Māui Street

Abstract

For better or worse, the emergence of social media has created platforms for a range of diverse voices often left out of mainstream media. In particular, Indigenous voices have found amplification through new media channels that allow Indigenous people to tell their own stories rather than being “othered” as a subject in someone else’s. Morgan Godfery’s Māui Street blog was a New Zealand example of this potential to subvert traditional political commentary. Beginning as a university student addressing a variety of Indigenous and other political issues, Godfery has carved a path over three electoral cycles (and counting) as an astute observer and analyst of political and social issues in New Zealand, the Pacific region and beyond. Outside of his blog he has written articles for online and hard copy newspapers and magazines; peer-reviewed academic journals; and book chapters. He has also provided comment on radio and television. Māui Street is now the curation of published pieces from across sources such as The Guardian, E-tangata, Overland Literary Journal and The Spinoff in addition to the original blogsite.