Aaron Smale: Double standards, slurs & Maiki Sherman
Aaron Smale: If you’re outraged by what Maiki Sherman (pictured) said, are you just as outraged by the everyday abuse Māori female journalists are subjected to? Photo / Supplied
As deadline approached, One News political editor Maiki Sherman resigned after it was exposed she had used a homophobic slur against Stuff journalist Lloyd Burr during a social event in Finance Minister Nicola Willis’s office over a year ago. Reluctantly, I put other topics for this column aside to write this one – but only because the whole situation is an ugly mess.
For the record, I don’t know Sherman, except to say hello to. I haven’t worked with her as a colleague and haven’t spoken to her for this column.
It would be fair to assume she and Burr now deeply regret that interaction, though for different reasons. But the outcomes have been sharply different.
One aspect I have found troubling is the imbalance in the way it was covered by the media. Another is the distraction from the inability of Christopher Luxon to handle serious media scrutiny.
In her announcement, Sherman said: “From my own perspective and for context, my comment was made in response to deeply personal and inappropriate remarks made to me that evening.
“This does not excuse my actions, I took responsibility for that a year ago, it is merely to help others understand why I reacted the way that I did.”
This statement alone raises serious questions which have yet to be answered. But I’ll ask a few.
The story became public when Ani O’Brien, a former staffer for senior National Party MP Judith Collins, wrote about it on her Substack page. According to O’Brien, the “media” sat on a story that should have been exposed.
Yes, the media was aware of it, obviously. But there’s a difference between a journalist hearing a sensational rumour and being able to publish something that stands up factually and legally. Newstalk ZB was aware of the allegation and you could hardly accuse it of wanting to sit on it. Social media and self-published pundits don’t have the same legal constraints as journalists.
Stuff employs a number of journalists who could have broken the story if Burr had been willing to talk He wasn’t, so they didn’t.