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Download AudioThe closure of Wairoa’s newspaper has the local runanga calling for help to keep up with the digital world.
The final edition of the Wairoa Star came out on Thursday after 103 years serving the northern Hawke’s Bay community, with 11 staff made redundant.
Tātou Tātou o Te Wairoa general manager Lewis Rātapu says the town has also lost its BNZ and Westpac branches, creating cash problems for locals, 70 percent of whom are Maori.
He says while the closures reflect digital trends, it highlight the need to improve the region’s internet infrastructure.
“I think we’d make sure that we’ve got a strong, robust network so we’re not cut off if we have a cyclone again. The second thing is continuing to try and to improve the digital skills of our whānau and our community and then we also need some digital infrastructure just to make it more resilient”, Mr Ratapu says.
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