A new bilingual Maori newspaper has the potential to grow beyond its partnership with the Rotorua Daily Post, a media researcher and commentator suggests.
The first edition of Mangai Nui, included in the paper, was launched yesterday and despite opposition by some Te Arawa whanau unhappy with the newspaper's past coverage of Maori stories.
Gavin Ellis, a media commentator for Radio New Zealand and former editor-in-chief of The New Zealand Herald, said even though there were some apprehensions about the partnership Mangai Nui has with the Rotorua daily, Maori news would reach a wider audience.
He believed it had a potential readership that would grow beyond the Rotorua region.
Mr Ellis said New Zealand Media and Entertainment might even consider putting something similar in its other regional papers such as The Bay of Plenty Times, for example.
He welcomed the move because if Mangai Nui was just a stand-alone eight-page monthly, it might not reach a significant readership.
