The way we report

By Nakita Ardern

What effects is the picture the New Zealand media is painting of our country having on a global level?

Supply and demand… that’s the way the world works isn’t it? Consumers are provided with what suppliers believe they want.
The same can be said about the news we, as an audience seek out.
For one week from Monday 13 to Friday 17 August I paid particular focus to the news stuff.co.nz selects to include on their homepage.
During this period I found that 52 percent of the total front page story headings highlighted stories of a negative nature e.g. Mother too late to visit son. Of the top stories (the leading story, four to five secondary leading stories and the six pictured links) 55 percent were negative, 25 percent were positive and 20 percent were neutral.
The Editor’s Picks tended to follow suit with 55 percent negative, 34 percent positive and 11 percent neutral.
What is most interesting is the Most Popular stories contained 78 percent negative headlines, 12 percent positive and 10 percent neutral. Hence we can see that this particular media outlet is simply providing what it believes and is proven the public want.
It is a common perception that New Zealand media take preference to report on bad news over good news. During my time at journalism school, I was greeted each day with a poster on the wall which was often referred to by lecturers – ‘if it bleeds, it leads’ was its message.
With reporters tending to focus on only the bad that is happening, an image is created of an incredibly volatile country when really there is a lot of good that is happening here.
And the effects of this selection of information are far reaching.
To any expats that are considering returning home there is not a lot to get excited about when the news is constantly portraying us as a nation of child molesters and serial killers.
Media don’t seem to be able to identify some of the great achievements that are happening out there and the very worthy people that deserve news columns.
According to the latest nationwide American Express Dining, more than a third (35%) of Kiwis who use social media to rate their dining experiences will post a negative review within hours of the meal – 27% will do so immediately.
Traditionally, if consumers have an unpleasant dining experience, they’re inclined to tell more people, says Marisa Bidois, Chief Executive, Restaurant Association of New Zealand.
“Diners are going online to vent their frustration; which means bad news now travels faster than ever before, and to a much bigger audience – it’s definitely an emerging trend.”
Why is the good stuff secondary news?
New Zealand is keen to attract expats and their skills back home so why not paint the country in a great light? After all, it truly is a great place to live.
And not only expats, but retaining those who are considering leaving as well as attracting doctors, educators, academics and other people who we want in this environment who have the skills to fill the places of those leaving.
If they were researching New Zealand, all they’d find are news sites dredging up all the bad that we have.
It’s time we took it about face and celebrated what is great by reporting the good stuff with the same energy and enthusiasm as we do the bad stuff.
During the Olympics, with all the success we were achieving, all anyone was reporting was the oversight of Valerie Adams (formerly known as Valerie Vili). It was blown out of proportion.
With all the great Kiwi achievements we had to celebrate they received only about half as much attention as something that was negative.
Stop the exodus and get people thinking about why this is such a great place to live!