Summarised by Centrist
Journalist Graham Adams argues that portraying the Cancer Society and similar institutions as inherently racist is both misleading and harmful.
It does not help that the mainstream media’s mission is “to convince the public of New Zealand’s deep-seated racism wherever possible, no matter how flimsy the evidence,” he writes.
The Cancer Society provides support services, such as free transport and counselling, largely through volunteer efforts.
He criticises a recent story from Te Ao Māori News and the NZ Herald, where a Māori woman alleged discrimination during her stay at Domain Lodge.
Adams writes:
“The journalist who repeated her allegations did not critically examine them; it seemed sufficient to simply assert them.”
He argues that the media readily repeat accusations of cultural insensitivity and discrimination, even for minor complaints, because:
“Without the allegation of ‘discrimination’ — meaning racism — there would have been no story.”
Adams, who underwent treatment for leukaemia himself, relates how he collapsed after treatment one evening while leaving the hospital. A nurse stayed past her shift to find him a bed in a consultants’ room, with the condition he vacate by 7am. Despite struggling to stand the next morning, he complied.
”No journalist would have thought my experience was a story worth reporting, and nor should they have,” he writes.
