Interpreting & practicing kaupapa Māori research in a community setting: The in’s and out’s

Pou Tuia Rangahau is a unique community based research unit based within a kaupapa Māori organisation. Kaupapa Māori methodologies are utilised, with the importance of these methodologies being that Māori are defining the process, doing the research for and about Māori, with the eventual outcome being meaningful to Māori. This paper is placed within this wider context of Kaupapa Māori and how it applies to the practice of research in particular. We discuss how we interpret and practice Kaupapa Māori Research (KMR) within an urban community based organisation by highlighting a particular piece of research that was undertaken by Pou Tuia Rangahau, the Research Unit of Te Runanga O Kirikiriroa Trust Inc

Child poverty and media advocacy in aotearoa

New Zealand has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Research has shown that modern mass media provide a mediated cultural forum through which policy responses to child poverty are socially negotiated and from which public support for children in need is either cultivated or undermined. This thesis focuses on the role of media advocacy by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) who attempt to widen public debate and legitimate options for addressing child poverty. I investigate the case of the Government's Working for Families package and the controversy surrounding the media release of CPAG's negative evaluation of the package in the form of a research report Cut Price Kids. Attention is given to competing ideological frames underlying the Government's package, in the form of neo-liberal emphases on distinctions between God's and the Devil's poor. Attention is also given to CPAG's response, in the form of communitarian notions of collective responsibility for all families in need. Specifically, I analyse the role of the mass media in framing child poverty as a social issue across three levels of mass communication - production, representation, and reception. At the production level interviews were held with six journalists involved with reporting on Cut Price Kids and two members of CPAG. Fifteen Government and 5 CPAG press releases were also explored to document media production processes and restraints on public deliberations. In addition, the ideological stances influencing the framing of coverage were investigated. At the media representation level 21 press, seven radio, and five television items were analysed to establish the scope of public debate, whose perspectives were included, and the ways in which differing perspectives are combined. At the reception level four focus group discussions with lower socio-economic status (SES) parent groups, as well as follow-up photo-based interviews with eight participants were explored in order to document the role of media coverage in the lives of families with children living in poverty. Across levels, findings suggest that journalists are restrained by professional practices which maintain the importance of balance and detached objectivity, rather than interpretations of appropriate responses to child poverty. Tensions between the Government's emphasis on restricting support to families with parents in paid employment and CPAG's emphasis on the need to not discriminate against the children of out of work families framed coverage. The lower SES parents participating at the reception level challenged the restrained nature of coverage, which excluded people such as themselves, and openly questioned media characterisations of them as bludgers who are irresponsible parents. Overall, findings support the view that media are a key component of ongoing social dialogues through which public understandings of, and policy responses to, child poverty are constructed. Specifically, psychologists need to engage more with processes of symbolic power which shape the public construction of child poverty in a conservative manner that can lead to victim blaming, and restrains opportunities for addressing this pressing social concern

Media psychology, symbolic power and social justice in Aotearoa

Psychologists reside in a world saturated by media. We work in professional contexts where guidelines for practice foreground ethical obligations to address issues of social justice. This paper addresses both these contextual dimensions of psychological research and practice. We explore the social significance of increased media production by Maori in challenging the tendency in mainstream media to marginalize Maori concerns while promoting Pakeha perspectives. The analysis focuses on the recent 'Inside Out documentary - Hikoi', which was initiated by two young Maori women as a challenge to media framing of Maori protests as 'unjustified' and 'disruptive' acts. We illustrate how this documentary furthers public dialogue regarding the foreshore and seabed controversy by promoting an alternative depiction of a Maori protest, which emphasize the history of grievances and social unity. The implications of such representations for psychologists working to address issues of social justice and to challenge abuses of symbolic power are discussed

Characterizations of Pacific Island people in the New Zealand press

Researchers have documented how ethnic minorities are often disadvantaged in mainstream media coverage, which function to silence minority voices and to privilege majority voices. Such representational practices have very real implications for the position of ethnic minorities in society, and their associated rights and life chances. Portrayals of Pacific Islanders in newspapers reflect processes whereby media monitor marginalized groups and give prominence to negative attributes. This paper documents both promising and negative trends in print news portrayals of Pacific peoples and provides a basis for us to open a dialogue with Pacific media activists

Child poverty and government policy: the contesting of symbolic power in newspaper constructions of families in need

News media play a central role in processes of symbolic power through which social issues are defined and solutions legitimized. This paper explores the role of newspaper coverage in the public construction of the New Zealand Government's Working for Families package designed to address child poverty. This package was criticized publicly by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) for targeting financial support to working families and neglecting families who derive their income from state benefits. We document the resulting news controversy through analyses of press releases from Government and CPAG, the accounts of journalists and representatives of CPAG, news reports and four focus group discussions with beneficiary parents. We propose that psychologists engage more fully with processes of symbolic power currently shaping public constructions of poverty and policy responses

Pasifika in the news: the portrayal of Pacific peoples in the New Zealand press

Pacific Islanders have faced discrimination in New Zealand particularly since the 1960s when communities began to be transplanted from their home nations to Aotearoa as cheap immigrant labour. Subsequently, the New Zealand vernacular has contained references to Pacific Islanders as overstayers , coconuts , bungas and fresh off the boat [FOB]. However, the legacy of a domineering relationship between the Palagi[Note 1] majority group and Pacific minorities[Note 2] that is captured by such derogatory terms is still evident in public forums such as the media. Using a quantitative content and qualitative narrative analysis, this paper documents portrayals of Pacific Islanders in New Zealand print media reports (n = 65) published over a 3 month period. Findings reveal that Pacific people are predominantly portrayed as unmotivated, unhealthy and criminal others who are overly dependent on Palagi support. We consider this offered pacific identity formation with that implied for Palagi, which is active, independent, competent and caring. Issues in coverage are discussed in relation to how Pacific Islanders are encouraged to see themselves, and the health and social consequences of dominant practices in press coverage. We offer some suggestions as to how more equitable representations of Pacific people could be fostered in news media