The AM Show host Duncan Garner has called out the New Zealand Herald for their profile of reporter Aziz Al-Sa'afin after he was "gay-bashed" over the weekend.
Al-Sa'afin was walking on Karangahape Road in Auckland central on Friday night when he and his friend were violently attacked by a group over their sexuality.
He told The AM Show on Tuesday that he was gay-bashed, and "feared for his life".
Later on Tuesday the NZ Herald published a piece online titled 'I thought I was going to die': Kiwi reporter 'bashed' in homophobic attack.
The NZ Herald also called Al-Sa’afin a “Kiwi Newshub reporter” in the article's first line.
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Garner asked why the Herald "felt the need to identify him as 'Kiwi'?"
"Because his name is not anglo-saxon? Because he looks a bit different to the Herald management?"
Garner said that the NZ Herald needs to get with the times, that it's "2019, not post-war 1919".
He reiterated that Al-Sa'afin had been in New Zealand for 27 years.
Reactions to Al-Sa'afin's story online have been overwhelmingly positive, with people outraged that a violent homophobic attack happened in our country in 2019.
The NZ Herald has been approached for comment.
Newshub.
