Congratulations to Dr. Jim Mather on his appointment as Chair of Radio New Zealand’s Board of Governors.

Mather was appointed on 7 May by New Zealand’s Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Clare Curran, and will replace outgoing Richard Griffin, whose term ended at the end of April.

As former chief executive of Māori Television and current chief executive of Te Wananga o Aotearoa, Mather will bring a wealth of business and media experience to the role, with Curran praising his “understanding of the public broadcasting ethos and landscape”.

His appointment comes at a significant time for Radio New Zealand, which has ambitious plans to develop and evolve its multimedia offerings under the RNZ+ mandate.

Mathers said of his new role:

“RNZ’s commitment to professional journalism that questions, celebrates and holds to account, is an immensely valuable resource for all New Zealanders. RNZ has an enviable reputation in a fast evolving and increasingly diverse New Zealand society and I look forward to working with the RNZ team.”

CEO Paul Thompson welcomed the appointment, saying:

“I look forward to working with Jim and the board as we continue to develop RNZ’s multimedia strategy to provide strong, independent and high quality public media in this country.”

Jim Mather’s term will last three years. He will be joined on the board by Jane Taylor, Rodger Finlay, Bill Francis, Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Graham Pryor, and Mike O’Donnell.