Great news for Māori media - Te Māngai Pāho welcomes an injection of funding for the Māori media sector announced today as part of Budget 2022.

The Māori media sector is set to receive an additional $40 million dollars over two years. Te Māngai Pāho will receive a total of $32 million ($16 million in each of the next two years) and Whakaata Māori (Māori Television) will receive an extra $4 million dollars for each of the next two years.

The bulk of the funding is to target innovative new Māori content for online and emerging platforms. The funding will also support the creation of te reo Māori content and content that gives voice to Māori perspectives.

Some of the funding recognises the success of an initiative Te Māngai Pāho has been trialling and it will continue to enable regional stories to be told through iwi media collaborations.  

“We are very grateful and I am sure that the content creators and platforms we support will also be thrilled with the additional opportunities this funding will provide. We welcome the Government’s commitment to Māori media, and the continued opportunity to provide stability for Whakaata Māori, Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori, and our community of content creators” says Larry Parr, Kaihautū o Te Māngai Pāho.

“Māori media is a key contributor to our collective language revitalisation efforts. This investment will contribute to our shared goals under Te Whare o Te Reo Mauriora to help engage and excite people about seeing, hearing and using te reo Māori.”

“Te Māngai Pāho looks forward to collaborating with our colleagues in both the Māori media sector and the wider public media space to ensure we make the most of this opportunity.”

Read the Budget 2022 details here.