“Television journalism does so many things. It allows us to tell Kiwis’ stories in a powerful way. To show the viewer the depth of feeling in an interviewee’s eyes, the scale of a cyclone’s destruction or a politician’s reaction when they’ve been caught short.”
Hayes said television journalism brought people together and gave people a voice when they needed it.
“Journalism is the first draft of history and with the proposed loss of nearly 400 jobs in the industry there is so much of that history, so many of New Zealand’s stories, that I fear will now never be told.”
Hayes tagged the newsrooms and programmes facing cuts or closure all together in her post, including Sunday, Re:News, Fair Go, TVNZ, Newshub, and Three New Zealand.
Hayes first began work at TV3 aged 17.
She was initially a journalist and later became a newsreader, replacing Hilary Barry on Newshub Live at 6pm in 2016.
Her concerns follow those of her former colleague Oriini Kaipara, who has paid tribute to her ex-colleagues at TVNZ after it was confirmed nearly 70 staff face the axe.
Taking to Instagram on Friday night, Kaipara paid particular tribute to Sunday host Miriama Kamo, calling her a mentor, idol, friend and advocate for te ao Māori.
Kaipara said Kamo asked if she’d ever consider presenting 1News, which Kaipara thought was impossible at the time because of her moko kauae.
TVNZ reporter: ‘I struggle to see us coming back from here’
Meanwhile TVNZ news reporter Corazon Miller took to Instagram to say she was “still so speechless” at TVNZ’s job cuts.
“If this all goes, I struggle to see us coming back from here. It’s a loss to journalism today, for all the complex stories that otherwise go untold.”
