunistically refashion them against the plight of minorities. Drawing on the concept of media populism, this research investigates how notions of ‘democracy’ and ‘equality’ were contested in debates on racism in New Zealand regional newspaper, The Taranaki Daily News, and further deployed to promote a populist agenda, against the representation of the Indigenous minority, Māori, in the local government. The analysis of letters to the Editor shows the prevalence of anti-Māori sentiment, articulated through such populist rhetoric as ‘majority’, ‘whole community’ and ‘togetherness’; while the appeal for Māori representation was framed as ‘special treatment’, ‘positive discrimination’, ‘separatism’ and ‘reverse racism’. Hence, by endorsing the populist discourse, media provide their audiences with the moral affinity to support racist and anti-minority policies; ultimately producing the political phenomenon of media populism.

KEYWORDS:

• Media populism
• Māori ethnicity
• democracy
• ‘Not racism’
• critical discourse analysis (CDA)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elena Maydell

Elena Maydell teaches in the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand. Her research interests include cross-cultural communication, identity studies, minority discourse, critical public relations and media studies. Her recent publications focused on the issues of discrimination of migrant groups in New Zealand and unfavourable constructions of Māori in media representations of child abuse.

Keith Tuffin

Keith Tuffin teaches social psychology in the School of Psychology at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand. His research applies social constructionist approaches to the study of prejudice, discrimination and racism.

Eleanor Brittain

Eleanor Brittain is a PhD student in the School of Psychology at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand. Her Master’s thesis explored Māori interactions with the criminal justice system and experiences of institutional racism.