The Broadcasting System: As we have it

Tu Tangata, Issue 29, 1 April 1986, Page 8

The Broadcasting System: As we have it

Na Whatarangi Winiata Komiti

The broacasting system of Aotearoa has been under the continuous control of the pakeha. In addition public broadcasting has been funded totally from the government’s consolidated account and license fees. Advertising revenue has been insufficient to meet all of the operating expenses.

Among the annual operating costs of BCNZ which the license fees have helped to defray is the net cost of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (a totally pakeha institution with an annual net short-fall of about $4 million) and YA/YC services. The YA/YC stations attract very few Maori listeners and, on the average, would command the interest of less than 5% of the total population. Rough estimates of the cost of those services fall in the region of sls million to S2O million per year.

The content of radio and television programmes is primarily foreign. In the case of television, more than two thirds of the content is from foreign sources. A consequence is massive foreign cultural invasion.

Over the years the public broadcasting system has committed resources, primarily on the job, to train and to develop a large number of people in broadcasting. Accordingly the depth of human resources and talent in the broadcasting system of Aotearoa is broad and deep with pakeha people. Very few Maori people have participated. The Maori participation in the broadcasting system has been largely passive as viewers or listeners or both.

Action by the New Zealand Maori Council (NZMC) The NZMC has had a long standing concern over the inadequacy with which

broadcasters have reflected the Maori presence in Aotearoa. The Council has made or supported submissions to the BCNZ and/or to the Minister of Broadcasting. The Council has requested greater recognition of the Maori component in the New Zealand identity and culture particularly in the content of the material broadcast by the two major services, namely, Radio New Zealand and Television New Zealand.

The action by the NZMC to establish The Aotearoa Broadcasting System Inc. may be seen within the context described as follows:

(a) the accumulation of disappointing experiences of the Council in its dealing with the broadcasting authorities in this country

(b) the rising expectation of the Maori people for a better deal and

(c) the growing evidence and realisation that it is inappropriate to expect members of one cultural group, namely, the pakeha to administer properly and fairly the affairs of the members of another cultural group, namely, the Maori.

In considering the establishment of ABS the logic of the NZMC was compelling in its simplicity. It was as follows:

(a) the Maori claim under the Treaty of Waitangi and the requirements of the 1976 Broadcasting Act remain unmet

(b) regardless of the identity of the successful applicant for the third tele-

vision warrant BCNZ should expect to lose a substantial amount in revenue and (c) the successful applicant would receive, at no cost, a public asset the only remaining VHF (very high frequency) available for general broadcasting.

The view of the NZMC was that it was totally unacceptable that funds should be diverted from the public broadcasting system and that an extremely rare resource, namely, the VHF be lost to public broadcasting while the Maori claim continues to languish. Accordingly, the NZMC resolved to establish The Aotearoa Broadcasting System Inc. for the purpose of being a contender for the VHF and the receiver of the funds which would be diverted from the public broadcasting system.

The Aotearoa Broadcasting System Inc. (ABS): Its application for the Third Television Warrant

The essential elements of the ABS application are as follows: (a) The television channel will be under the continuous control of a bi-lingual and bi-cultural group, members of which will have a dual interest in the maintenance and development of Maori culture and in broadcasting. (b) The channel will broadcast seven hours daily for seven days a week. (c) The language of the channel will be as follows: i) English 65% ii) Maori 35% 100% (d) The content will be as follows: i) Overseas 33.3% ii) Local: General interest 33.3% Maori topics (some of which will be of general interest) 33.3%

It is now common knowledge that BCNZ have responded supportively to the ABS bid for the third television warrant. The Corporation has accepted the logic of the case which was formulated by the NZMC and the strength of the Maori claim. It has become public knowledge that the Corporation will provide the transmission facilities (at a total capital cost of about $46.6 million) and, following the initial settling-in period, will guarantee ABS at least

15% of the country’s total television advertising revenues. The market value of the arrangement is in excess of SSO million.

The arrangements which have been made between ABS and BCNZ will be evaluated by most minds as a very valuable, indeed generous, gesture by BCNZ, particularly when seen only in the context of the future. When these arrangements are put into historical perspective, which is pakeha domination of broadcasting to the almost complete exclusion of the Maori, the shine on the BCNZ offer dulls somewhat. An inference to be drawn from the historical experience is that considerable backrent is due to Maori broadcasting.

The last point made gives emphasis to the inequity of the next. In order to launch its broadcasting waka, ABS must secure additional capital funds of $24 million for accommodation, production facilities, studios and a long list of equipment. The pakeha public broadcasting system, which we have had and still have, was launched and maintained in the absence of this kind of hurdle and the associated risks.

The ministerial directive to call for applicants for the third television warrant may preclude support for ABS from the public purse. The inequity of this when compared with the development of pakeha broadcasting in

Aotearoa will be apparent.

The Constitution and Management of The Aotearoa Broadcasting System Inc. (ABS).

ABS is a cash incorporated society. It has no shareholders and no one will receive dividends as such. Its membership is limited to those who have demonstrated their interest in Maori culture by virtue of their membership in an organisation which has among its objects the promotion of Maori culture.

The constitution draws on the two principal languages of Aotearoa and on the two major cultures of this country to express as fully and as clearly as possibly objects and procedures for a national bi-cultural broadcasting organisation. English or Maori is used in the constitution so as to describe as precisely as possible the institutions and concepts from our two cultures.

The very idea of a written constitution and the general framework of the ABS constitution are, of course, pakeha in origin. The following concepts, which are embodied in the constitution are, by contrast, of Maori origin:

(a) the tangata whenua status of Maori people in Aotearoa

(b) the privacy of whanau, hapu or iwi in addition to the privacy of individuals (c) a runanga which provides for one kuia and one koroua to ensure that the role of kaumatua are capable of being

performed by ABS

(d) the taha wairua as a central dimension of good health among Maori people and (e) whanau, hapu and iwi as the principal forms of organisation in the Maori community.

A runanga of 11 to 13 people is to be named by an appointing authority to be specified by the New Zealand Maori Council.

ABS anticipates that a major training programme will be one of its responsibilities. The Maori Economic Development Commission has formulated a proposal for a very substantial programme of training for people of Maori origin and of others who have a strong interest in the Maori culture in all aspects of

the media industry. ABS has been invited to assume responsibility for this 3-year programme which calls for government funding of $lO million.

The bi-lingual and bi-cultural basis of ABS, including its programming, justifies its channel being called Aotearoa TV or New Zealand TV. It would be more accurate to give the label Pakeha TV to Television NZ as we know it today than to give ABS the label Maori TV. The newspapers and other media in New Zealand appear to have overlooked this point in reporting on the tribunal hearings on the applications for the third television warrant. Reporters have persisted, unfairly, in describing ABS as Maori TV. This has been misleading.

ARRANGEMENTS & MANA MAORI JOBS FOR MAORI MAORI TOPICS KAUPAPA PEOPLE An incorporated socie- It will be under Maori 17 hours per week of ty with almost wholly control and managed 450-550 new jobs, programming on Maori membership according to tikanga potentially all Maori Maori topics or sub- — with no private Maori ject matter, some of B ownership which will be of § with no dividends general interest and and with broadcasting presented in both 1 and bicultural Maori and English, development as the overwhelming concern A company (or com- Some Maori in- No Maori employment panies with private) dividuals own shares guaranteed 15 minutes per week ownership and with in ESTV2, one of four of programming on § financial gain through regional companies. Maori subject matter, rp profits on shares Permanent Maori con- No Maori language * and/or dividends being trol is not assured. broadcast guaran- \ a high priority teed. A company (or com- Little, if any, Maori 4 hours £er week of panies) with private ownership and no per- 13 jobs for Maori peo- Maori/multi-cul-ownership and with manent Maori control pie are proposed tural/ethnic profinancial gain through or influence gramming is being disproofs on shares guaranteed cussed. Some of the j and/or dividends being material would be a high priority broadcast at or 1 around mid-morning y while the remainder would fit into slots after 10:30pm. No Maori language broadcast guaranteed. A limited liability com- Minority Maori o pany (or companies) ownership and no per- No Maori employment About 20 minutes of f) with private owner- manent Maori control guaranteed Maori programming „ ship and with fin- or decision-making monthly (i.e. about 5 * ancial gain through role minutes a week) to be V profits on shares broadcast at lunch i and/or dividends being time on a Sunday and ' a high priority to be repeated on the U following Tuesday rp after 10:30 pm. No Maori language C broadcast guaranteed A company (or com- Little, if any, Maori panies) with private ownership and no No Maori employment No Maori subject matT ownership and with Maori control or influ- guaranteed ter guaranteed. No •y financial gain through ence offered or Maori language profits on shares guaranteed broadcast guaranteed 3 and/or dividends being a high priority