Would you be happy to put up with polarised discussion?

Maori Television has so far put in the highest bid for gaining the rights to screen the Rugby World Cup games in 2011. The Herald reported on the likelihood of Te Reo being included as part of the commentary, saying that the majority of commentary would be in English but with 5-10% Maori phrases. They even included a wee English-to-Maori translation of common rugby terms down the bottom of the story.

Your Views asks the question: Would you be happy to watch Rugby World Cup games on Maori TV? Strange phrasing here, with a definite insinuation that watching rugby on Maori TV would not sit comfortably with some people. It might as well be saying: "Could you put up with the odd Te Reo word or phrase during a Rugby World Cup game?", as if the language is simply a nuisance.
"Would you be happy driving with screaming kids in the back seat?"

GT (East Tamaki)
No, I do not want to have to listen to Maori in the middle of the games. I don't mind if you want to spread Maori culture, but not like this. This would be akin to force feeding. Don't people know that it's rude to speak another language in front of people who don't understand it? What's the difference between that and forcing everyone to watch Maori TV where they wouldn't understand 10% of the commentary?

M. L (Remuera)
Just out of principle: Absolutely not! I'm just sick to death of Maori organisations constantly having their hands out to the taxpayer to fund their enterprises. They just have an insatiable appetite for Government handouts. If I need a "fix" of Maori culture I'll just trot off down to the Auckland Museum, thanks. I don't want it rammed down my throat, constantly.

Both of these responses liken the expression of Maori language and/or culture to force-feeding, as something which is being 'rammed down' people's throats. I'm sure GT doesn't mind speaking English in front of people who don't understand it. M.L's suggestion that Maori culture is best represented in the Auckland Museum shows his/her imagining of Maori as museum artefacts, not as a culture which might -GASP- change over time.

T Carrington (Berhampore)
Good on Maori TV for punching above their weight. If the Maori Affairs people are trying to get messages through to Maoris and also to promote Maori business then doing it at a time when most of the world is watching smacks of good thinking. Better than spending it on welfare benefits I say.
Sad to see so many people including your reporter eating and talking straight out of TVNZ's trough - the question is, who benefits from leaking all this bid information and that would be TVNZ - a broadcaster renown for long lunches whose bosses have been subsidised by my taxes for more than half a century - and yet we moan about little ol Maori TV?
Shame on those journos who pandered without thinking to an obvious TVNZ set up.

I continue to be surprised by the amount of criticism of the Herald's reporting being approved by the moderators of Your Views. Apparently they didn't let 'The brat prince' get away with his first submission to Your Views on this topic:

The brat prince (Queensland)
Take two, a less brutal summation as the NZ Herald declined to publish my previous rant. I find it offensive to be forced to learn a language that I do not care for. I am not alone; the majority of the population does not speak Maori.The fact that a station targeting a minority of the population thinks it has earned the right to hijack our national sport is presumptuous to say the least. Maori TV is kidding itself it thinks this will endear itself to the masses and generate interest in the Maori language, it will, and is having the reverse effect.

I hate to think what was written in the rejected response. No one is making you learn a language! Therefore you cannot take offence. Last I checked Aotearoa New Zealand had three official languages - English, Maori and NZ Sign Language - so you can expect any of them to pop up anywhere. Although here's a user who feels that Maori is a foreign language:

Tinnyliz (Wellington City)
As long as the commentary is 100% English I don't care which channel it's on. I can't stand watching anything in a foreign language.