My media: Quinton Hita

Hita plays Nelson Copeland, the young ambulance officer in Shortland St who's been having a fling with his father's young wife. Although only 30, he has been a Maori Language Commissioner for five years, a Mai Time presenter and has written a guide to speaking Maori.

Television

Eating Media Lunch is top of my list. It's the best local television I've seen in years, if not ever.

That's probably it at the moment. I don't get a lot of time to watch, so it has to be pretty compelling. Oh no, that's right. I'm not ashamed to say it. I watch Joe Average. It's the novelty factor, the outrageous factor, that appeals, I suppose.

And I watch the news if I'm home, but not the late news because I'm usually on the net. I don't have a remote in my home, so I watch TV One out of habit. I prefer 3 because I can relate to it better because it has a younger feel.

Newspapers

I don't read the paper. I'm too busy reading books. I'm kept abreast of current affairs by watching the news.

I do a magazine-type radio show and I do a lot of research on the net, so I'm generally up with the play.

Books

At the moment I'm reading Children's Minds, by Margaret Donaldson, a book on child psychology.

I'm also a writer and interested in writing fiction, so I'm reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. I'm analysing the structure. It's a winner of the Carnegie and the Guardian awards, and it's better than Harry Potter. I'm reading four books, so I'm also reading Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond, a short history of everybody for the past 13,000 years. And Redemption Songs, by Judith Binney, about Te Kooti. Actually, there are five: The Bush Dyslexicon, by Mark Crispin Miller.

Internet

The one I frequent the most is the BBC site, Radio 4. It's good listening, there are some great shows on at the moment. There's a fantastic interview with Toni Morrison, the author of Beloved.

Radio

I don't have time to listen. No, that's a lie. I listen to Maori stations via the net. The three Northern stations because that's where my tribal affiliations are: Tautoko FM, Te Hiku O Te Ika and Ngati Hine. That keeps me up with what's going on at home.

Inspiration

I thought the story of Cameron Duncan, the young Auckland film-maker who fought cancer and died in November, was inspirational and poignant. I only caught a glimpse on TV the other night, but you only have to see five minutes of Cameron to see what an incredible young man he was.

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