Native Affairs – Named Best Current Affairs Finalist

PUBLICITY RELEASE
Friday, 14 October 2011

Native Affairs – Named Best Current Affairs Finalist for Third Time in Five Years

NATIVE AFFAIRS, Maori Television's prime-time current affairs programme, has for the third time in five years been named a finalist in the 2011 AFTAs (previously QANTAS Awards) for Best Current Affairs Series.

The acclaimed live one-hour show is hosted by Julian Wilcox, and screens at 8.30pm each Monday on the channel that is attracting top ratings as the lead free-to-air broadcaster of Rugby World Cup 2011.

NATIVE AFFAIRS will also provide Maori Television’s election coverage with a special series, NATIVE AFFAIRS - KOWHIRI 11, starting 24 October.

Maori Television CEO Jim Mather says he's delighted with the news.

"It's great for our News and Current Affairs department to be recognised for the work it does in covering events of interest to all New Zealanders.
“In fact NATIVE AFFAIRS has been named as finalist in two categories, the other being the Maori Language Commission/Te Mangai Paho Best Maori Language Programme for coverage of the tangi of Dame Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira," he said.

"For NATIVE AFFAIRS to be honoured in this way three times in its first five years demonstrates a tremendously high consistency in the quality of its reporting and interviewing and this has been rewarded by a consistent growth in its audience.

“It's a remarkable achievement for an indigenous broadcaster and I don't think it's paralleled anywhere else in the world. And it's as good a result as any achieved by any of the mainstream current affairs programmes over this period."

Another Maori Television programme, ANZAC DAY 2011 KOTAHI TE WAIRUA MAORI TELEVISION, is a finalist in the Kordia Best Multicam Broadcast category.
The winners of the AFTAs will be named at a special ceremony on 12 November at the Viaduct Events Centre.
ENDS
http://www.maoritelevision.com/

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