More media cuts? Whakaata Māori prepares for $9.5m funding decrease

By Isaac Gunson for Te Ao Māori News

Whakaata Māori has announced a review of its organisational structure as it faces a $9.5 million funding decrease in coming years.

Kaihoe / staff were told of the financial headwinds the organisation faces in a company-wide hui this morning, where details of the review were also shared.

Baseline funding for the organisation, which is charged with aiding the revitalisation of te reo Māori through content, has not increased since 2008, a factor Kaihautū / chief executive Shane Taurima says forms part of the current financial headwinds.

"In the last few years, under the previous Labour government, we were given temporary time-limited funding to help accelerate the work that we were doing with digital as well as to support our kaihoe, our staff.

"Unfortunately, that funding runs out over the next three years, so in the next financial year, we are set to lose $5.5 million and the year after that another $4 million. So a total of $9.5m we're set to lose by 2027."

Taurima said it represents a 20 percent reduction in budget, and that the organisation is pursuing a target of reducing 25 percent of its costs to account for future inflation.

How Whakaata Māori got here

Taurima said if baseline funding had increased with inflation each year since 2008, it would have reached $55 million in the coming year - more than enough to cover the organisation's current cost base.

In 2022, a review of the Māori Media sector found major funding inequities exist when compared with non-Māori media.

At the time, the Labour government implemented time-locked funding for Whakaata Māori to address the issue on a short-term basis while longer-term solutions were sought.

So far, the National-led government hasn't offered Whakaata Māori a funding increase, despite announcing a raft of changes and support for the wider industry earlier today.

"To try and find a quarter of our budget, there will be an impact on kaihoe, on our staff, as well as the funding that we currently invest in content."

He warned some content that audiences have come to love from Whakaata Māori may no longer continue, but emphasised no decisions have been made yet.

"The reality is some of the content that we currently deliver may not be available as a result of this organisational review, because we have to find cost savings somewhere. So it will mean potentially a reduction in the funding that we invest in content."

Impact on reo Māori revitalisation

Whakaata Māori originated from several Waitangi Tribunal claims regarding Māori broadcasting and te reo Māori in the late 20th century.

Charged with aiding the revitalisation of te reo Māori through content, Kaihautū Shane Taurima said the organisation has become a big part of that mission in te ao Māori.

"The question I pose is, how committed and dedicated are we as a country to ensure that our language, our native language, our indigenous language and culture, not only survives but thrives?"

Taurima had a direct plea for government ministers: "I'm a firm believer that you leave your actions to speak for you, and actions do speak louder than words."

"If we reflect on last week, as an example where we had our Matariki celebrations, kapa haka for our tamariki mokopuna, and our pakeke and kaumātua, and then of course reo Māori commentary for the Warriors and Māori All Blacks games.

"These are all reasons why Whakaata Māori exists, and why it's so important for Whakaata Māori to continue to exist."

Te Ao Māori News has reached out to Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka for comment, as well as Labour's Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson, who was responsible for the time-locked funding Whakaata Māori received.

Te Ao Māori News is a news service operated by Whakaata Māori.

- This story was first published by Te Ao Māori News