Media and te Tiriti

For over 180 years, news coverage in Aotearoa has repeated themes that frame Māori as a problem and Pākehā control as normal.

Kupu Taea is an Auckland-based Māori and Pākehā media research group that has studied how the media reports Māori, te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori/Pākehā relations. Through the work and tools provided by them you can unpack the common patterns used by the media, show their impacts, and offer new ways to tell the story. You can make contact with with Kupu Taea here.

The key resources developed by Kupu Taea are:

• Alternatives to Anti-māori themes

• Guidelines for media

• Guidelines and resources for media educators

• You can also read more about the research and mahi led by Kupu Taea over the years here.

If you are interested in reading further about racism in the media, here are some links we think you might find useful:

Aotearoa specific articles

In December 2020, Stuff became the first major New Zealand media outlet to issue a public apology for its racist reporting on Māori. Through the Our Truth, Tā Mātou Pono project, it investigated its own archives and acknowledged how systemic bias had shaped decades of coverage, setting a precedent for accountability in Aotearoa journalism.

Read Stuff’s apology →

Just three years later, Stuff cut back its dedicated Pou Tiaki team, which had been created to strengthen Māori reporting and perspectives after the apology. The move raised questions about the sustainability of institutional change, and whether the commitment to decolonising media can withstand commercial pressures.

Read The Spinoff’s report →

This research explores how Pākehā in Aotearoa understand, rationalise, and respond to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. By analysing the narratives and reasoning patterns that shape Pākehā views, the report offers practical insights into how conversations about the Treaty can be framed to encourage more constructive, equity-focused engagement. It’s especially relevant for educators, advocates, and communicators seeking to shift public discourse away from defensiveness and toward responsibility and partnership.

Read the full Workshop report →

Wider international reading

All Together Now used a structured monitoring framework (2018–2020) to analyse hundreds of race-related opinion pieces across mainstream Australian outlets. Their reports and infographics make visible how racism appears in public commentary—and how it can be challenged in practice.

View Altogether Now’s reports →

A rolling collection of expert pieces that unpack how racism is produced, normalised, or resisted in news and commentary. Useful for quick, evidence-informed reads that echo patterns we see around Treaty and Māori coverage.

Browse The Conversation’s articles →

Shows how a public agency frames and responds to online and media-based racism. Helpful as a policy reference point when considering Crown responsibilities and system-level responses in Aotearoa.

Read Victoria’s strategy section →

Guidance for journalists and editors on avoiding harmful frames and building context-rich stories. Good for shifting from critique to “what good looks like” in everyday reporting.

Read MDI’s commentary →

Brief research insight into how attention to structural racism rises and falls, and how anti-equity backlash is seeded. Useful for understanding similar pushback dynamics in NZ debates.

Read COMM’s briefing →

Curated academic resources for deeper study: theory, case studies, and teaching materials for those wanting to go beyond headlines.

Explore ISU’s library guide →