Indian publisher welcomes press council's decision

Sangeeta Anand, publisher and editorial director of Auckland-based The Global Indian magazine, welcomed press council's decision about the Asian Angst article. "The decision underpins the fact that journalists' freedom of expression is not absolute," she said.

She was commenting on the Press Council's decision about a story titled "Asian Angst: Is it time to send some back?" published in the North & South magazine in November. The council withheld the complaints that the article breached principles of discrimination and accuracy.

Deborah Coddington, who wrote the cover story, argued in the article that Asian crime was on the rise. The statistics in the article said that in 2001 Asians made up 6.6 percent of the population but were responsible for 1.7 percent of all criminal convictions, and added "However, according to Statistics New Zealand national apprehension figures from 1996 to 2005, total offences committed by Asiatics (not including Indian) aged 17 to 50 rose 53 percent from 1791 to 2751."

The council ruling said that freedom of expression is not unlimited. "Amongst other things, it is subject to the prohibition on discrimination in the Human Rights Act. Magazines are entitled to take a strong position on issues they address (principle 7). But that does not legitimise gratuitous emphasis on dehumanising racial stereotypes and fear-mongering and, of course, the need for accuracy always remains," the ruling said.

"The key issue is the absence of correlation between the Asian population and the crime rate. It is abundantly clear... that the rate of offending is dropping pro rata. To then talk of a gathering crime tide is therefore wrong."

Ms Anand says that there is a need for more balanced reporting on ethnic issues and hopes to see more cultural diversity in New Zealand's media industry. "This also highlights the need to have more ethnic journalists in the newsrooms of large publications in New Zealand," she said.

www.theglobalindian.co.nz

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