Better public media public meeting: Stressed revenue, drop in public trust and an alt-right billionaire taking over NZME

Better Public Media is one of the best organisations focused on the nexus of media, business and its fourth estate obligations to democracy.

These are the smartest people in the industry and they are gurus when it comes to understanding the role the fourth estate must play in a democracy and how to fund it.

The speakers were

Merja Myllylahti – Co-Director of the Journalism, Media & Democracy (JMAD) research centre and Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Critical Media Studies at AUT

Gavin Ellis – Honorary Research Fellow at Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland and formerly Editor In Chief of the NZ Herald

Glen Kyne – Advisory Board Member at The Spinoff and formerly CEO of Three and Senior Vice President & Head of Networks at WBD Australia, New Zealand, Japan

Peter Thompson – Associate Professor in Media and Communications at Victoria University of Wellington and Vice Chair of BPM

Merja is a genius, her academic work highlighting the collapse in trust in our media institutions demands a response that is as meaningful as her analysis.

I have not been kind to Glen Kyne in the past, I was highly critical of his role in the Newshub kill off, but you can not doubt his knowledge of the international market and the deep financial pressures many of the large media companies are now going through. His insight into international media markets is extraordinary and warns far more disruption is on the way.

Peter Thompson is by far one of te smarts people in the field, his argument on why a levy on all audio and visual goods to pay for the journalism and upgrade of the media landscape their products use is a legitimate solution.

Gavin Ellis is one of the guardians of journalism, and his insights into the total lack of safeguards within NZME to prevent alt-Right Billionaire Jim Grenon from running amok is the same grim realisation we’ve had with Trump.

The convention in NZ has been editorial independence, the managers and the shareholders OUT OF CONVENTION have maintained  strict editorial independence. The fear now is that Grenon, like Trump,  has no interest in those conventions and very much intends to do something no other owner of a NZ media has attempted, and that is editorial control.

These are the smartest people in media, you should take the time to view the video online as they all have enormous brilliance to share.

The good news is that there are solutions to the dangers our fourth estate and wider journalism face, the frustration is we simply have no political leaders prepared to take up the challenges.

 

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.