A muted media response to March 15

The media did little to mark the fourth anniversary of the March 15 terror attack, and some victims and their families say they are starting to feel forgotten.The media did little to mark the fourth anniversary of the March 15 terror attack, and some victims and their families say they are starting to feel forgotten. On the first anniversary of the 15 March 2019 Christchurch terror attack, New Zealand's media organisations were ready with a huge amount of special coverage, features and documentaries.Stuff produced the Frank Films series Nine Bullets. It focused on Temel Atacocugu, who was shot nine times at the Al Noor mosque, and it features moving footage of him returning to the scene of the attack to reenact what took place.TVNZ aired We Are One, a documentary following six of the victims' families through their first year after the attacks. The New Zealand Herald ran The Ripple Effect, a five-part digital series by NZME journalist Kurt Bayer.This year, the anniversary of March 15 was a much more muted affair in our media. There was little new coverage from our biggest online news sites.Stuff and the Herald republished stories they had done back in 2020.The Herald's print edition did not carry a story to mark the anniversary, though it carried a cartoon by Rod Emmerson which was devoted to 'remembering our 51 brothers and sisters'.RNZ's flagship show Morning Report only ran one story, which was actually produced for its early morning show First Up and another following up on the progress of the Christchuch Call. Meanwhile, March 15 was not mentioned anywhere on the front page of Christchurch's daily paper The Press, though it did find space to point to a story from its Life section about cooking with garlic.The only stories the paper published that day on the terrorist attack that took place in its city were on pages 5 and 8. The government echoed the media's understated response to the worst terrorist attack on New Zealand soil.Prime Minister Chris Hipkins sent a personal message to the families but did not mark the day with an official event or statement.A spokesperson for Hipkins said his response was tailored to respect the wishes of victims' families, who had told the government they wanted to commemorate the day privately.It is possible several media outlets' coverage - or lack thereof - were informed by those same concerns, and it is true many of the families did choose to remember their loved ones in private.But it is also clear that several survivors and family members wanted more national attention on the anniversary…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details