New research released by the Broadcasting Standards Authority shows diverse communities avoid public broadcasts due to experiences with offensive or harmful content.
More than three-quarters of Māori (79%), Pacific Peoples (85%), Asians (76%) and Muslims (75%) surveyed by the BSA feel exposure to offensive, discriminatory or controversial views is a problem in New Zealand.
About a third of Māori, Pacific Peoples and Muslims, and 21% of Asians, have read, seen or heard such views shared publicly in the past six months. Examples include inciting conflict, reinforcing stereotypes, misinformation, unbalanced reporting and jokes or attacks about people’s differences.
More than half say they avoid viewing or listening to TV or radio because there’s too much misinformation and inappropriate content (Māori 55%, Pacific 50%, Asian 52%, Muslim 52%).
Social media, however, is the most cited platform for seeing offensive material (and considered the most harmful), followed by free-to-air TV and online news sites.
Only a minority of those surveyed feel New Zealand has the right balance between freedom of expression and potential harm, while a majority feel freedom of expression needs to be tempered by the need to respect the views of others.
The findings form part of new BSA research* on impacts of particular forms of expression on diverse communities, and how well these communities are served by the broadcasting standards regime.
BSA Chief Executive Stacey Wood says it’s saddening to see the extent of feelings of anger, hurt and rejection engendered by content across many platforms.
“Our research gives sobering insights into these communities’ experiences of harm and their perspectives on the weight to be given to freedom of expression in different scenarios. The findings will be useful in informing future BSA decisions.
“With other research highlighting concerns over falling trust in media generally, our survey also gives some insight into what might be impeding.”
The full research report is available on the BSA website.
