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October 22, 2015
State broadcast commitment to Maori questioned
Waatea Team
Posted On October 22, 2015
The head of Maori radio umbrella group Te Whakaruruhau says Radio New Zealand needs to show more commitment to Maori now it has axed its dedicated Manu Korihi bulletins.
Willie Jackson says his experience during the five years his Auckland urban Maori station had a contract to deliver news bulletins to Radio New Zealand was that the national broadcaster wanted to spend as little as possible on Maori news.
He says while its staff have done a good job since taking bulletins in-house, Maori content makes up only a small fraction of the news.
While head of content Carol Hirschfeld and new Maori correspondent Mihingarangi Forbes are experienced Maori broadcasters, it's not good enough to say Maori news will be part of the mainstream bulletins.
"Do I trust the rest of the people around Mihi and Carol? No I don't. I don't trust the culture of that place. I don't trust the history of that place and I don't trust that they will do right by us in the years ahead. Carol and Mihi are absolutely well intentioned and things will probably be right for the next few months, but once you walk away from Maori dedicated news and once the Mihi Forbes and the Carol Hirschfelds are gone, we will be lucky to get any stories on there. We get bugger all now," Mr Jackson says.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH WILLIE JACKSON CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MzU0ODg=
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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