Responsible Reporting

Annabelle Lee is the executive producer of The Hui, a current affairs programme that has been recognised for its careful reporting of issues that are sensationalised in other newsrooms for the reaction that they will get.

News reports over the past few weeks following the league game between Tonga and Samoa dealt with the game and the following celebrations with heated and aggressive language, almost encouraging certain racist responses through the perpetuation of certain stereotypes. Last week Sam Smith interviewed Ben Ross about those stereotypes, particularly to do with South Auckland.

Today, we hear from Annabelle about her thoughts on the implications of such language and the imbalance in reporting of different people from different reporters. I started by asking her what her response was to the reports of the league game and we spoke extensively about what reporters can do to shift this culture in mainstream newsrooms.