MEDIAWATCH: RNZ needs a better review process than this

RNZ’s Gaza conflict coverage abided by its editorial policy – Review

A review of RNZ coverage regarding the conflict in Gaza has concluded RNZ has abided by its own editorial policy – as well as the standards and principles of the Media Council and the Broadcasting Standards Authority watchdogs.

The review assessed coverage and complaints made to RNZ since Palestinian armed groups attacked Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli response in Gaza and other areas in the region.

“There is a sense that complainants consider themselves and their families to be victims of bad reporting or unfair editorial decisions … and an underlying suspicion that the media generally is aligned with the people the complainants view as opponents,” said the review.

“I heard and read nothing I would consider likely to reach the point of breaching the standards, with the exception of one matter which led to RNZ quickly retracting and correcting a writing error and upholding complaints,” said the reviewer, former RNZ editorial policy manager Colin Feslier.

Colin Peacock of Mediawatch is quick to criticise everyone else but very soft when it comes to RNZ.

Asking a former RNZ staff member to review your Gaza coverage is about as independent as asking Mike Hosking to review the Herald.

We know mainstream coverage of the atrocity in Gaza has always been woeful…

…when we are staring down almost a quarter of a million dead Palestinians from direct violence, indirect violence and bodies still trapped and rotting under the debris that contaminates the entirety of Gaza, how our State Broadcaster reports this matters.

We are witnessing an ethnic cleansing war crime genocide in real time and siding with the oppressors and enablers of that violence is a moral issue as much as it is a journalism issue now.

RNZs ridiculous firing and framing of Mike Hall as a communist insurgent when it was an internal incompetence  (like TDB told you it was when the claims broke), highlights how jumpy RNZ are to criticism and will become ridiculously defensive at any claims of bias.

Is RNZ covering the genocide being committed by our allies in Gaza appropriately or not? We know apologist organisations that frame any criticism of Israel as anti-semitic frequently pressure media to not be critical of Israel and we know media are frightened of those lobby groups.

It matters how we are coving this appalling war crime or else citizens won’t appreciate the true magnitude of violence being disproportionately meted out upon the Palestinian people.

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.