Maria Barlow

Maria Barlow (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara) is Kaiurungi Pāpāho (Director of Content and Audience Engagement) at Whakaata Māori. With more than 20 years of experience in broadcasting, content strategy, and audience insights, she leads key editorial, production, and engagement teams across platforms like MĀORI+ and teaonews.co.nz. Maria worked across the development of the first Whakaata Māori Social Value Report — demonstrating how kaupapa Māori media strengthens language, identity, and wellbeing. She is a passionate advocate for Indigenous storytelling and a champion of Māori content creators.