October 02, 2014
Te reo emphasis in MTV change
Maori Television head Paora Maxwell wants a greater emphasis on the type and quality of te reo Maori programmes coming out of the channel.
He has confirmed a new structure will go into effect on October 13.
The shake-up has resulted in production general manager Carol Hirschfeld jumping waka to become Radio New Zealand's head of content, and news and current affairs boss Julian Wilcox has lost his general manager status and becomes a departmental head.
Mr Maxwell says Maori TV needs to see itself as a content producer rather than just a television broadcaster, and that content needs to be available on a range of digital platforms.
He says its primary function is to promote and protect te reo Maori me nga tikanga, which creates a unique set of challenges for the organisation.
"At best one in four, one in five of the Maori population have a conversational ability in te reo but that's the challenge. We've got to come up with content that leads the audience, that excites them, inspires them to learn, to be informed and entertained in te reo Maori," Mr Maxwell says.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PAORA MAXWELL CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjI3MzA=
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