16 Oct 2018

Māori media set for 'sector shift'

4:38 pm on 16 October 2018

The Māori media sector is set to be reviewed for the first time since 1998.

The new Māori Television building.

The new Māori Television building. Photo: RNZ / Shannon Haunui-Thompson

A policy initiative has been announced, titled "Māori Media Sector Shift", that will include Māori Television, the Māori radio network and Te Mangai Paho.

Māori Development minister, Nanaia Mahuta, said she wanted Māori broadcasters to be responsive to a changing media environment.

The policy review will consider options on the funding, delivery, retention and access Māori media have to Māori language programming content.

Māori Television is welcoming the review.

It comes after the network announced its own "strategic refresh" to look at how they could do things better in a highly competitive and dynamic digital media environment.

Chief Executive, Keith Ikin, said he backed the review and believed it would ensure Māori Television is "future-proofed".

"As New Zealand's indigenous television broadcaster, we aim to be the leading source of Māori and te reo Māori content across multi-platforms.

"We continue to be committed to providing high quality, engaging and entertaining content that contributes to the promotion and protection of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori."

Ms Mahuta said Māori media served a special purpose to promote and retain tikanga and te reo Māori.

"For that reason we need a specific focus on the Māori media space to instill a robust system that can tackle future challenges and enable the ongoing delivery of gains for our language and culture."

The review is set to be released in March next year.