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What on earth is going on at Maori TV?
MARTYN BRADBURY
The latest allegations of direct interference with Maori TV editorial content by Te Ururoa Flavell demands a serious investigation because it simply does not pass the scratch and sniff test of independent journalism.
Emails show Te Ururoa Flavell complaining to Maori TV chief executive Paora Maxwell about including Winston Peters in a debate about Whanau Ora, Flavell then met with Maxwell and less than two hours later, the debate was cancelled.
Now it could be that Flavell and Maxwell didn't talk about the Whanau Ora debate at all, and that it's just one big coincidence that the debate was cancelled 2 hours after they met – but that is stretching credibility to a very thin transparent membrane.
This is a serious problem. A conflict of interest like this can't simply be a process, it has to be seen to be believable and as it stands, emails and a meeting and then the debate being cancelled doesn't look good does it?
Maori TV have had an exodus of brilliant journalists, Jodi Ihaka, Semi Rama Holland, Mihirangi Forbes, Carol Hirschfeld and Julian Wilcox. All who have left after the controversial appointment of Paora Maxwell .
Something has been broken in Maori TV which is a tragedy because the station has been a benchmark for Journalism as a whole in NZ's media landscape. If there is political interference occurring within the station to stop asking hard questions, then those responsible have done a terrible disservice to all Maori and the country.
If Flavell has created that pressure, it is unforgivable and he needs to resign.
It's as simple as that.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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