The NZ Media's Pacific Agenda

In the New Zealand media there has been conspicuously limited coverage of the recent ethnic tensions in Tonga.

During the rioting in the nations capital in November 2006 eight Chinese immigrants were killed and a large section of the city was destroyed by fire. A number of ethnic Tongans are currently on trial for inciting violence and damaging property.

However, the story has been given little coverage on New Zeland television. This has been particularly noticeable on the left-of-centre TV One News.

In contrast, there has been extensive coverage of the Fiji coup even though the events in Fiji have unfolded peacefully and have had little real impact on New Zealand. Although many New Zealanders do have property in Fiji this doesn’t really explain the media’s intense fascination with the country’s politics. The last coup in Fiji had very little impact on New Zealand citizens living in Fiji or owning property there.

Furthermore, there are probably just as many Tongans living in New Zealand as ethnic Fijians, so it seems odd that the media is neglecting events that are directly relavant to this section of the population.

The coverage of events in Fiji also glosses over the significant ethnic tensions between native Fijians and Indian immigrants. Hence, it appears that the media wishes to downplay the problems of ethnic tensions in the region for fear that this might play into the hands of limited immigration advocates. Meanwhile it wishes to show that problems with democracy in Fiji are due to a small number of nativist military leaders and that western style democracy will prosper if the military are kept in check.

However, one of the primary reasons why Fiji is prone to military takeovers is because its democratic government is corrupt and inefficient- a trait it shares with most other government’s in the region. Despite what Helen Clarke and the NZ media may think, New Zealand is not going to be able to turn the South Pacific into a model region of democracy and prosperity.

As a successful western country, New Zealand should not be looking at the region through rose- tinted glasses.