Article Consumers, crazies and killer whales: The environment on New Zealand television

This study is an analysis of environmental content on New Zealand-produced television. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis was undertaken of 140 hours of program-ming, across all genres, from four New Zealand television channels. Programmes were analysed for the prevalence of environmental content, which specific topics were mentioned and how the environment was positioned in relation to the programme’s narrative. The study found that television’s attention to the environment is relatively infrequent, with a diverse range of issues and perspectives. While these portrayals were almost always positive towards the environment, they were frequently linked to consumerist values, positioned as separate from everyday reality and were generally supportive of the social and political status quo. An exception to this was programming aimed at Maori audiences, where environmental issues were linked to traditional cultural knowledge and the natural world was of more relevance to everyday life