Mō Tārake

Welcome to Tārake, the bilingual platform with Māori news from a Māori view. It's great to have you here.

Tārake is a flax roots news platform aimed at showcasing the positive and meaningful things taking place in Indigenous communities.

The name Tārake recalls old newspapers read by our tīpuna, like Te Paki o Matariki, Te Whetū o Te Tau and Korimako. A whetū tārake is a lone star offering a quiet lead in to the morning. That's what Tārake aims to be.

About the Editor | Mō te Kaietita

Tārake is brought to you by Whiti Reo Limited and managing director Dr Vincent Ieni Olsen-Reeder. Our mission is simple: Māori news from a Māori view. Vincent has long wanted to solve a problem where so much of the valid content produced by the media network of Aotearoa is unfortunately, overtly stressful and negative. There, te ao Māori news is really news about other people: disappointing things happening to Māori. He wanted something different and so, Tārake clings to the positive and uplifting news often missed. Tārake is not a replacement or competitor for established media outlets.

Tārake began out of Vincent's aspiration to create an open and ethical media platform where people had the freedom to curate meaningful stories themselves — a place to draw Māori communities away from disheartening, social-media-driven news where click bait and rage bait commentary become the dominant goal of the piece. With Aotearoa New Zealand set to revoke its journalism and broadcasting standards, welcoming the community to contribute directly matters more than ever.

About the kaupapa | Mō te kaupapa

Something unique about the content of Tārake is that it is curated, in part, by you because you're going to write it. Whether you're a budding journalist building a portfolio, a local community leader sharing events or a member of your marae sports team covering the wins, this is your place to give positive Māori journalism a crack.

These days, media outlets are also becoming more social media centred. Māori stories are caught up in rage baiting and the anti-Māori social media circle. Reading those stories on social media platforms draws us to the comments section; closer to the unkindness. Tārake might draw a story from social media on occasion, but its social media presence is limited and it does not invite commentary. That's deliberate. Tārake wants to be a safe haven — it is trying to draw you away from social media, to read in rest.

You'll find two kinds of stories here. Short stories of around 300 words are generated by AI. Long form pieces of up to 1000 words are written by you, the reader. You'll notice some usual news categories aren't here, but some new ones, like Māori leadership, are here. This is the angle of story Tārake wants to present to you.

AI declaration | Taukī AI

Tārake acknowledges the risks of using AI to generate content, especially about Indigenous people. It's important to know the content generated by AI here is already available on the internet elsewhere. It also acknowledges the risks of storing data offshore, and this is an issue the platform will aim to fix as we gain momentum. No AI translation service is used by the platform. All translations are completed by Dr Olsen-Reeder, a certified translator.

Tārake is currently stored on offshore servers but aims to move its platform to Aotearoa by 2028.

Editorial Policy | Mō ngā tuhituhi

Tārake has a staunch kaupapa Māori editorial policy. It's commitment is that it will only publish uplifting news. The platform won't tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, hate speech or misinformation. This policy is important as we enter a period of journalism without any independent standard to adhere to. The platform reserves the right to reject stories and eject account holders accordingly without further explanation.

Intellectual property | Mana whakairo kōrero

Original submissions are the intellectual property of the writer. Tārake is not a repository and recommends writers keep their submissions locally for their record.

How to support | Tautoko mai

If you enjoy Tārake, the content and the fresh perspective, why not support the kaupapa? The Tautoko — Support button above offers a chance to koha, for which Tārake is eternally grateful. The platform is also open for advertising. Funds are used to help carry costs and take the kaupapa further.

What should you do next? Write, inspire, record, recall. Tell stories that make us smile. Remind us that good news is out there.