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National | Te Reo Māori

TVNZ responds to racist weather backlash

Racist backlash to a TVNZ weather presenter using te reo Māori place names during the channel’s flagship newscast, have been rebuked by the national broadcaster.

Several posts on One News' Facebook page critiqued Presenter Te Rauhiringa Brown's (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Kahu) use of te reo during her broadcast on Sunday but the broadcaster has dismissed the criticism.

“We are proud of our presenters and how they embrace New Zealand's unique cultural identity,”  a spokesperson said.

TVNZ said presenters were welcome to use any of the official languages of Aotearoa, including the first language ever spoken in Aotearoa, te reo Māori.

“Our presenters and journalists are welcome to use a combination of English and te reo Māori where appropriate."

Brown used te reo Māori and English names in the broadcast. Kirikiriroa/Hamilton, Ōtautahi/Christchurch, and Ōtepoti/Dunedin were among them.

'Far too garbled'

One commenter complained they couldn’t understand Brown but others said that seemed implausible given both English and Māori names were used and the weather itself is accompanied by a map of Aotearoa.

"We need presentation of the weather back to how it used to be. Far too garbled, not easy to understand," one griped.

"I want to know what is happening with the weather over my country. Not get a Māori language lesson. If you want to provide the weather in te reo then do so on one of the Māori channels," one wrote.

Brown is covering the weekend broadcast for presenter Renee Wright who is on maternity leave, Brown told TeAoMāori.news she was proud of Television New Zealand embracing te reo Māori, and the majority of feedback was positive.

"It's great to be a part of the shift that we're seeing in mainstream TV at the moment," Brown said.

Public Interest Journalism