‘Diversity’ of the Day

Are you frustrated with the increasing use of te reo Maori in the mainstream news and weather? The TVNZ/RNZ merger was proposed because viewer numbers were down. One might expect that a revamp to regain viewers and advertisers would be in order. Maybe not.

Early last year, the Labour Government’s Public Interest Journalism Fund was used to set up a new one-year course particularly for Maori and Pasifika journalism students.

Te Rito is a collaboration between Maori Television, NZME, Pacific Media and Newshub […]

NZ on Air journalism head Raewyn Rasch says the agency is trying to keep up with demand. “We’ve created this demand, where all of a sudden, everyone wants a Maori journalist, everyone wants a Pasifika journalist, they’re just not there. And this is the first step to actually meeting that demand.”

Te Ao Maori News

New Zealand on Air provides more information on the funding, saying that 40 per cent of the Public Interest Journalism Fund went to support Maori journalism.

The first cadets have now graduated the course and a new intake of students is planned for this year.

The continuation of the Te Rito Journalism Cadetship focused on training more Pasifika, Maori and diverse journalists as well as supporting more Pasifika news and content on Pasifika platforms has been recognised in the latest journalism funding round.

The Te Rito Journalism Cadetship will get a second intake of cadets following the announcement of another year’s funding.  […]

Funding of up to $1,719,407 will ensure the programme can continue for another year, while specific role funding has also been granted to four publishers which will see at least 11 graduates from the current cohort move directly into employment. Other cadets are expected to be hired in non-funded roles.  

NZ On Air Head of Journalism, Raewyn Rasch, says by providing the first year of funding, the Public Interest Journalism Fund was helping to seed the unit.

A total of  28 applications have been funded, from a total pool of nearly $12m.



Tagata Pasifika

Te Ao Maori News’s reporter says, “The aim is to train the next generation of journalists. The cadets say the time has come for a new approach to news.” (Subtitled)

Discuss it on The BFD.