Maiki Sherman

Maiki Sherman (born ) is a New Zealand journalist and television broadcaster. She has worked as a reporter for TVNZ's Māori language current affairs programme Te Karere, Whakaata Māori (Māori Television), Newshub and 1News. Between 2024 and 2026, Sherman also served as TVNZ's political editor. In May 2026, Sherman resigned as TVNZ's political editor following a five-day suspension from the New Zealand Parliament for breaching parliamentary press gallery rules and media coverage of a spat in May 2025 between her and Stuff journalist Lloyd Burr . In August 2026, Sherman joined the Māori public broadcasting service Whakaata Māori.

Early life and education Maiki Sherman is the daughter of Allan Sherman and Te Otaota Eve (Kate). She is of Māori descent and belongs to the Ngāpuhi and the Whakatōhea iwi.

Sherman was born in in Auckland and lived in Ōtara. From the age of one, she attended the Kōkiri Te Rahuitanga Kōhanga Reo, a Māori language immersion school, with her brother. Her family later relocated to Rotorua so that the children could attend a Māori immersion school called Te Koutu Kōhanga Reo.

In early April 2026, The New Zealand Herald editor Shayne Currie reported that Sherman had contacted Police Minister Mark Mitchell to placate the New Zealand Government over a critical report by fellow TVNZ political journalist Benedict Collins about rising gang membership in late February 2026. This report overshadowed a Government announcement that same day that that the number of victims of violent crime and serious youth repeat offending had declined by 49,000 and 22 percent respectively. In response, left-wing blogger Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury called on Sherman to resign for alleged professional misconduct and undermining press freedom.

On 24 April 2026, the National Party's campaign chair Simeon Brown filed a complaint against TVNZ after Sherman and several TVNZ reporters pursued Member of Parliament and chief whip Stuart Smith through Parliament's corridors on 21 April while seeking to interview Smith over media reports he had sought a meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over declining support within the party caucus for his leadership. On 30 April, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Gerry Brownlee suspended Sherman from Parliament for five days over her role in pursuing Smith. This story was subsequently picked up by several New Zealand media outlets including The New Zealand Herald, The Post and Radio New Zealand. Burr chose not to pursue the matter further. Stuff later issued a statement supporting Burr's version of the events at the May 2025 function. On 29 April 2026, Newstalk ZB broadcaster Mike Hosking confirmed that his producer Sam Carran had been working on a story about the Sherman-Burr spat last year. When he sought comment from TVNZ, the public broadcaster threatened to sue Newstalk ZB if they published a story about the matter.

On 8 May 2026, Sherman resigned from TVNZ, citing the "unprecedented level of scrutiny" on her over the past week. She also issued a statement apologising for her conduct towards Burr at the after-hour function at Willis' parliamentary office. Left-wing blogger Bradbury contended that the targeting of Sherman was part of the National Party's alleged campaign to undermine TVNZ to privatise the public broadcaster. Similarly, Gower and Radio New Zealand journalist Lilian Hanly suggested that the "outing" of Sherman was part of the National-led coalition government's conflict with the New Zealand news media.

At the 2026 NZ Media Awards, two weeks after her resignation, Sherman won the award for Political Journalist of the Year.

Whakaata Māori, 2026–present In mid-August 2026, Sherman joined the Māori public broadcasting service Whakaata Māori as a journalist during the lead-up to the 2026 New Zealand general election.

Personal life Maiki Sherman's partner is Anaru MacDougall. They have six children and reside in Wellington. As of June 2023, Sherman was pursuing a Bachelor of Mātauranga Māori (Māori Knowledge).