Oriini Kaipara, a New Zealand broadcaster has become the first person with M?ori face markings to anchor the national news in primetime.
Yahoo! News reported that Kaipara who has a moko kauae or a traditional chin marking worn by M?ori women, filled in for the permanent anchors on Newshub Live’s 6 p.m. news bulletin on New Zealand’s Three channel on Monday December 27.
The broadcaster told Stuff;
“I am proud of how far I’ve come in being able to anchor 6 p.m. right now.
“It’s definitely a step forward and a step up. If there was a goal for me, it would be anchoring primetime news, and that’s happened.
“That is always at the back of my mind, that every step I make is like breaking through a glass ceiling. It’s breaking new ground for us as M?ori, but also for people of color. Whether you’ve got a moko kauae or not.”
Kaipara previously received notoriety after she was named the first person with a moko kauee to anchor the TVNZ 1’s midday news broadcast in 2019.