This report presents the findings of a national survey of Pacific peoples on their attitudes towards good taste and decency in broadcasting.
Methodology
- 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
Key Results
- 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