In light of this year's theme, "Te Mahi Kai - The Language of Food", the Minister of Māori Affairs and sporting celebrities will battle it out to be named best chef.

In recent times, media have been at the forefront of Māori Language Week innovations and this year, once again, there will be awards for the best media contribution.

Also, SpongeBob SquarePants will once again become Kiwi for a week, with full episodes in te reo Māori screening on Nickelodeon NZ (SKY channel 041) from Monday 26 July until Sunday 1 August (8.10am and 4.00pm weekdays, and 8.10am and 8.40am on the weekend).

Visit the Māori Language Week facebook page and the Māori Language Week website for more details and updates.

If you or your organisation would like to host an event or be involved in Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2010, please email the Human Rights Commission.

The development of the course follows a global trend towards specialist journalism courses. "There is an increasing demand for more journalists in the growing Pasifika media industry and also for highly-skilled cross-cultural journalists for the mainstream," says Dr Robie. "This new course is a logical outcome of the demographic changes in New Zealand, and particularly Auckland."

The new course targets Pacific peoples who wish to enter journalism from another career, students from around the Pacific region seeking a New Zealand qualification, and Pacific students working towards a career in Pasifika or mainstream media.

Students will take core papers from the Bachelor of Communication Studies in Journalism as well as Pasifika media papers and other electives that reflect particular interests in the Asia-Pacific region. The core papers provide the necessary skills to prepare students for professional journalism work and include a media industry internship and study of a Pacific language.

"This course will boost regional Pacific reporting and also contribute to a higher Pasifika community profile in the New Zealand media," says Dr Robie. "We hope journalists on this programme will push the boundaries of Pacific reporting in a challenging way."

Director of AUT's Centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy Associate Professor Martin Hirst says the aim is not to sideline Pacific students or to completely "mainstream" them, but to give them a solid foundation in the principles of good journalism, integrated with a successful degree programme.

"And to encourage Pasifika students and journalists to nurture and extend their specific skills and values to better represent and report on Pasifika communities and issues, in both local community media and more broadly throughout New Zealand."

Visit the AUT website for more information on the Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism.

"A key function of the foundation is to develop New Zealander's understanding of the Pacific and what better way to do that than by giving New Zealand media the opportunity to report stories directly from the Pacific," said Meg Poutasi, CEO of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation.

"Grants are available from the Media Assistance Programme each year and I'd encourage any interested journalists to talk to us about using the funds," prompted Ms Poutasi.

This year, the foundation has already assisted four journalists and one TV crew. This included Sunday Star Times journalist Adam Dudding, who investigated the human rights implications of a Vanuatu coronial report, published by NZ judge Nevin Dawson, into the death in custody of a recaptured prison escapee.

For more information on the Media Assistance Programme visit the Pacific Cooperation Foundation website.

Head of journalism at the polytech, Jim Tucker, is also working with a member of the Wellington Muslim community to set up a charitable trust supported by the Muslim community. The trust will help to fund a community member through a journalism programme each year.

Mr Tucker points out that while New Zealand demographics have changed dramatically in recent decades, "what hasn't changed much is the news media's capacity to broaden the hegemony." To see greater ethnic diversity in the newsroom, there first needs to be a greater diversity of journalism students in the classroom.

One of Whitireia's stated objectives is to recruit and train more people from ethnic minority communities. "This is largely because despite the apparent inertia within the media industry, I know that its leaders are actually keen to hire a more representative range of newcomers, if they were to become available," says Mr Tucker.

Of the 28 students in the last course, six were Pacific Island/New Zealanders, three were Māori, one was Chinese/New Zealander and another was an international student from Germany.

"In the long term, I want our school to properly reflect New Zealand society," says Mr Tucker. "We do that already in the sense that our students range in age from 17 to 62, about half have degrees, and many have life experience ranging from working as lawyers and nurses to manual labour on the railways.

"But in terms of ethnic diversity... there is still a long way to go."

For more information on the scholarship, visit the Whitireia Community Polytechnic website.

"We are talking to people who can add texture and colour to the mostly black-and-white silent films that we are seeing," says series producer Michele Bristow. "This helps to give us a context of the people depicted in these very special films."

Upcoming episodes feature the 1940 Treaty of Waitangi celebrations, the construction of the Ngāpuhi ceremonial waka, Ngātokimatawhaorua, early sound recordings of Te Reo Māori on film, as well as the oldest footage of tūpuna Māori known to exist anywhere in the world.

Broadcaster and presenter Lawrence Wharerau, kairangahau for the Archive, presents the series. He has an extensive knowledge of early film and filmmakers in New Zealand.

Usually, when the Archive is accessed, it is to use these taonga as short clips, so it was a priority for both Māori Television and the Archive to show the footage in its entirety.

"We are always looking for ways to reach and extend our audiences and give people the opportunity to engage with and enjoy the taonga we care for on behalf of whānau, hapu and the nation," says Lawrence. "We are also excited by the series because it gives our kaitiaki an opportunity to talk about the films and the tūpuna depicted in the images."

Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua screens on the Te Reo Channel on Mondays at 9.00pm and is repeated with subtitles on Māori Television on Wednesdays at 9.30pm.

Announcing the intern search, Fairfax Media Group Executive Editor Paul Thompson said there has never been a more exciting time to become a journalist. "We need the best and brightest to join us to achieve the potential of print and digital media in this new era."

This is the fifth year Fairfax has offered internships, and since its inception Fairfax has been keen to recruit from minority communities.

Applications for this year's intern scheme close midday on Friday 6 August. Applicants will undergo an online written test and other written tests prior to interviews by representatives of their chosen publications or website and journalism schools.

More than 50 interns have been selected since the scheme began. At the recent Qantas Media Awards, nine of them collected 20 awards.

To find out more information and to apply for an internship visit the Fairfax website.

The reporting of religion by the media continues to be a topic that occupies the minds of both religious communities and journalists, internationally and in New Zealand. As members of NZ's increasingly diverse media we want to know what you think are the major concerns? What can be done to improve the relationship between Religion and the Media?

At the Religious Diversity Forum, based on the feedback received, representatives of faith communities and the media will further develop the discussion with participants.

The Religious Diversity Forum will be run as part of the 2010 NZ Diversity Forum, to be held from Sunday 22 - Monday 23 August at the Christchurch Convention Centre. Check out the growing number of sessions in the programme and register online NOW!