Don Mann, Pacific Media Network CEO
What’s the one word to sum up your mood as we close out 2023 and look forward to 2024?
Ma¯fana (Tongan — an appreciation and gratitude to our community and staff ).
How would you describe your year? Immense. We are now 35+ years of Pacific media in Aotearoa. We are still here. Our community is still with us. We are only halfway through our year, we will reflect once we get to Mataliki.
What’s the best initiative/project/ campaign in your own business — and one that you thought a rival did well? Recruiting and training 36 Te Rito journalism cadets, most being Ma¯ori and Pacific, has made a significant imprint on the sector. Launching a new PMN digital platform and convening a Pacific media sector fono (the first in 10 years). I can’t separate those three achievements.
We don’t have rivals, only collaborators — but I love the new Whakaata Ma¯ori training centre, Hawaikirangi.
How do you think 2024 will play out for New Zealand media — what’s the biggest priority for you?
Viability — against the backdrop of economic uncertainty. Maintaining relevance to our respective audiences in the face of social polarisation and the likely rapid adoption of generative AI.
What’s the biggest issue that keeps you awake at night?
Sustaining ethnic Pacific media sector as a financially equitable space for a Pacific workforce.
What’s the biggest mistake media/ marketing /advertising people need to avoid in 2024?
Whilst media executives and owners grapple with the impact of Gen AI on IP, control, ownership and sovereignty, audiences generally won’t be thinking about those issues.
Audiences will happily consume (and create) AI content in parallel with consuming human-produced content.
It will be audiences that determine what value is placed on such content, both in monetary terms and usefulness.
We could all be out of jobs in two-three years if the media sector is too slow on collectively preparing a plan for the risks/ opportunities posed by Gen AI.
What are your plans for the summer break?
Fishing tales, bad golf, out-of-tune guitars, wrong lyrics, wrong chords — having the time of our life with wha¯nau and friends in Rangiputa, i te Tai To¯kerau.