Attitudes Towards Good Taste and Decency in Broadcasting among Pacific Peoples, 2001

1 June 2001

Date published: 2001

Research Company: Colmar Brunton Research

Māori and Pacific peoples were interviewed on the attitudes towards language and the portrayal of sex and nudity

Conducted between January and February 2001 with a margin of error of ±5.6%
Questionnaire contained the same questions used in a national survey of the general population conducted in 2999
Face-to-face interview in 310 Māori and 310 Pacific peoples’ homes

High levels of unacceptability to almost all of the 22 words which were put to the respondents
‘Fuck’ was most found unacceptable by the Pacific peoples interviewed, followed by ‘motherfucker’, ‘cock’, ‘cunt’ and ‘arsehole’
The unacceptable levels are higher than those found in the general population questioned on the same matters in 1999
Others found unacceptable were: ‘nigger’, ‘bitch’, ‘dick’, wanker, ‘bullshit’, ‘bastard’, ‘whore’, ‘shit’, and ‘balls’
Pacific men are relatively more accepting of the use of expletives in broadcasting than Pacific women – the gender differences are not as pronounced as compared to those found in the general population
Most broadcast scenarios involving the portrayal of sex and nudity were seen as unacceptable by Pacific peoples
The levels of unacceptability vary significantly with those found in the 1999 survey of the general population
Gratuitous sex scenes screening before the 8:30pm ‘watershed’ were found unacceptable by Pacific peoples interviewed
Homosexual sex screened after the watershed was judged unacceptable by 80.6% of Pacific peoples
Age was clearly a factor but not as pronounced as the differences experienced in the general population

RESEARCH AND REPORTS NGĀ RANGAHAU ME NGĀ PŪRONGO