Welcome to Episode 5 of PulsePoint – the latest media stories and research related to family and society that you need to know about – issues from both New Zealand and overseas that the Family First team have been monitoring and researching over the last week. It’s time to cut through the spin and uncover the real issues.
On this episode of PulsePoint:
1. Trust in NZ news Media Plummets
2. An important legal case in Australia will determine the definition of ‘woman’
3. Scotland’s new Hate Crime Law criminalises freedom of speech.
4. Atheist Richard Dawkins claims to be a “cultural Christian”
5. A new Dutch study suggests that most kids grow out of desire to change sex,
6. Former President Donald Trump has laid out his policy on abortion this week.
You can check out all these stories and more on our website FamilyFirst.nz.
We’ll keep watching the news… so that you don’t have to.
TRANSCRIPT:
Episode 5 Pulse Point
In this episode of PulsePoint, we’ll update you on these topics:
Trust in NZ news Media Plummets
An important legal case in Australia will determine the definition of ‘woman’
Scotland’s new Hate Crime Law criminalises freedom of speech.
Atheist Richard Dawkins claims to be a “cultural Christian”
A new Dutch study suggests that most kids grow out of desire to change sex,
And finally, Former President Donald Trump has laid out his policy on abortion this week
Intro: Welcome to PulsePoint – the LATEST media stories AND research related to family and society that YOU need to know about from both New Zealand AND overseas. Let’s cut through the spin and uncover the REAL issues.
I’m Tumby Stowers.
1. A new report shows a significant fall in the trust of our media by New Zealanders. The report was produced by the AUT research centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy
In key findings….
53% of New Zealanders trusted the news in 2020. In 2024, that figure was just 33%. In five years, general trust in the news has fallen 20 percentage points. Just 1 in 3 NZ’ers now trust the news media.
Compared internationally we’re competing with the UK and the US for the lowest levels of trust.
In terms of trust in the individual news media outlets, all show a drop in trust. Since 2020, the main outlets have actually dropped around 25 – 30%.
But here’s the key graph. What are the reasons NOT to the trust the news.
The reporting in the news is biased and not balanced.
News is too much a result of the political leaning of the newsroom.
The news is too opinionated (Agenda driven) and lacks factual information.
There is a lack of transparency in the way the news media operates.
And 61% say Govt financial support for the media in NZ means you cannot trust journalists to hold the government to account.
In other questions asked, 84% of respondents were concerned about fake news.
96% of respondents – almost all of us – were concerned about “stories where facts are spun or twisted to push a particular agenda”.
Bob McCoskrie on McBlog has done an in-depth analysis of this report. Go to familyfirst.nz to watch the full presentation.
We need a media that we can trust.
2. An important legal case on the definition of woman is happening in Australia this week.
Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman from New South Wales – a biological male – is suing the women-only social media app Giggle for Girls after he was blocked from using the platform.
The case means the Federal Court will decide ‘what a woman is’ in Australia. Giggle was designed to help girls and women connect to make it easy to find friends or flat mates, travel companions or to swap stories about pregnancy, fashion or makeup.
Here’s what Roxy said about why he wants to be a woman.
This is a significant case that we need to keep an eye on because whatever decision is made – whether in favour of biology or in favour of gender ideology – will have implications for not only Australian but it could have a trickle down effect to how we define women in New Zealand.
Sign our petition on WhatIsAWoman.nz to ensure that ‘woman’ is to be defined as ‘an adult human female’ in all our laws, public policies and regulations.
3.According to Scotland’s new hate crimes laws, saying ‘a woman is an adult human female’ could land you in jail.
The new Hate Crime and Public Order Bill came into force last week and is applicable online and EVEN in peoples’ private homes.
The new legislation combines existing law on crimes aggravated by prejudice and extends protection for vulnerable groups with a new offence of… “stirring up hatred”.
These vulnerable groups now include groups characterised by age, disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex. Should a person be prosecuted under this law, they can be jailed for up to a maximum of 7 years.
Watch this short clip – which is an official video of the Scotland Police
This new law has faced criticism over its impact on freedom of speech and concerns that it could be used to silence some views, including those who advocate for women-only spaces.
Author JK Rowling, a prominent critic of transgenderism, called the new law ‘ludicrous’, citing that freedom of speech is at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.
The same can be said of New Zealand.
4. Arguably the world’s most famous atheist; Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and the author of the book titled ‘God delusion’ says he now identifies as a ‘cultural Christian’.
In a recent interview, Dawkins was lamenting the declining impact of the Christian faith in
Even if Dawkins still believes the truth claims of the Christian faith are “nonsense” as he puts it. Dawkins admitted that while he is happy with the declining numbers of confessing Christians in Europe, he expressed concerns with the rise of Islam in Britian, claiming that Christianity is compatible with British values in a way Islam is not. He went on to even say; Christianity is fundamentally a decent religion, whereas Islam is not.
It seems Dawkins is beginning to appreciate that the very Christian faith that he so aggressively railed against of so many years, decrying its quote un quote “poisonous” influence on western culture and values… is the very same faith that gave birth to the very culture and values he wishes to preserve.
What Dawkins needs to note however, is that there is no fruit of the Christian faith without the root of a Christian church filled with believing Christians.
It is therefore in the best interest of the world’s most famous atheist to have a Christian church that is alive and growing. He could even attend it.
5. A landmark study from the Netherlands published last week (and conveniently ignored by the media) has found that the majority of gender-confused children grow out of that feeling by the time they are fully grown adults.
Researchers in the Netherlands from the University of Gro-nin-gen tracked more than 2,700 children from age 11 to their mid-twenties, asking them every three years of feelings about their gender.
Results showed at the start of the research, around 1 in 10 children (11 percent) expressed ‘gender non-contentedness’ to varying degrees.
But by age 25, just one-in-25 (4 percent) said they ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ were discontent with their gender.
The researchers concluded: ‘The results of the current study might help adolescents to realize that it is normal to have some doubts about one’s identity and one’s gender identity during this age period and that this is also relatively common.’
It is very significant that this study came out of the socially liberal Netherlands because the so-called Dutch protocol ** which was developed by three clinicians at U-trecht(tracth) and Amsterdam has been viewed by many clinicians as the gold-standard approach to care for children and teenagers with gender dysphoria.
Children are given medical and mental-health assessments; some go on to take medicines that block their natural puberty and, when they’re older, receive cross-sex hormones and eventually surgery.
The Dutch study shows that we need to pause not puberty, but the chemicalisation and castration of our children in a grand social experiment.
6. And finally, Former President Donald Trump laid out his policy on abortion this week.
He now says each state should follow “the will of the people” and pass state-specific laws on abortion.
He had previously hinted at a federal ban across the country limiting it to 15 weeks
But here’s what he said this week
Here’s what President Biden would do. This is from his State of the Union speech last month.
While not specifically endorsing any sort of ban across the country, Trump would be unlikely to veto such a bill if it landed on his desk as President.
President Biden wants to reintroduce Roe v Wade which allows for abortion up to birth.
The unborn child will be voting for Trump as their best option.
And THAT’S the latest episode of PulsePoint. You can check out ALL these stories AND MORE on our website familyfirst.nz. We’ll keep watching the news… so that you don’t have to.
See you next time.
