April 17, 2020
Low expectations set for iwi radio funding
The chief executive of Māori broadcast funding agency Te Māngai Pāho Larry Parr, says Maori media needs to temper any expectations of getting more money any time soon.
His warning came after Peter Lucas Jones from iwi radio umbrella group Te Whakaruruhau went before parliament’s pandemic response oversight committee to argue that if there was to be any financial relief for the media sector, it should go beyond the mainstream.
Mr Parr says while other media are affected by a drop in advertising because of COVID-19, Māori radio has stable funding from the crown.
That funding, however, has not increased for many years, with the current minister putting off asking for more while the future of the sector was reviewed.
Mr Parr believes that Māori Media Shift review will continue.
"I don’t think necessarily it will take the same path where there was going to be a co-design exercise but when the dust settles a bit, there will be progress to advance the Māori media sector shift. It's not unreasonable things have stalled right at the moment. These are extraordinary times," he says.
Larry Parr
Copyright © 2020, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com