Edwin Maher

Edwin Maher is a New Zealand-born TV journalist who now works in China.

Maher established his broadcast career in Australia, working many minor roles, particularly as a weatherman, in many cities before beginning a 25-year stint with Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1979.

Maher is mostly remembered in Melbourne, Australia for his use of a varied and creative number of viewer submitted [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/mstories/mr281196.htm pointers] to highlight items when delivering the ABC's Victorian state weather forecast.

In 2003, China Central Television sought to expand its CCTV International to be more professional and accessible to Western audiences, or in the words of Jiang Heping, "putting Chinese wine into a foreign bottle". Jiang approached Maher, already working in China with CCTV as a voice coach, to become one of the first western anchors for the revamped network. Maher was offered the position because of his clear diction speaking English and his experience in voice coaching. Maher taught speaking in private lessons, lectured at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and even released audio lessons on voice. He accepted the job with CCTV and started in March 2004.

Besides anchoring a news broadcast a few afternoons a week, his duties include voice coaching to the Chinese staff.

CCTV is a state agency of the People's Republic of China via the State Administration of Radio, Television, and Film. Its editorial bias is that of the Communist Party of China. [CCTV-9#Newsworthiness.2C bias and propaganda] Maher answers criticism that he has become a paid mouthpiece for Chinese propaganda by saying he only reads the news and is, "not trying to read into the news, not thinking about what is behind the content. Politically sensitive news, like any other news, has to be read clearly. That is my bottom line. Because I'm in China, some news may be regarded as politically sensitive or whatever, but that doesn't affect my interpretation of it to the audience."

Recently he has appeared in the Australian movie "Bad Eggs", as a presenter reporting on the events at the end of the film.

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