Hobson's Pledge trustee Don Brash. Photo / George Novak
Hobson's Pledge trustee Don Brash. Photo / George Novak
NZ Herald publisher NZME says it will not run a planned new advertisement from the Hobson’s Pledge lobby group, following the publication of a controversial front-page newspaper ad last week.
Hobson’s Pledge planned to place a new ad in the Herald newspaper this Wednesday, trustee Don Brash said in anemailed statement to supporters on Monday afternoon, reinforcing that it would not back down on its commentary about ownership of the foreshore and seabed.
NZME has since said in a statement the ad would not be published.
“We are reviewing our policies and processes around advocacy advertising and we have advised Hobson’s Pledge that we will not be running their advertisement,” said an NZME spokeswoman.
It is understood the matter will be discussed by the company’s executive team.
The decision comes amid a heated reaction to last Wednesday’s advertisement, in which Hobson’s Pledge said the foreshore and seabed must be restored “to public ownership”. The campaign comes as the Government moves to amend section 58 of the Marine and Coastal Area Act.
The front-page advertisement that ran in last Wednesday's NZ Herald.
In a statement on Friday, Te Pāti Māori announced it would no longer engage with NZ Herald journalists because of the advertisement and the “disgusting attack” by Hobson’s Pledge.
“The New Zealand Herald have allowed themselves to be bought off by a well-resourced anti-Māori collective. They have promoted misinformation on their front page so they can feast off the anti-Māori agenda being pursued by this Government,” said co-leader Rawiri Waititi.
He said the advertisement was full of “deceitful” misinformation designed to sow resentment of Māori.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi. Photo / Marty Melville
In his statement to supporters on Monday afternoon, Brash said the reaction to the advertisement had been “extraordinary”.
“In public, prominent Māori figures have loudly accused Hobson’s Pledge of misinformation, racism, hatred, and more. In private, our inbox has been hit with explicit death threats the likes of which we have never seen before ...
“Our opponents appear not to be angry because we said anything false, but because we printed truthful information that they do not want to be widely understood. Whatever your position on customary rights to the foreshore and seabed, New Zealanders having access to more information about it shouldn’t be a negative.”
Brash told the Herald this evening he was “very disappointed” with NZME’s latest decision and he would advise supporters.
Earlier, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer demanded an apology from the Herald and NZME, and called on it to review advertising standards “including a robust plan to protect tangata whenua and a process for checking the accuracy of adverts”.
“This is not about Hobson’s Pledge. Their racism is well-known. It’s about the integrity of the media and their moral obligation to the indigenous people of this land,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Waatea News media company says it is cutting its informal content-sharing ties with the NZ Herald.
“Having reviewed the material printed last week, I cannot, and will not, in all good conscience, accept that the Herald decided to accept an advertorial filled with misinformation – accepting a payment for what was essentially an advertisement sowing division between Māori and non-Māori,” interim general manager Matthew Tukaki said in a statement.
In response, an NZME spokesperson reiterated to Media Insider the company was reviewing its policies and processes around advocacy advertising.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including managing editor, NZ Herald editor and Herald on Sunday editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
