You know those relatives who have too much to drink at family gatherings and end up making jokes that aren’t actually funny and end up offending people? Well, think of CNN journalist Jeanne Moos as your drunken aunt giving a toast at your wedding — except she is completely sober, unrelated to you and addressing a national audience rather than a couple hundred friends and family. And instead of hurting the feelings of you, your spouse and a few others, she mocks an entire culture that is 800 years old.
By someone’s faulty judgment, an embarrassing video of Moos “reporting” on Prince William, Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton and baby Prince George’s official visit to New Zealand on April 7 made it on air for her CNN segment, “Moost Unusual.” Moos doesn’t even get 20 seconds into the two-minute video without making denigrating comments toward the approximately 600,000 people who identify as Maori, the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, according to a 2013 census.
Moos starts off with what seems like an immature roast of the Maori by coining the royal visit as “the royal bummer,” referring to the exposed nature of one of the indigenous people who greeted the prince and duchess with a traditional ceremony at Wellington, New Zealand’s Government House. Moos went on to compare the royals’ visit to that of other world leaders’ trips to foreign countries, calling the experiences “going native.”
She even showed archival footage of former first lady Laura Bush being honored in Afghanistan by a performance of the haka by the New Zealand army, and described it in belittling terms like “slapping and thrusting” movements that are “a cross between a Chippendales lap dance and the mating dance of an emu.”
And if CNN still didn’t have second thoughts about airing this segment, you think they would have when at the end of the video, Moos cited Britain’s infamously overdramatized Daily Mail, giving props to its caption instructing Duchess Kate Middleton to keep her “eyes front” when greeting the Maori man with the “cheeky behind.”
I understand that Moos is known for reporting on quirky and off-beat soft news. Her other latest stories have covered a dog chewing off its owner’s toe and a Chatroulette piano duel. However, an old and respected culture that is practiced by thousands of people does not belong in the same category.
Though Maori traditions may seem unusual to Americans because we have dissolved the majority of our native culture, for the people who live in New Zealand, these practices are commonplace. Instead of mocking something that is not understood, Moos could have used her privilege to broadcast to viewers all over the world as an opportunity to educate people about a surviving indigenous people and the meaning behind its ceremonies. Rather, Moos cashed in her opportunity by producing sensational and offensive content that I would expect from TMZ or a tabloid, not the “most trusted name in news.” Furthermore, royal visits are some of the most boring and routine fluff stories that can be covered. They really belong in the back pages of STAR Magazine.
Luckily, I was not the only one who was disappointed and angered by this video. So far it has received about 30 times more dislikes than likes on YouTube. It even incited a Change.org petition by 18-year-old Wellington resident, Jayden Evett, who called for Moos to make an apology. It received 25,000 signatures, and Moos responded by saying, “Duly noted. I do humor and satire, and I am truly sorry if the tone of my story offended anyone.”
This “apology” really sounds like Moos just thinks people didn’t get her brand of funny. Moreover, satire is still used to show that something is foolish, weak or bad, so by using that as way of an explanation does not make her segment any better.
Anyway, this shameful “journalism” on Jeanne Moos’ part has become the brunt of the real joke. This cringe-worthy coverage of hers has already been made part of her legacy and her Wikipedia page.
[Cat Adamson is a UF journalism senior. Her columns usually appear on Tuesdays.]
