irirangi o aotearoa te moana nui a kiwa broadcast area international from new zealand first air date 1948 format news talk music language s english owner radio new zealand webcast live stream . asx stream website www.radionz.co.nz international this article is about the international version . for the domestic version see radio new zealand national . rnz international or radio new zealand international m ori ko te reo irirangi o aotearoa te moana nui a kiwa sometimes abbreviated to rnzi is a division of radio new zealand and the official international broadcasting station of new zealand . it broadcasts a variety of news current affairs and sports programmes in english and news in seven pacific languages . the station s mission statement requires it to promote and reflect new zealand in the pacific and better relations between new zealand and pacific countries . as the only shortwave radio station in new zealand rnz international broadcasts to several island nations . it has studios in radio new zealand house wellington and a transmitter at rangitaiki in the middle of the north island . 1 its broadcasts cover from east timor in the west across to french polynesia in the east covering all south pacific countries in between . the station targets micronesia papua new guinea fiji samoa the cook islands solomon islands vanuatu and tonga during a 24 hour rotation . the signal can also be heard in europe and north america . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 recent years 2 news 2.1 coverage 3 programmes 3.1 original programming 3.2 radio new zealand programming 3.3 other programmes 4 broadcasting 5 references 6 external links history edit rnzi originally broadcast from titahi bay . early years edit rnz international was launched in 1948 as radio new zealand a subsidiary of what was then the new zealand broadcasting corporation . it utilised two 7.5 kw transmitters at titahi bay which had been left behind by the us military during world war ii . it briefly closed before reopening in 1976 under the foreign policy of the third labour government . from 1987 the government faced growing pressure to have a more active foreign policy towards the pacific region . it upgraded the station installed a new 100 kw transmitter and re launched it as radio new zealand international on the first day of the auckland 1990 commonwealth games . the station adopted new digital technology and launched a website in 2000 . in 1992 johnson honimae was fired as the solomon islands broadcasting corporation sibc head of current affairs over his work as a freelance reporter in bougainville for rnzi and other international media outlets . sibc general manager patterson mae was accused of undermining the principles of press freedom and resigned as president of the regional journalism body the pacific islands news association . 3 4 recent years edit in 1998 and again in 2000 rnzi won a commonwealth broadcasting association s rolls royce award for excellence . at a function of the association for international broadcasting in london november 2007 rnzi received the international radio station of the year award ahead of the bbc world service . the association praised the station for what it said was an ability and clarity of vision and for the delivery of something it said was valued by audiences throughout the region . rnzi also won the award for most innovative partnership . 5 as of 2015 rnzi has 13 staff . these include manager linden clark technical manager adrian sainsbury news editor walter zweifel and deputy news editor don wiseman . myra oh colette jansen damon taylor dominic godfrey and jeremy veal serve as technical producers and continuity announcers . 6 news edit radio new zealand international has interviewed west papuan activist benny wenda on several occasions . aside from radio australia rnzi is the only international state owned public broadcaster covering the pacific region . its news service focuses on south pacific countries and includes news bulletins in eight languages . 7 the station s reporters include johnny blades sally round former pacific media centre editor alex perrottet moera tuilaepa taylor indira moala koroi hawkins koro vaka uta leilani momoisea amelia langford bridget tunnicliffe mary baines jenny meyer and the wireless contributor jamie tahana . vinnie wylie heads the station s sports coverage and freelancers are often used for on the ground reporting . 8 the station s news service focuses on news that relates to new zealand and ongoing stories like natural disasters and political crises . it predominantly cites government and opposition leaders and the spokespeople of non government organisations and government departments . 9 marshall islands journalist giff johnson is an rnzi correspondent and world bank regional director franz dreez gross and victoria university academic john fraenkel are regularly interviewed for stories . 10 coverage edit rnzi regularly covers the papua conflict and interviews exiled koteka tribal leader benny wenda on his visits to new zealand . it has reported on vanuatu s parliamentary debate on the conflict indonesian estimates of the death toll and west papua national liberation army claims of militant arrests . the station has also interviewed members of the melanesian spearhead group over the army s bid to join the group . however the station does not have any reporters on the ground . 11 12 the station provides ongoing coverage of several regional issues including climate change rapid emigration lgbt rights in oceania the development of pacific tax havens and the growing influence of china . 13 14 15 16 17 it allowed other media to redistribute its ongoing coverage of fijian politics after the 2000 fijian coup d tat and has covered the transition to independence in east timor and political stability in the solomon islands . 18 19 rnzi also gives greater air time to national news stories from south pacific countries than new zealand s other mainstream and pacific media outlets . 20 21 for instance during march 2013 it covered the constitutional crisis in nauru video of alleged torture of prisoners by fijian government officials and a world bank grant to the samoan government . 22 23 programmes edit original programming edit rnzi produces most of its own programming including regional current affairs pacific business and news bulletins in various languages . some local pacific island radio stations rebroadcast selected items such as news and weather and radio new zealand national radio australia bbc world service and the world radio network rebroadcast its reports and current affairs programmes . 24 daily programmes include dateline pacific daily pacific current affairs pacific weather forecasts daily forecasts news about new zealand weekly new zealand current affairs news in pacific languages world and pacific news daily pacific news and sports bulletins new zealand newspaper headlines daily headlines pacific business report daily business news pacific regional news daily pacific current affairs and pacific music daily music selection . 25 26 weekly programmes include pacific correspondent local political and social reports tagata o te moana weekly pacific current affairs and music the feature interview sports talk weekly pacific sports discussion the world in sport weekly pacific sports news and tradewinds weekly pacific business . the weekly show mailbox includes dx reviews solar weather and digital radio reports . 27 28 29 radio new zealand programming edit some of the programmes are simulcasts or repeats of rnz national content and rnz concert like flagship current affairs programmes morning report midday report checkpoint and late edition . the station also broadcasts some sports commentaries of major sports events and includes a weekly hymns programme from rnz concert . 30 every day rnz international also broadcasts te manu korihi morning m ori news new zealand coastal weather morning forecasts morning report morning current affairs midday report afternoon news nine to noon current affairs checkpoint afternoon current affairs late edition evening current affairs and radio new zealand national simulcasts . weekly programmes broadcast by rnz international include insight monday spectrum monday focus on politics monday asian report wednesday music 101 saturday saturday night saturday hymns on sunday morning sunday and sounds historical sunday . other programmes edit rnz international also broadcasts content from other programme producers and international broadcasters . these include parliament today the french language pacific press review and programmes from the bbc world service . 31 bbc current affairs show the world today is broadcast every day . 32 broadcasting edit rnz international is available across micronesia melanesia and polynesia . rnzi broadcasts on different frequencies and times to different parts of the pacific region during a 24 hour rotation . maintenance of the transmitter is carried out on the first and third wednesday of every month from 10 30 a.m. to 6 p.m. nzst sometimes interrupting the station s broadcasts . regular schedule changes are made to reflect changes to the station s target audience . its current schedule is 02 51 04 00 17675 drm vanuatu monday friday 04 59 07 59 11725 am pacific 06 51 07 58 11690 drm tonga monday friday 07 59 10 58 9765 am pacific 10 59 12 58 13840 am north west pacific papua new guinea timor 13 00 15 50 5950 pacific 15 51 16 50 9700 am 9780 drm cook islands samoa niue tonga 16 51 17 45 9700 am 9780 drm cook islands samoa niue tonga 17 46 18 50 11725 am 11690 drm cook islands samoa niue tonga 18 51 20 50 11725 am 15720 drm samoa niue tonga 20 51 21 50 11725 am solomon islands 20 51 21 50 17675 drm solomon islands sunday friday 21 51 04 58 15720 am pacific 22 55 02 00 17675 drm pacific sunday thursday 23 00 13 00 utc bougainville papua new guinea timor 23 00 13 00 utc north western pacific and asia rnzi is also available on satellite over singapore and eastward to the cook islands fiji tonga niue and samoa . references edit about rnzi . radio new zealand . 2015 . retrieved 16 january 2015 . dateline pacific . radio new zealand . 2015 . retrieved 16 january 2015 . robie d. 1999 . cafe pacific and online censorship cyberspace media in an island state . asia pacific media educator 1 6 11 . the word 1992 . sacking of radio journalist alarming june radio new zealand international 60th . radio new zealand . 2009 . retrieved 16 january 2015 . about rnzi . radio new zealand . 2014 . retrieved 16 january 2015 . fortner robert s. 1994 . public diplomacy and international politics the symbolic constructs of summits and international radio news praeger . about rnzi . radio new zealand . 2014 . retrieved 16 january 2015 . hansen kathleen a. 1991 . source diversity and newspaper enterprise journalism journalism quarterly 68 3 pp. 474 482 . pacific airwaves of march . pacific media centre . 2015 . retrieved 16 january 2015 . leadbeater maire . 2008 . media blindspot over west papua pacific journalism review 14 1 168 175 . zweifel walter . 2010 . reporting war covering the pacific radio nz international and west papua as a case study pacific journalism review 16 1 68 71 . campbell j. 2010 . climate change and population movement in pacific island countries . climate change and migration 29 50 . george n. 2008 . contending masculinities and the limits of tolerance sexual minorities in fiji . the contemporary pacific 20 1 163 189 . shie t. r. 2007 . rising chinese influence in the south pacific beijing s island fever 307 326 . van fossen a. 2007 . citizenship for sale passports of convenience from pacific island tax havens . commonwealth & comparative politics 45 2 138 163 . brady a. m. & henderson j. 2010 . new zealand the pacific and china the challenges ahead . looking north looking south china taiwan and the south pacific . singapore world scientific 189 223 . ramesh s. 2010