Mihingarangi Forbes

Mihingarangi Forbes (also known as Mihi Forbes and Joanne Forbes) is a New Zealand journalist, presenter and radio broadcaster. She has worked on current affairs shows such as Campbell Live, 20/20, and Native Affairs. In 2008, she won a Qantas award for 'Best Reporter for Daily Current Affairs'.

Forbes is known for leading a 2013 investigation into the alleged misspending of the Te Kohanga Reo Trust Board.

Early life

Forbes grew up with her mother in Feilding, New Zealand.[1][2] Her father is a Maori bushman of Ngati Paoa and Ngati Maniapoto heritage, and her mother is Pakeha (non-Maori).[2][1] Although Forbes' grandmother was fluent in the Maori language (te reo), the woman rarely spoke it at home and preferred to speak English to her granddaughter.[1]

As a child, Forbes was deeply interested in journalism and storytelling, using a tape recorder to deliver fictional news and weather bulletins for her family.[2]

Forbes graduated from Feilding High School in 1990.[3] When she turned 19 or 20, she attended a Maori-language immersion college and became fluent in te reo.[1] Despite originally being known as Joanne Forbes changed her name to Mihingarangi after her immersion experience — she and her fellow students had translated their names into Maori during the program, and the new name stuck.[3]

Career

After finishing school, Forbes worked at a bar for a year before moving to Auckland.[2] In 1993, she read community news for Tainui Radio.[2] Despite her lack of formal journalism training, in the 1990s Forbes was offered an internship at the news program Te Karere of TVNZ.[1] Following the birth of her first child in 2001, she worked briefly as a producer for Radio New Zealand.[1][2] After that, Forbes worked as producer for the TV3 current affairs show 20/20.[1]

In 2008, Forbes was working at TV3's current affairs show Campbell Live, earning a Qantas award for 'Best Reporter for Daily Current Affairs'.[4] During her time on the show, she conducted an infamous interview with businessman Alasdair Thompson, challenging his earlier comments about women earning less pay because of their menstruation cycles.[3]

Maori Television

In 2012, Forbes joined Maori Television as the producer of news show Te Kaea.[1] In February 2013, Forbes became presenter of Maori Television's current affairs show Native Affairs.[4] During a well-known 2014 interview with Jamie Whyte – a political candidate for ACT New Zealand – Forbes exposed his ignorance of the Maori health-initiative Whanau Ora.[1][2]

Kohanga Reo National Trust scandal

In October 2013,[5] Native Affairs aired an investigation led by Forbes into the alleged misspending of the Te Kohanga Reo Trust Board.[6] The show had obtained credit card transaction details of one board member and the general manager of the trust fund's charity-status subsidiary.[6] The day after the show had aired, Education Minister Hekia Parata and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples met several trust board members at Parliament to discuss the allegations.[5]

Resignation

On 4 June 2015, Forbes announced her resignation from Maori TV on Twitter.[6] Media reports suggested that her departure from Maori TV was related to increasing editorial pressure on her work – her followup story on the Kohanga Reo National Trust had been held back, delayed without a clear explanation why.[2][6] Forbes stated that she had felt she was "losing control" of her stories.[2]

In 2016, it was revealed that Forbes was involved in a property dispute with Maori Television after her resignation, having been accused of taking several items of designer clothing from the company wardrobe without permission.[7] Forbes denied any wrongdoing, telling reporters that the clothing had been promised to her as extra compensation by her former boss at the company.[7]

Present-day

One day after her resignation from Maori TV, it was announced that Forbes was joining Radio New Zealand as a specialist correspondent for Maori affairs.[8][9]

Personal life

In an interview, Forbes has said that she supports bilingualism, and is raising her children to speak both English and Maori.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Mihi Forbes: The quiet achiever". Stuff. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Mihingarangi Forbes: back in control in her new role". Stuff. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Top reporter never forgets her roots". Stuff. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Mihingarangi Forbes to present Native Affairs". Māori Television. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Urgent meeting called on kohanga reo spending". Radio New Zealand. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Maori Television journalist Mihingarangi Forbes quits". Stuff. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Mihi Forbes in dispute with Maori TV over ownership of clothes". Stuff. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Forbes joining Radio New Zealand". The National Business Review. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Mihingarangi Forbes joins Radio New Zealand". Radio New Zealand. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
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