Maori Party plays tough with media

The Maori Party wants all media to fill in a question form before granting any interviews. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Maori Party wants all media to fill in a 13-question form before granting any interviews for their MPs or candidates over the election period.

The request has sparked a strong reaction from Press Gallery reporters, who are already discussing boycotting the form.

Among the questions reporters have to answer are:

# Topics or question line to be covered in interview

# Any other matters that the MPs hould be aware of

# Will our MP be appearing alone (if not, the names of those who will or you intend on appearing)?

# Will there be a story leading into the interview (in so, the names of the talent who will be speaking in that story)?

Reporters are then asked to email the form to the party, and await a response.

"We want to ensure that all requests are given a response," the party's advisory about the form said.

The party polled at 1.8 per cent in the latest Herald DigiPoll, but the number of seats it gets in the election will depend on electorate votes, not party votes.

- NZ Herald staff