Nationwide - News in Te Reo Māori

Television (Full Length) – 1982

Long-running te reo news and current affairs show Te Karere debuted in 1983 — but its origins date back to Maori Language Week the previous year. In this 1982 report from current affairs show Nationwide, Derek Fox is seen delivering the first televised te reo bulletin. Fox would go on to found Te Karere; here he advocates for TV and radio bulletins in te reo, arguing that the state broadcaster should provide a regular service for te reo speakers. Reporter John Bowles interviews academic Bruce Biggs, and visits Auckland's Hoani Waititi Marae, where children learn waiata and voice support for te reo news.

Note: Short sections of audio are missing from this report.

...I think this marae that we're at actually typifies that value in that you have schoolchildren coming in from all around the place, trying to learn something about Māori , not just about the language, but about culture and all sorts of other things. And there's no doubt that there is a regrowth of interest. Now I think television and radio have got to play their part in that regrowth of interest...Māori make up 15 percent of the population,. 15 percent of the shareholders in public radio and television. And they need and they can if you like demand to get that shareholding expressed a bit more than it is at the moment.
– Presenter Derek Fox on the need for a regular news service in te reo Māori, early in this report