Did New Zealand's mainstream newspapers collude to collectively cancel an unobjectionable advert?

I swear New Zealand’s mainstream media are not only going to bore their readers to death eventually, but they’ll also bore themselves into their own demise. As time goes on, our MSM gets evermore tedious, risk-averse, mundane, and uniform. The only ones who get a thrill out of all this are the wokerati¹, simply because they’re so scared of controversy that not messing their pants from the fear of a different opinion is an actual thrill.

Sure, there are some blokes who say they’re women getting a huge thrill from milking the free pass the wokerati have given them to go into female spaces to be voyeurs and exhibitionists with complete impunity. They’re getting a buzz a minute, for sure - but I’m not talking about them right now. Although, it can’t be denied that their pervy presence is gratis of the wokerati, who need smelling salts at the thought of any offence given to pervy blokes who say they’re women, but it’s completely fine if women are offended.

Nah – I’m talking about the collective shudders from our mainstream media when – gasp – someone’s values don’t align with theirs. Yep, your values now have to align with our mainstream medias’ values before they’ll condescend to take your money off you to advertise with them. Those values are usually vague and undefined, and seem to depend on who’s offended about what on which day of the week. Gone is the time when different values were valued by the media, because it was a reflection of the society we live in, and it kept the money-pool broad and deep. Now, different values are scary.

Recently, a conservative Christian organisation called Family First got advertisements approved to run in some of New Zealand’s mainstream newspapers for a campaign - and then they all cancelled it, seemingly after colluding with each other. The advertisements were going to be full page, so we’re talking about a reasonable loss of revenue for the newspapers. However, no rational explanations for the cancellations were provided. Neither was the campaign subversive, but it did ask people to “Sign our petition to ensure that ‘woman’ is to be defined as ‘an adult human female’ in all our laws, public policies and regulations.”

Cue what can only be surmised as a wokerati meltdown.

Bob McCroskie, the CEO of Family First, showed the acceptance and then cancellation of the advertisements in a Twitter thread on his account @bobmccoskrienz. It went like this in seven steps –

1. The NZ Herald approved it.

2. Stuff NZ approved it.

3. The Otago Daily Times approved it.

4. Then something happened. Someone called someone, and there appeared to be a collusion to cancel.

5. The NZ Herald cancelled it, although they were careful not to call it exactly that.

   

   6. Stuff NZ cancelled it.

   

   7. The Otago Daily Times cancelled it.

   

I’m not a Christian conservative, nor do I follow any faith-based religion. Family First and I would part company on some beliefs, but big deal - I part company with most people I know on some matters. On the matter of not believing that any man whomsoever says he’s a woman is one, though, Family First and I are in lockstep. Christian conservative women and girls have as much right to not have their rights and language eroded upon demand by these men as anyone else. They too need rights and language they can rely on, in order to thrive in public life. I say good on Family First for being a faith-based group not only going public about it, but willing to do something about it.

If there are those who prefer to hold the line and keep their politics or faith ‘pure’ by not allying with people on this issue who would be in opposition to them on other issues, I don’t mind, but I’m not one of those. In fact, I’d argue that purists are necessary, in a way. However, when women’s and children’s rights and wellbeing are under threat like they currently are, I’m prepared to ally with ‘strange bedfellows’ as the saying goes.

My worldview has been turned upside down in the last few years², and I clearly understand that no one is safe from being ‘cancelled’ if there are no brakes applied to it. It might be an organisation you disagree with now, but it could be any of us next week. And just a parting word of wisdom, because I flatter myself I have a few of those now as a b’older woman (😊) - sometimes we have to hear things we don’t like, in order to be clear in our hearts and minds about what we do like, what our own boundaries are, and why.

¹ Wokerati -woke people as a collective.

² How did I get here? A bit about me in brief(ish). (substack.com)