Mihingarangi Forbes resigned from Maori Television this week after complaining of management interference in the current affairs show Native Affairs. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Mihingarangi Forbes resigned from Maori Television this week after complaining of management interference in the current affairs show Native Affairs. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Opinion by
Former Maori TV presenter has new role as special correspondent, Maori affairs.
Television presenter Mihingarangi Forbes, who resigned from Maori Television this week after complaining of management interference in the current affairs show Native Affairs, is joining Radio New Zealand in a new role as special correspondent, Maori affairs, The Diary can report.
Forbes did not respond yesterday to The Diary's questionsabout her move to RNZ, which has been planned for some time.
Paul Thompson, Radio NZ chief executive and editor-in-chief, also did not respond to requests for comment about Forbes joining the company.
But later in the day, Radio NZ confirmed Forbes' appointment.
"Mihingarangi is a skilled investigative reporter with a highly regarded track record. She will significantly strengthen Radio New Zealand's reportage on Maori issues and signal the organisation's commitment in this area," said Carol Hirschfeld, head of content at RNZ.
Hirschfeld and Forbes worked together at Maori Television when Hirschfeld was general manager of production.
Thompson is the architect of a new push for more Maori content on the state broadcaster.
Mihingarangi - born Joanna Forbes - is of Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Paoa descent. The mother-of-three did a stint at RNZ after the birth of her first child, but later moved into television reporting and producing, first for 20/20 at TVNZ, then Campbell Live at TV3, and at Maori Television on Te Kaea. Forbes applied for the role of head of news and current affairs at Maori Television last October after her friend Julian Wilcox departed, but was passed over for Maramena Roderick. Wilcox runs a media team for Ngai Tahu.
The problem with a double dose of Paul Henry
The Paul Henry crew - Jim Kayes, Hilary Barry, Paul Henry and Perlina Lau. Photo / Supplied
Paul Henry's eponymous radio and television breakfast show has been slammed by critics since it launched two months ago. TV ratings have been disappointing and formal radio audience numbers non-existent so far, but fans love the banter between hosts and hope the groundbreaking format will find its feet - quickly.
Paul Henry is simulcast on TV3 and RadioLive on weekdays from 6am to 9am. The cross-platform initiative is designed to take a slice of the morning television and radio market.
But the experiment is taking some time for audiences to acclimatise.
Radio and television are different beasts. Audiences have vastly different expectations. And there is a big onus on Paul Henry as a broadcaster, and Hilary Barry and Jim Kayes as co-anchors, to succeed in both mediums and overcome traditional constraints.
Both platforms are compromised - and come up short.
People who love the intimacy of radio don't get the feeling the show is talking to them. The listener is often in the dark as to what is going on. Visual gags designed for TV are meaningless, and the tinkering in the studio means the broadcast is never entirely smooth.
Clunks and chunks are unavoidable as they manoeuvre a television broadcast under the guise of a radio show as well.
On the flip side, the TV viewer feels as if they are voyeuristically watching a radio show with a lack of direct engagement from the hosts.
Items are raced through to keep audio listeners entertained and long television news items, such as the report on Sepp Blatter, get abbreviated.
Some say simulcast is difficult and hasn't taken off globally because there are too many constraints placed upon the mediums. But I think it's more a case of supply beating demand, and audiences developing a taste for it.
