In a world where information flows around the world in seconds and where many individuals have the opportunity to express their personal viewpoints – who can we trust and how do we verify the facts?
Just because we read something on social media it doesn’t mean it’s true. Rumours, gossip and incorrect facts can be magnified and spread. Sometimes it’s a simple misunderstanding, sometimes it’s spread to cause hurt and pain. That’s called disinformation. During the covid pandemic for example, disinformation about vaccines, about where the pandemic came from and how to protect yourself were spread deliberately. You will probably have come across disinformation about ethnic communities.
Who can we trust?
In New Zealand the news media is generally regarded as independent, benefiting from strong legal protections, a tradition of journalistic freedom and a regulatory environment that supports media independence.
New Zealand has no significant censorship laws. The New Zealand government does not control the news media and our politicians are expected to be open and transparent about their decisions. New Zealand journalists have a code of ethics and generally they attempt to cover all sides to a news story.
Government has a role to play in ensuring freedom of expression and independence of the news media. The Bill of Rights Act 1990 includes protections for freedom of expression, religious belief, sexual orientation and governs the Human Rights Commission which resolves disputes relating to discrimination and promotes human rights.

Two broadcasters, Radio New Zealand and TVNZ, are funded by government and existing legislation ensures they have freedom of expression without interference. They provide news, opinion pieces and indepth interviews with commentators. Radio New Zealand has a regular weekly interview with both the Prime Minister (Tuesday morning) and the Leader of the Opposition, (Wednesday morning).
TVNZ presents several news programmes during the week. There are daily news reports and indepth interviews about current affairs.

If you have a complaint about the print media or one of its websites you can submit a complaint to the New Zealand Media Council. This is an industry self-regulatory body providing the public with an independent forum for resolving complaints involving the newspapers, magazines and the websites of such publications and other digital media. The Council is also concerned with promoting media freedom and maintaining the press in accordance with the highest professional standards.
There is no more important principle in a democracy than freedom of expression. Freedom of expression and freedom of the media are inextricably bound. The print media guards freedom of expression, not just for publishers’ sake but, more importantly, in the public interest. In dealing with complaints, the Media Council will give primary consideration to freedom of expression and the public interest.
The Council’s website advises that “public interest is defined as involving a matter capable of affecting the people at large so that they might be legitimately interested in, or concerned about, what is going on, or what may happen to them or to others.”
“Distinctions between fact, on the one hand, and conjecture, opinion or comment, on the other hand, must be maintained. This does not prevent rigorous analysis. Nor does it interfere with a publication’s right to adopt a forthright stance or to advocate on any issue. Further, the Council acknowledges that the genre or purpose of a publication or article, for example blogs, satire, cartoons or gossip, call for special consideration in any complaint.”
It’s important to differentiate between factual news stories, and opinion pieces or editorials. People are allowed under The Bill of Rights Act 1990 to express their opinions, to express themselves and to hold religious beliefs so long as they do not impinge on other people’s rights. Most print and television media allow the public to comment on news stories through letters to the editor and through their social media accounts.
If you are suspicious of what you are reading on social media, check out what is being said by the New Zealand news media, their journalists are doing the fact checking on your behalf. And if you believe something in the news media is incorrect, don’t hesitate to call them out through independent watch dogs. – by Heather Newell, MComms, FFINZ, CEO Matakite Online Trust