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The newest member of the Maori Television board wants to see the channel taking a tough but Maori-focused approach to news and current affairs.
Former Labour MP John Tamihere, who chaired the Maori affairs select committee when the bill setting up up the channel went through, says it needs to respond to dramatic changes to broadcasting coming from the shift to digital media.
The board has come under fire in recent years from the other side of the political fence, with questions asked about the role of board chair Georgine te Heuheu, a former National MP, in appointing chief executive Paora Maxwell.
There was also controversy over stories critical of Te Kohanga Reo National Trust.
Mr Tamihere says he wants the channel to keep breaking stories that are important to Maori.
"Not breaking our people but, breaking stories on what other people are doing to ensure that we don't make progress, rather than having a go as mainstream always do. When a Maori fails the state everyone knows the Maori. When the state fails Maori, no one knows any bureaucrat that does that," says John Tamihere.
The urban Maori advocate says Maori Television needs to remain a service for all Maori rather than becoming iwi tv.
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