Māori Television – in partnership with Te Puni Kōkiri and Kordia™ – was privileged to host the inaugural World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference in New Zealand from March 26-28. Indigenous broadcasters from Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, Hawaii, Ireland, Aotearoa-New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Taiwan, and the USA came together for the first time ever to re-imagine the future of indigenous television. Thanks to the delegates and sponsors as well as Māori Television stakeholders and staff for their support in the months leading up to and including the event. Click here to read the final conference report.
Speeches, presentations, videos and photographs are now available online on the WITBC ’08 website: www.witbc.org. The line-up of keynote and featured guest speakers included Chief Judge Joe Williams (Waitangi Tribunal); Simon Molaudzi (South African Broadcasting Corporation); John Walter Jones (S4C, Wales); Jean LaRose (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Canada); Jim Mather (Māori Television, New Zealand); Shaun Brown (SBS Corporation, Australia); Sylvia Feng (Public Television Service, Taiwan); Pól Ó Gallchóir (TG4, Ireland); Patricia Turner (National Indigenous Television, Australia); Margaret Mary Murray (BBC Scotland); and Dr Saul Berman (IBM Global Business Services). Click here to view their presentations or click here to view the photo library.
A pioneer of Māori television and film, the late Barry Barclay, was honoured at the closing ceremony of WITBC ’08. Barclay (1944-2008; Ngāti Apa), who dedicated most of his life to bringing Indigenous stories to the screen, was posthumously awarded the inaugural Te Puni Kōkiri Lifetime Achievement Award for Indigenous Television Broadcasting, Te Rerenga Tahi. It is hoped that the host nation of the next World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference will adopt the concept and present its own lifetime achievement award. Click here to read about Barry Barclay’s award.
The development of a global network of indigenous television broadcasters is a major outcome of WITBC ’08. The conference gave delegates a forum to discuss the need, benefits, scope and nature of a World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Network (WITBN) which will promote indigenous broadcasting at the highest levels internationally and foster closer relationships between broadcasters. An interim council was formed and Māori Television will now develop a draft strategic plan before the network is formally launched. Click here to read about WITBN.
Taiwan Indigenous Television – supported by the Public Television Service – will host the next World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference in 2010 followed by S4C in Wales in 2012 and APTN in Canada in 2014. The vision for the event was that it would become a permanent, international conference that would unify, strengthen and promote indigenous broadcasters throughout the world. The confirmation of not one but three host broadcasters in the years to come demonstrates a unified commitment to meet and review our collective progress and plan for the challenges ahead.
Māori Television invites delegates at WITBC ’08 to share their thoughts on the recent conference. Your feedback will be used to assess the overall effectiveness of the event and a summary of all feedback received will be provided to the hosts of WITBC 2010, Taiwan. Please take the time to provide us with your thoughts so that the World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference can further develop as a valuable, useful and important forum for indigenous broadcasters. Click here to fill in the feedback form.