"Extremism, Government agendas and media coverage: Your questions answered - NZ Herald"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/extremism-government-agendas-and-media-coverage-your-questions-answered/7UNWP337NBQVHM35IW5ZJ6DYBM/
Excerpt: Plenty of Herald readers have a bone to pick with the Government about its communication style.
Senior journalist (((David Fisher))) agrees that there's a big difference between strongly opposing, for example, the country's political direction and holding extreme views.
That said, there's a small but growing cohort of New Zealanders who do present a real threat, Fisher says.
"There's no doubt there were far-right extremists [at the Parliament protest]. They were among the people telling my colleagues they were going to kill them. And how many white supremacists is it okay to hang out with?"
Here's a wrap of yesterday's discussion:
Guy S: Agreed, we hear about far-right groups distributing pamphlets (as we should). But the reality is, we've got a government who's just sprung a pretty far-left agenda on the country and emboldened a bunch of far-left groups. For some reason though, far-left ideology seems to be deemed acceptable and it's only far-right ideology that gets criticised, when they're both as bad as each other.
David F: There's been some good research on this. A UK think-tank hired by the Department of Internal Affairs studied New Zealand's online extremist ecosystem. I've copied what it said here: "The far-right are by far the most numerous and active group online. Over half (356,170) of our 608,335 posts and just under half of the accounts (170) identified came from them. Conspiracy theorists accounted for another 226,870 posts (from 134 accounts), and had significant overlap in audience and followers with the far-right, at least on the platforms where this was able to be analysed." It's not apples and apples. The whole report is here:
https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Countering-violent-extremism-online/$file/NZ-Online-Extremism-Findings-Report.pdf
Riz B: David, do you think white folks in power misunderstand the call for them to share their power as somehow attacking white-ness? How can society become more equal and fair for all if sharing power can't even be rationally considered without defending white supremacy? Latest example: the comments on Monday's story about white supremacists distributing flyers in Tauranga instantly became a white-whinge session, and minimised the harm of relentless supremacist ideology thriving in NZ. The denial seemed to be all in the name of feeling white people feeling under siege. Comments were closed within a few hours otherwise I dare to think it could have looked even worse than it does now - hundreds of likes for lame excuses defending what happened.
Creator Comment: "Defending what happened"? Defending the statement It's Alright to be White means Defending the Right to be White. It's not criminal to be White - YET!
David F: I think people often feel attacked or defensive when issues of race arise. There's an understanding gap there which needs to be bridged. Part of that is generational through a history curriculum that includes stories of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Part of it needs to happen now. Necessary efforts to decrease extremism should also have a byproduct effect of promoting knowledge and understanding among those who aren't "extreme" but experience frustrations at a much lower end of the continuum.
Mark B: Co governance is being forced on the people of New Zealand by a relatively small group of people who think they know what is best for everyone. Is it any wonder that even people who are usually happy to go with the flow suddenly sit up and say "hang on a minute, how about asking us ( the people ) what we think"? In my discussions with others on this issue it is not a race issue as much as an issue of fairness. Will co governance not lead to two distinct classes of New Zealanders with two different sets of rights bases solely on who your great grandparents were? What is democratic or fair about that?
David F: It's not a race issue. It's a Treaty issue. I think there's value in taking a reality check too - it's not happening today, tomorrow or this parliamentary term. Also, I have a mental check on myself when these "not fair" issues crop up - I ask myself, are those who are crying unfair part of a group that is said to have enjoyed benefit at the cost of another party? And if so, what is the other party saying? And should those fairness issues be balanced, has the "not fair" group actually lost anything that didn't belong to them in the first place? I think these questions, among others, will be asked and answered as we go. If we get to a point where co-governance is a reality, it will be one in which a lot of uncomfortable questions have been asked, answered and properly explained to the public. And there will be voting between now and then too.
Fiona M: As one reader, I cannot speak for all readers, I weed through all the opinion pieces to try and find actual news based on unbiased factual events from which I can formulate my own opinion. Everything is now agenda driven, biased and preys on the reader's emotions. And then MSM have the audacity to ask why people are so mistrusting and angry? My question is, why has MSM become obsessed with opinion pieces? Who is driving this? When are we going to see more researched and fact checked news void of bias and opinion?
David F: Almost everything I write is fact-based or based on reportage of people who are experienced or informed about whatever they're commenting on. I do get people attacking me over those pieces for what is considered to be my "opinion", which also has me wondering whether we do enough to help people understand how we do our jobs. Here at the NZ Herald, things like this Q&A and The Front Page podcast hosted by my colleague Damien Venuto are really good innovations in that area.
Craig W: It is amazing how a microscopic virus has fuelled extremism throughout the world, not just in NZ. After all, NZ has been a key supporter of globalisation for the past 30 years. Fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of cultural values other than ones own have really surfaced since the pandemic began. The chaos created over the past few years and social media influence has played into the hands of extremists and has influenced those ordinary folk who fear for their future.
David F: I agree. Blah blah blah Russian bots .... The Russians did it.
https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Countering-violent-extremism-online/$file/NZ-Online-Extremism-Findings-Report.pdf
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/extremism-government-agendas-and-media-coverage-your-questions-answered/7UNWP337NBQVHM35IW5ZJ6DYBM/
Excerpt: Plenty of Herald readers have a bone to pick with the Government about its communication style.
Senior journalist (((David Fisher))) agrees that there's a big difference between strongly opposing, for example, the country's political direction and holding extreme views.
That said, there's a small but growing cohort of New Zealanders who do present a real threat, Fisher says.
"There's no doubt there were far-right extremists [at the Parliament protest]. They were among the people telling my colleagues they were going to kill them. And how many white supremacists is it okay to hang out with?"
Here's a wrap of yesterday's discussion:
Guy S: Agreed, we hear about far-right groups distributing pamphlets (as we should). But the reality is, we've got a government who's just sprung a pretty far-left agenda on the country and emboldened a bunch of far-left groups. For some reason though, far-left ideology seems to be deemed acceptable and it's only far-right ideology that gets criticised, when they're both as bad as each other.
https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Countering-violent-extremism-online/$file/NZ-Online-Extremism-Findings-Report.pdf
Riz B: David, do you think white folks in power misunderstand the call for them to share their power as somehow attacking white-ness? How can society become more equal and fair for all if sharing power can't even be rationally considered without defending white supremacy? Latest example: the comments on Monday's story about white supremacists distributing flyers in Tauranga instantly became a white-whinge session, and minimised the harm of relentless supremacist ideology thriving in NZ. The denial seemed to be all in the name of feeling white people feeling under siege. Comments were closed within a few hours otherwise I dare to think it could have looked even worse than it does now - hundreds of likes for lame excuses defending what happened.
Creator Comment: "Defending what happened"? Defending the statement It's Alright to be White means Defending the Right to be White. It's not criminal to be White - YET!
David F: I think people often feel attacked or defensive when issues of race arise. There's an understanding gap there which needs to be bridged. Part of that is generational through a history curriculum that includes stories of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Part of it needs to happen now. Necessary efforts to decrease extremism should also have a byproduct effect of promoting knowledge and understanding among those who aren't "extreme" but experience frustrations at a much lower end of the continuum.
Mark B: Co governance is being forced on the people of New Zealand by a relatively small group of people who think they know what is best for everyone. Is it any wonder that even people who are usually happy to go with the flow suddenly sit up and say "hang on a minute, how about asking us ( the people ) what we think"? In my discussions with others on this issue it is not a race issue as much as an issue of fairness. Will co governance not lead to two distinct classes of New Zealanders with two different sets of rights bases solely on who your great grandparents were? What is democratic or fair about that?
David F: It's not a race issue. It's a Treaty issue. I think there's value in taking a reality check too - it's not happening today, tomorrow or this parliamentary term. Also, I have a mental check on myself when these "not fair" issues crop up - I ask myself, are those who are crying unfair part of a group that is said to have enjoyed benefit at the cost of another party? And if so, what is the other party saying? And should those fairness issues be balanced, has the "not fair" group actually lost anything that didn't belong to them in the first place? I think these questions, among others, will be asked and answered as we go. If we get to a point where co-governance is a reality, it will be one in which a lot of uncomfortable questions have been asked, answered and properly explained to the public. And there will be voting between now and then too.
Fiona M: As one reader, I cannot speak for all readers, I weed through all the opinion pieces to try and find actual news based on unbiased factual events from which I can formulate my own opinion. Everything is now agenda driven, biased and preys on the reader's emotions. And then MSM have the audacity to ask why people are so mistrusting and angry? My question is, why has MSM become obsessed with opinion pieces? Who is driving this? When are we going to see more researched and fact checked news void of bias and opinion?
David F: Almost everything I write is fact-based or based on reportage of people who are experienced or informed about whatever they're commenting on. I do get people attacking me over those pieces for what is considered to be my "opinion", which also has me wondering whether we do enough to help people understand how we do our jobs. Here at the NZ Herald, things like this Q&A and The Front Page podcast hosted by my colleague Damien Venuto are really good innovations in that area.
Craig W: It is amazing how a microscopic virus has fuelled extremism throughout the world, not just in NZ. After all, NZ has been a key supporter of globalisation for the past 30 years. Fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of cultural values other than ones own have really surfaced since the pandemic began. The chaos created over the past few years and social media influence has played into the hands of extremists and has influenced those ordinary folk who fear for their future.
David F: I agree. Blah blah blah Russian bots .... The Russians did it.
https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Countering-violent-extremism-online/$file/NZ-Online-Extremism-Findings-Report.pdf
