March 14, 2022
Space opens for Māori in state media merger
Radio New Zealand chair Jim Mather believes a merger between RNZ and TVNZ represents a huge opportunity for Māori.
An establishment board should be picked by the end of the month to get the new entity running by July 2023.
Dr Mather says the Māori advisory group which was part of the planning process did a good job to promote Māori interests, and the board of the new body will include two members with expertise in te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori.
He sees opportunities for more Māori content and to share resources and training with Māori Television and radio.
“There is an opportunity also to help through this process strengthen the ongoing development of Māori media so it is going to have a distinctly Māori set of perspectives and approaches to the way it operates,” he says.
Dr Mather says it’s not just a merger but a new entity that will be able to give it a chance to develop new products and services within the kaupapa of public interest media.