With its financial future in question, online Māori media website E-Tangata is celebrating the support of loyal subscribers, but it's not in the clear yet. Chair of E-Tangata Trust, Stacey Morrison says the survival of E-Tangata is crucial in ensuring expert Māori opinions are heard within online media.
E-Tangata is striving to maintain a range of expert Māori opinion within online news media.
Stacy Morrison says, “Despite there being a number of articles they don't really go into depth, good quality, long-format articles also need to have a place that's the goal.”
The website publishes articles from a diverse range of Māori and Pacific writers. Stacey Morrison says the online news is saturated by mainstream views.
“E-Tangata needs to stand independent of those online spaces for our voices and the voices of our Pacific relations to be empowered,” says Morrison.
E-Tangata was launched three and a half years ago with the backing of The Tindall Foundation, however, the funding has come to an end. An online crowdfunding campaign raised nearly $5000 in contributions from loyal subscribers.
Stacey Morrison says, “This isn't something to be ashamed of it's a sign of the times, Huffington Post does it, NBR does it, that's the nature of digital online news.”
She says the changing landscape of news content means it's important to provide a platform for expert Māori opinion.
“There needs to be quality and relevance to the issue, that's a skill on its own and it’s hard to come across places where (Māori) writers can develop those skills,” says Morrison.
E-Tangata continues to raise funds and map out their strategy moving forward.