Media Moments - part 1

This blog post will discuss the four national media events for Kootuitui ki Papakura in the last few months. They are a
1. TV interview - June 2019
2. Radio interview - July 2019
3. Radio news story - August 2019
4. TV news story - August 2019

The media we have been seeking is for national coverage of our Ko Huiamano: Warm, Dry, Healthy Homes programme. This programme is significantly different from other types of provision in this area because it is a community-led development model, being:
- developed by whānau through co-design
- delivered by whānau largely through their commitment to being volunteers
- built on the kaupapa of 'fill my kete, fill your kete'
- focussed on education for behavioural change rather than provision of goods
- not funded through any government scheme such as AWHI (Auckland Wide Healthy Homes)

The first national media event was a short segment on What's Next? where our Kootuitui Whānau were featured on episode 3 being interviewed by Nigel Latta. On Demand here and the text article here. This was excellent timing for us with the winter just getting underway and we felt so proud to be in the spotlight. It was wonderful meeting Nigel and the segment reflected fairly on our work. We received lots of 'congratulations' and 'you guys are doing amazing work' but no direct offers of support. There wasn't any direct link back to us as an organisation as the media didn't actually mention our name 'Kootuitui ki Papakura' or show our logo and the segment sounded a little like a group of people helping others without a charity or organisation behind them. At that stage, I hadn't started to harness the power of social media so after the screening, I shared the On Demand and text links and the euphoria of being on national TV ebbed away. Maybe the viewing demographic for this programme were not the people we were trying to reach?

We recently had support to publish a booklet which details the story of our Homes strand and the Ko Huiamano prototype and I was looking to once again get a national spotlight on our work. I began contacting reporters I knew and emailing TV sites. Then, quite suddenly, I was rung by Radio NZ to do an interview with Jesse Mulligan. This was recorded at 1pm one afternoon and published on their website. Through this interview people were beginning to become more aware of Ko Huiamano: Warm, Dry, Healthy Homes and understand how this part is situated within our whole scope of EDUCATION, HEALTH AND HOMES.

The same RNZ reporter who linked us with Afternoons with Jesse was really keen to attend a home installation and see what happens, in particular the effect of the bubble wrap on the temperature. This led to our Radio news story. This story was broadcast on Checkpoint with photos, video and commentary as well as a short article. This was a tenanted Housing NZ property which showcased our partnership with HNZ. At this stage the social media just took off, maybe because RadioNZ had the story as a feature article on their website.

Even though I had not received any direct replies to my approach to TV media, Te Ao News saw the second RNZ article and contacted me. They wanted to cover our work from a different angle and we agreed on an interview with Māori homeowners. The added piece to this story was that a warm house had had a positive impact on their health. The segment was screened on a cold, Friday, August evening and is here. This is such a positive story of helping our kaumātua and the impact of a home on the health of its occupants.

My next blog post will focus on the social media that has come from the mainstream media above. I am still looking for opportunities for publicity through mainstream media, so if you can assist me in any way, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you. Help us support by Māori, with Māori, for Māori for the improved lifelong outcomes of the young people of Papakura.