E-Tangata

E-Tangata is a digital platform, set up by charitable organisation, the Mana Trust, in 2014. It is an online magazine, publishing stories weekly on a Sunday. The platform's goal is to build a stronger Māori and Pacific presence, both in the media as journalists, as well as in the stories being told. It is a non-profit publication that runs on donations from supporters, and is worked on by a team of mostly part-time journalists and writers who are dedicated to building a more balanced and informed view of society in Aotearoa New Zealand, which includes covering off politics, community, te reo Māori (the Māori language), Māori artists as well as health and wellbeing. One of E-Tangata's co-founders Gary Wilson was instrumental in increasing representation of Māori and Pacific as journalists by starting to run a practical training series in the 1980s that gave many students a taste of journalism, and led some to begin a career in this field, including well-know news broadcaster Mike McRoberts, or radio presenter Niva Retimanu. In the 1990s, Wilson, along with Derek Fox and Piripi Whaanga, set up Mana Māori Media which took te reo Māori and Pākehā (caucasian) stories to outlets like Radio New Zealand and the network of iwi-led broadcast stations. Along with this, they also published the Mana Magazine, which ceased in 2004. By this time the Mana Trust was also established, and 10 years later, they launched E-Tangata as a digital project.