A step forward for te reo in mainstream media
Reo Māori experts are glad to see the return of the language to mainstream media following Stuff’s shift to reo Māori and bilingual articles.
In the spirit of partnership and in keeping with its commitment to Māori, Stuff hired its first full-time reo Māori translator, Taurapa, in July to support language revitalisation and normalisation across the company’s platforms.
Taurapa (Te Rarawa) translates stories daily across many genres from te ao Māori, hard-hitting breaking news, to lighter entertainment pieces.
The translated stories contain a link that allows the reader to choose between the English version or te reo Māori translation. In the translated stories, each paragraph in te reo is followed by its English counterpart so those who are on their reo journey can compare the two, Taurapa said.
Growing up in a Māorimedium school, Taurapa was glad to see te reo Māori on a mainstream platform, something he said was a new experience.
‘‘I think that [Stuff] very much want te reo to have a normal presence in mainstream media,’’ he said.
‘‘We have a long way to go because it’s really hard to do that with just one person, I don’t think I translate more than 1% of the articles we put out a day, so imagine the impact we could have if we could have two people doing that.’’
Reo Māori linguist and kaikōkiri reo, director of te reo Māori for Whakaata Māori Dr Hinurewa Poutu said the return of reo Māori to mainstream news was long overdue.
Poutu (Ngāti Rangi, Te ti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Maniapoto) grew up speaking, reading and writing in te reo Māori, so to see Stuff shift towards publishing in te reo was exciting, she said.
‘‘Having daily news written text in te reo Māori is not new, in fact there was a time when there were more than 40 newspapers published in te reo Māori.
‘‘It’s great to see te reo Māori return to periodicals, newspapers and daily news through text.
‘‘It’s the indigenous language of our nation, so I welcome the move and commend [ Stuff] for it and hope that it continues.’’
Massey University Associate Professor, senior scholar, Hone Morris (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu, Pāhauwera, Ngāi Tūhoe, Rongowhakaata) said it was great to see the magic and beauty of te reo Māori in mainstream media.
He hoped that making it more accessible in a non-threatening way would help drop the guards of those who were resistant to the shift towards normalising te reo Māori.
‘‘That’s great that people get to see te reo Māori in mainstream publications.
‘‘The more we see te reo Māori, the more it becomes normalised and, although some people find change a challenge, there are more and more people who are embracing change.’’
Te Tuara Whiri i te Reo Māori chairperson Professor Rawinia Higgins said it was huge that Māori langauge was being published on Stuff.
‘‘The media reflects who we are as a nation and our stories need to be told in both our languages.
‘‘Providing Māori language content in these stories opens up a different insight into our Māori world and our lives.
‘‘It normalises not just our language but our people, here in the country we come from.’’
For Stuff’s Pou Tiaki matua Carmen Parahi, the move towards reo Māori stories was a natural step given the company’s commitment to normalising te reo and te ao Māori.
‘‘We want to be able to help build confidence in everyone at and our reporters, but also everyone else in Aotearoa to use te reo Māori every day and everywhere.’’
Pou Tiaki matua (pictured, left)
‘‘Our kaupapa at Stuff really is, kia tupu te māia o te katoa e whakaputa ai te reo MāoriĀi ngā wā katoa, ki ngā wāhi katoa.
‘‘We want to be able to help build confidence in everyone at Stuff and our reporters, but also everyone else in Aotearoa to use te reo Māori every day and everywhere.
‘‘We will continue to develop how much Māori language we have in time, but our vision is, you will click a button on our website and the whole website will translate into te reo Māori.’’