Abstract:
This masters thesis is a qualitative study into news media representations of South Auckland. It also reports on perspectives of South Auckland youth, giving them the opportunity to ‘talk back’ (hooks, 1989) to dominant discourses about their community. I draw on Freire’s (1996) ‘theory of oppressive action’ and Fanon’s (1967) ‘theory of colonial domination and racism’ to examine power and how it has been used to marginalise the people of South Auckland. In particular I focus on the notion of voice and who gets to speak and be heard as a central focus of this thesis. In line with this I present the findings as a conversation, a dialogue between the voices of the news media, South Auckland youth, the Government and Government agencies, research and my own authorial voice. These voices all contribute to expressing the multi-faceted nature of South Auckland. An analysis of 388 news media articles provided an insight into the news media’s representations of South Auckland. Two focus group discussions were conducted in order to gain insight into South Auckland youth perspectives regarding their communities. The results of this thesis show that definitions of South Auckland are complex and multifaceted. ‘Insider and outsider’ discourses were evident and this study concludes that South Aucklanders are subjected to stereotypes and negative labelling by the news media. These reinforce marginalisation and exclusion of the communities and people who reside in South Auckland. This marginalisation and exclusion has very real and sometimes damaging consequences for people who live there and who identify as belonging to South Auckland.