MEDIAWATCH: Why would we trust NZME journalism now we know alt-right billionaires and lobbyists are editor?
Yesterday I asked, Why would we trust TVNZ Journalism now we know Government is editor?
Today I ask, Why would we trust NZME journalism now we know alt-right billionaires and lobbyists are editor?
Mediawatch: Fears of interference and influence in news
Questions about influence on the news were also raised last year when Trade Me bought a share in Stuff Digital last year – and when NZME created an Editorial Advisory Board (EAB).
That came out of the bid by activist shareholder James Grenon to persuade other shareholders to replace the entire NZME board – and introduce greater oversight news at the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB.
The appointment this week of Hamish Rutherford as chair of the EAB raised eyebrows.
He was a business journalist before becoming Chief Press Secretary to Christopher Luxon until late 2024 when he left to become a PR professional.
This week NZME told Mediawatch that Rutherford would continue working in PR while chairing the board advising NZME on its editorial matters.
“I’ve been upfront with [NZME] chairman Steven Joyce about my other work and will continue to be,” Rutherford told The Post.
Steven Joyce told The Post the EAB did not make editorial decisions and “all members are subject to our conflict of interest policies”.
Joyce is also a consultant who has contracted for government projects such as a medical school for the University of Waikato.
The PR firm Hamish Rutherford works for – BRG – told The Post it sees no conflict of interest problems.
“If any perceived or actual conflicts of interest arise, we will manage them quickly and appropriately,” managing director Georgina Stylianou said.
But that won’t be done in public – all behind closed doors at NZME, unless details are shared with investors in scheduled briefings or if it comes up from the floor at AGMs.
RNZ
The entire mainstream media industry is a partisan pimp for the neoliberal free market agenda and having an alt-Right billionaire who believes in culture war talking points owning NZME turns it into Fox News in jandals.
This ideological capture of the editorial means the same user pays fee market capitalism is presented as the only option.
Quietly, surely, the spider creeps as he prepares for editorial domination of NZME before this year’s election…
Billionaire Share Accumulation and NZ Takeover Rules
Jim Grenon lifts NZME shareholding again
Businessman Jim Grenon has lifted his stake in NZ Herald publisher NZME again – acquiring another one million shares for $1.15 million.Grenon now has 35,694,802 shares – or 18.97% of the media firm – just behind Australian investment firm Spheria Asset Management, which has 35,702,300 shares.
The announcement was made to the NZX this morning.
Takeover rules start to apply if any shareholder wants to acquire more than 20% of a publicly listed company.
Grenon did not wish to comment when approached today.
NZME’s 2025 full-year financial results were released earlier this week – see item below.
NZME
Editorial Independence vs Owner Power in New Zealand Media
…Former Herald Editor Gavin Ellis has made the point earlier last year at the Better Public Media AGMA that within NZ News media the cultural convention inside the NZ Fourth Estate was a clear demarcation of power between the Editor’s Independence and the Owner’s interests.
He could not recall a moment in NZ Fourth Estate history whereby an Owner was attempting the level of editorial control that Grenon is attempting to take.
He points out that only convention has ensured the owner never compromised editorial independence and that an Owner with a very different editorial direction could easily ignore those conventions.
Culture War Politics and the Risk to the Fourth Estate
I think Grenon is exactly like Trump, in that he won’t care about conventions and just use the raw power ownership grants him.
Before he gains that power, he has had to trick the board into believing he has no radical culture war editorial agenda.
I believe Grenon represents a unique threat to NZ Democracy because what he as a radicalised culture war Billionaire could do to the largest media platform in NZ will have enormous damage to society.
We know Grenon is an alt-Right fanatic because he helped set up far right Hate blog, The Centrist.
Look.
NZME is already a hard right media platform.
From Radio Hauraki for private school boys to ZB Capitalist Mythology, NZME is as right wing as it gets, but within that paradigm, 2 plus 2 is always going to equal 4, from Mike Hosking Breakfast to Heather Duplicity Allan, they espouse their right wing nonsense from a reasoning landscape that acknowledges 2+2=4.
That is NOT the case with the anti-vaccine, anti-global warming, anti-Māori, anti-Treaty, anti-Trans alt-Right, indeed in alt-Right land (which is situated next to MAGA-stan and Qanon Island), 2+2=4 whatever the fuck alt-Right claim it to equal.
The Right Wing Trolls scream, ‘who cares’.
We all should,
NZME is a huge media platform, Grenon gained the power he did by opening a mere $9m (which is chump change to a Billionaire), he holds editorial control over one of the largest media platforms in the country and could force people to believe an enormous amount of crazy alt-right culture war bullshit.
That should concern all of us!
