Getting Heard

Getting Heard – How New Zealand’s Media Covered Two Protests

Over the past few months, two significant events ignited public outrage and saw tens of thousands of New Zealanders take to the streets in protest. Yet, the media response to these events differed starkly, raising questions about how regional issues and national debates are prioritized in New Zealand’s newsrooms.

The first flashpoint occurred on September 26, when Health Minister Shane Reti announced that the government would backtrack on aspects of the long-promised Dunedin Hospital rebuild. Just two days later, on September 28, approximately 35,000 protestors gathered in Dunedin, voicing their anger and frustration at what they saw as another instance of failed promises from the National Government and the marginalisation of the South Island needs.

The second moment came weeks later with the introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill (TPB) to Parliament. This contentious draft legislation sparked its own wave of protest, beginning with a Hīkoi that departed Cape Rēinga on November 6 and culminated at Parliament on November 19. Meanwhile, a Haka was performed outside Parliament on November 14, the day of the bill’s first reading.

At first glance, the protests shared much in common. Both saw large groups of New Zealanders expressing anger and a sense of disenfranchisement. Both were fueled by deeply emotional issues—healthcare infrastructure for Dunedin and constitutional principles for the nation.

Coverage: Prior to Protests

The volume and depth of media coverage each protest received were strikingly different – in particular the limited amount of content from some major media organisations. 

Coverage: During Protests

To understand how these events were reported, it’s helpful to recall the key protest dates: September 28 for Dunedin Hospital and November 14 and 19 for the Treaty Principles Bill.

Dunedin Hosptial Protest

Coverage

Key Dates:

• September 26: Announcement
• September 28: Protest
• 3 articles from NZME on the protests

Content

Much of the content produced covered the need for the Dunedin Hospital to be rebuilt.  BusinessDesk was one of the few media publications that looked at the decision making process.

During the Dunedin protests, #nzpol posts frequently highlighted frustration with the hospital rebuild, but also called into question the role that the previous government played, Govt taxes cuts, tobacco lobbyist etc.

Treaty Principles Bill Protests

Coverage

Key Dates:

• November 6: Hīkoi leaves Cape Rēinga (Te Rerenga Wairua)
• November 14: TPB has its first reading and Māori MP’s perform a Haka
• November 19: Hīkoi arrives at Parliament

• 58 articles from NZME on the protests

Content

For the most part coverage on The Treaty Principles Bill, was nuanced and informative. However, even here, certain outlets skewed the narrative, and Newstalk ZB, for instance whilst using words that emphasized controversy over context (feathers, hats, chaos, bombastic, entertainment) appeared more restrained on this issue.

Social Media – post from supressed news

This post on ‘X’ probably garnered the most likes that a tweet about NZ has had in a very long time. 294,704 likes, definitely worth watching. 

Apart from the ODT, all other major media groups produced significant less coverage on the Dunedin Hospital Protest.  The amount of coverage from Stuff and RNZ was similar but NZME produced considerably less. This raises questions about editorial priorities and the broader narratives shaping public discourse.

The Otago Daily Times (ODT) coverage, on the Dunedin Hospital downgrade, outstripped that of  Stuff, RNZ, and NZME, —and  underscores the critical role of local media. While the ODT’s reporting kepts the issue alive within the region, maintaining a reach and influence beyond Dunedin is challenging.

The coverage of the Dunedin protests also feeds into a broader debate about the North-South divide in Aotearoa/New Zealand. For the people of Dunedin, one of the rallying cries of their protest was “getting heard.” Many believed North Island-centric media dominance and politics drowned out their region’s concerns, advocates pointed to systemic inequalities in resource allocation and political attention.

Local Government Reporting

The analysis suggests significant underreporting of the Dunedin protest, highlighting broader disparities in how regional and national issues are covered. This divide becomes even starker when examining local government reporting, where coverage of Wellington vastly outweighs that of other cities, such as Christchurch. Despite being New Zealand’s second-largest city New Zealand’s second-largest city,  Christchurch receives a fraction of the attention afforded to Wellington, further illustrating the imbalance in media focus and the marginalization of South Island concerns.  The local government content related to Wellington (NZs third largest city) was seven times more prevalent than that of Christchurch. While Wellington’s status as the political capital (and having a fractious council) and Auckland’s position as the largest city naturally draw more media coverage— but such an imbalance risks marginalizing the concerns and needs of the South Island.

Conclusion

Amidst all this analysis, one question looms large: what level of reporting would there have been if no protest had taken place? Without the visible display of frustration, would the Dunedin Hospital downgrade garnered significant attention, or would the issue have quietly faded into the background, overshadowed by other national priorities? This question highlights the precarious relationship between media attention and public action, underscoring the power of protests to shape the news agenda.

Data used in this post comes from this dataset