TV host puts job on the line over Marae

Shane Taurima. Photo / Richard Robinson

A leading Maori journalist is threatening to walk away from TVNZ if proposals to revamp the Maori-focused current affairs show Marae go ahead, insiders say.

The proposed restructure at Marae could result in seven positions being disestablished and an equal number created.

TVNZ management says the move will help rejuvenate the show.

The team is small - less than 10 employees work on the half-hour programme which is screened at 10am on Sunday.

An unhappy staff member said it did not take a "cynic" to figure out that journalists were about to be swept out of jobs.

The Sunday morning programme is hosted by former parliamentary press gallery journalist Shane Taurima, who revamped the daily news programme Te Karere last year.

Multiple TVNZ sources told the Herald that Taurima had made it clear to the team that he would resign if a further Marae change, which included adding another presenter to the mix, was implemented.

Yesterday, Taurima refused to comment. Whether resignation from his presenting role would make his job as Te Karere editor untenable is not clear.

A broadcasting source said: "Are we getting an extra bit of good-looking fluff here? No one knows what [that proposal] is about.

Morale was low, and some staff broke down at work every day, the source said.

TVNZ's general manager of Maori programming Paora Maxwell said the proposal was still only that, and staff consultation would end next week.

The reshuffle could bring in field producers who would work with reporters on stories, bringing it in line with other TVNZ current affairs shows such as 20/20.