July 12, 2023
Visionary rangatira blanked by mainstream media
Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson has given mainstream media a fail rating for the lack of coverage of the tangi for the ground-breaking head of the Department of Maori Affairs, Kara Puketapu.
Dr Puketapu died on Friday aged 89 and was buried yesterday.
Mr Jackson says the government ope to Waiwhetu Marae included seven ministers and more than 200 officials, including the heads of department and agencies.
He says while Maori media highlighted the impact Dr Puketapu made on the public service in the 1970s and 80s, there was no original reporting on mainstream media.
“You would have thought they would have pricked their ears up at the way Maori media, particularly Waatea has done some great stories, they might have pricked their ears up and sent a journo out and done something, considering the impact Kara had on Maori society – the most effective Maori bureaucrat we’ve ever had,” Mr Jacksonsays.