Plan to turn Māori TV into 'authoritative clearing house' for Māori news runs into flak

Friday, 12 June 2020

A proposal to create an 'authoritative clearing house' for Māori news and current affairs content within Maori Television has been criticised as a backward step for media plurality.

Prominent Māori broadcasters are voicing alarm over a proposal from the Ministry of Māori Development to axe funding for Māori news services other than those delivered through Māori Television.

The ministry said in a discussion document that it was 'not sustainable' for the Māori Broadcast Funding Agency, Te Māngai Pāho, to fund a number of different news services provided by different media outlets.

It has proposed iwi media organisations would be funded to contribute regional news to a single Māori news service located within Māori TV, which would in turn act as an 'authoritative clearing house for news and current affairs content'.

'In the current environment there are many Māori media outlets. Some have developed their own capability to generate and deliver news. Others struggle,' the ministry said in the discussion document.

But the proposal to centralise the delivery of news though Māori TV has raised fears about media plurality and the potential impact on current affairs shows such as television channel Three's The Hui, and TVNZ's Te Karere and Marae.

Journalist and presenter Mihingarangi Forbes is among those voicing concerns about a proposed shake-up of Māori media funding (file photo).

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The Hui presenter Mihingarangi Forbes objected in a tweet: 'We hear plurality of voices, but not for Māori media sector.'

Concerns have also been expressed about the short time period for consultations, with submissions due on the discussion document by June 26.

Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in an introduction to the discussion document that the proposals were not at this stage 'government policy'.

'They are intended to give focus to the potential substance of the Māori media sector and shift options,' she said.

The options would be 'refined and considered by Cabinet and next steps determined' in July, the discussion document stated.

'The options are about seeing the Māori media sector as an ecosystem – understanding that it has many interconnected parts that need to work together,' Mahuta said.