ISSUE
Friday, August 22, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 73
The Hindu Media Forum was formally launched at the “Arohanui ki te Tangata” (Goodwill to all men) Marae, Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt in the backdrop of the Second Wellington Region Hindu Conference.
The Forum aims at fostering inter-ethnic harmony by promoting balanced analysis and coverage of community events and developments. One of its key roles is to help engage the New Zealand media with the Hindu community to curb stereotyping and eliminate factual errors.
The Forum will be coordinated by Indian Weekender columnist Mr Rakesh Krishnan Simha also a features writer with Fairfax Media NZ. The current volunteers include Mr Ranjit Singh Thakur, Head of Sanatan Media Watch, Ms Pritika Sharma, Joint General Secretary of Hindu Council, Mr Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Writer and media professional, and Dr Rajiv Chaturvedi, Media and Public Relations Officer of Hindu Council.
“There is an urgent need for factual dissemination of information about the Hindu community, especially in New Zealand which has been rather lazy in its understanding of Indian communities. India in general and Hindus in particular remain largely in New Zealanders' blind spot,” Simha says.
Also present during the launch was Ms Ann Dysart of the Ministry of Social Development. According to Ms Dysart, stereotyping of communities was indeed a matter of concern because it was detrimental to social harmony. She stressed on a non-judgmental approach while reporting community issues.
In New Zealand today, there are some news channels and publications that give more coverage to unnecessary “news” to boost their ratings, but thankfully they constitute only a small part of a much larger media corps.
At the same time, there are people who take a keen interest in watching sensationalised news where ethnic minorities are stereotyped. So essentially, there is demand for – and supply of – negative coverage.
The new forum plans to counter this.
The Hindu Media Forum was formally launched at the “Arohanui ki te Tangata” (Goodwill to all men) Marae, Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt in the backdrop of the Second Wellington Region Hindu Conference.
The Forum aims at fostering inter-ethnic harmony by promoting balanced analysis and coverage of...
The Hindu Media Forum was formally launched at the “Arohanui ki te Tangata” (Goodwill to all men) Marae, Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt in the backdrop of the Second Wellington Region Hindu Conference.
The Forum aims at fostering inter-ethnic harmony by promoting balanced analysis and coverage of community events and developments. One of its key roles is to help engage the New Zealand media with the Hindu community to curb stereotyping and eliminate factual errors.
The Forum will be coordinated by Indian Weekender columnist Mr Rakesh Krishnan Simha also a features writer with Fairfax Media NZ. The current volunteers include Mr Ranjit Singh Thakur, Head of Sanatan Media Watch, Ms Pritika Sharma, Joint General Secretary of Hindu Council, Mr Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Writer and media professional, and Dr Rajiv Chaturvedi, Media and Public Relations Officer of Hindu Council.
“There is an urgent need for factual dissemination of information about the Hindu community, especially in New Zealand which has been rather lazy in its understanding of Indian communities. India in general and Hindus in particular remain largely in New Zealanders' blind spot,” Simha says.
Also present during the launch was Ms Ann Dysart of the Ministry of Social Development. According to Ms Dysart, stereotyping of communities was indeed a matter of concern because it was detrimental to social harmony. She stressed on a non-judgmental approach while reporting community issues.
In New Zealand today, there are some news channels and publications that give more coverage to unnecessary “news” to boost their ratings, but thankfully they constitute only a small part of a much larger media corps.
At the same time, there are people who take a keen interest in watching sensationalised news where ethnic minorities are stereotyped. So essentially, there is demand for – and supply of – negative coverage.
The new forum plans to counter this.
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