RELEASE – Reaction to Te Ao Māori News closure “Bad news for good news” – Better Public Media (BPM)
Bad news for good news
The trustees of Better Public Media (BPM) are saddened by the demise of Te Ao Māori News, which will be broadcast on Whakaata Māori for the last time tomorrow (Friday 13 December 2024) at 4.30pm after 20 years of service.
The trust expresses its solidarity with the people at Whakaata Māori who are losing their jobs and calls on the government of Aotearoa to address with urgency the unsustainable circumstances of our country’s media, including our Māori media.
Rohan Satyanand, who is one of the Better Public Media trustees, previously worked as a news cameraperson for Te Ao Māori News in the press gallery in Wellington. He is personally saddened by the loss of Te Ao Māori News:
“Te Ao is filled with highly talented people who consistently produce a top-notch product despite ongoing financial disadvantage. From direct personal experience, I would still be working there, were they not so financially strangled.”
Whakaata Māori’s baseline funding comes from Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development) via the government’s ‘Vote Māori Development’ allocation.
The broadcaster and platform has highlighted the fact that the funding has not been inflation-adjusted since 2008, and says that if its funding had kept up with inflation it would now be 67% higher.
Whakaata Māori is responding to the serious underfunding by cutting 27 roles, and not just by cancelling Te Ao Māori News. It also plans to cease broadcasting the 100% Māori language channel Te Reo, which will become an online only service.
BPM chair David Jacobs, who has produced and supplied programming for Whakaata Māori, sees the underfunding of Whakaata Māori and the resulting cuts and job losses as a betrayal of those who worked persistently to bring the channel to life.
“We wouldn’t have Whakaata Māori if it wasn’t for many years of advocacy, protest and court hearings, both in Aotearoa and overseas. It is a vital part of our public media ecosystem in Aotearoa. It is proud to be ‘mā rātou, mā mātou, mā koutou, mā tātou’ (for them, for us, for you, for everyone). To see Whakaata Māori now suffering due to a lack of government support is nothing short of shameful.”
BPM is advocating for sustainable ring-fenced funding of public media in Aotearoa via a broad-based levy system incorporating advertising, streaming platforms, internet service providers and other digital and communications products and services.
The trust recently became an affiliate member of the international Public Media Alliance.
More info: www.publicmediaalliance.org/better-public-media-becomes-affiliate-of-pma/
