Finalists Announced For Maori Sports Media Award

Finalists Announced For Maori Sports Media Award

An iwi radio rugby commentator, a Maori language article on waka ama in a youth magazine and a weekly Maori sports show on Maori Television are the finalists for the 3rd Maori Sports Media Award of the Year – Whakapaoho Reo o Hinepukohurangi.

The award is a commitment by the organisers of the annual Maori Sports Awards – Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa – to work constructively with the media to encourage more positive and expert reporting on Maori sports, and to improve the depth and quality of Maori sports reporting.

A finalist is chosen in three categories (radio, print and television) and the overall winner will be presented with a specially commissioned trophy at the 2004 ceremony to be held at the Auckland Showgrounds on Saturday, December 4.

The finalists are:

- TELEVISION: Nga Hau Tipua for Sky Television, a weekly one-hour Maori language sports show broadcast on Maori Television and presented by Julian Wilcox and Te Whetu McCorkindale;

- RADIO: Arapeta (Albie) Gibson for rugby commentary and interviews for Radio Ngati Porou (Ruatoria) and Turanga FM (Gisborne);

- PRINT: Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr – based in the Waikato – for a Maori language article on the state of waka ama in New Zealand published in Toi Te Kupu by Learning Media for the Ministry of Education.

‘Te Rongo-Tu-Taua a Maui’ – honouring male Maori champions – is the theme of this year’s ceremony which will be hosted by media personalities Ngarimu Daniels and Scotty Morrison.

Other awards include Maori sports administrator of the year; umpire/referee; sportsperson with a disability; coach; junior sportsman and woman; senior sportsman and woman; sports team; and world champions while scholarships worth more than $20,000 will be presented on the night as well as a special Maori Olympian prize and SPARC’s Best Community Initiative Award.

The event will be broadcast live to the iwi radio network by Auckland-based Radio Waatea and televised the following day (5/12) on TV One between 1.30pm and 3pm and on Maori Television from 6pm.

A full list of the finalists is available on the website http://www.maorisportsawards.co.nz.

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