A silly story

The SST tries to set a trap for Wayne Mapp by asking him his views on a bakery and shop which calls itself Golliwog. They run a sub-head which says “Wayne Mapp, is offended but local Maori seem unconcerned about a Bay of Plenty shop that calls itself Golliwog”.

However what Wayne said is quite different. He correctly says the requests for comments was probably a smart trap to catch him out, and all he says is that some people may find it quaint, others may find it offensive and personally he wouldn’t use the word but ” it is a free country and why would we stop a business that no one is complaining about”.

An absolutely sensible response and a lightyear away from the sub-head suggesting he is offended, while local Maori are not.

And as for that claim local Maori are not – well they only interviewed two. One said it was not offensive and one said it was. So their sub-head is wrong on both counts.

I don’t want an debate on golliwogs, I just wanted to highlight that the SST seemed to have as headline in mind, and have tried to unsuccessfully fit the story to match. Bizarre.

A far better story is Finlay Macdonald’s A-Z of political corectness.