MEDIAWATCH: How to save the NZ media and will Democracy Project fail before Stuff?
Democracy Project is now begging for subscriptions…
…after the disastrous decision to put what was once the most important public broadcasting service in NZ behind a pay wall and advance NZ First apologist Chris Trotter as a ‘Left wing’ perspective (rather than the Alt Right Folk Singer on The Platform that he has become), Democracy Project is now little more than research for corporate intelligence that has ended up arguing that this Government is ‘moderate’ and that the Atlas Network should be ignored.
With all the rumours swirling around Stuff, the question is will Democracy Project fail before Stuff?
Public Broadcasting is under attack by the Political Right because when citizens are kept stupid and angry, the Political Right win.
In terms of the TVNZ cut backs right now:
Sunday: Look, we need long form journalism and we need it on a Sunday night dammit! The problem was that Sunday always pulled its punches! Compare any story on Sunday with Bryan Bruce’s documentary last year on the cost of food. Bryan actually goes to the heart of the problem with the intelligence to analyse it, Sunday is bullshit emotional journeys, celebrity interviews, overcoming struggles blah blah blah. It’s current affairs for Soccer Mums. Need to keep it but total change from soft focus to hard focus.
Fair Go: It’s a classic and because TVNZ is a Broadchurch, you need something for Christian family entertainment. Doesn’t deserve the chop.
Midday News: Real blow for young journalists and the wider capacity for news.
Late News: Same as above
How come genuine news capacity and two necessary shows are getting the chop when Seven Sharp and Re:News stay???
Seven Sharp is lightweight garbage that costs a fucking arm and a leg while Re:News is the most tediously woke terrible shit you’ve read in your life.
Last month on Re:News was an opinion piece by a non-white hairy girl who was complaining about NZ beaches where she feels self conscious.
I know, why am I reading this?
Re:News is a platform for sociological experiments in alienation seeking attention for the “I/Me” pronoun generation.
Seven Sharp on the other hand services Soccer Karens and the husbands who fund them.
What they should?
- They should cut journalists and producers from Sunday and deliver a far harder journalism and prove their worth for the Sunday timeslot.
- The should cut back on Fair Go but keep it. If Helen Clarke can keep Concert FM, she should save Fair Go!
- Dump Seven Sharp, send Jeremy to host the late news and make that a more studio based show. Send Hilary to Breakfast. Launch a new studio based 7pm current affairs panel show with hard hitting interviews on the days newsmakers.
- Keep Late night News but with Jeremy as host
- Dump midday news.
Studio based panel TV is far cheaper to make and there is enough talent to do that successfully in NZ week nightly.
TVs power is that it is live.
The problem with public broadcasting in NZ is that our population base has always been far too small to support advertiser broadcasting, that’s why it has always needed the State to support it.
How to Save TVNZ + Newshub + Public Broadcasting?
We need a mix of ideas:
Fund TVNZ 1 commercial free – If we can have commercial free radio, why not commercial free TV? By removing TV1 from the ratings, the advertising flow would immediately go to Newshub and allow them to stay on air. You save two birds with one stone.
NZ on Air ‘Read between the Flags’ Kiwi journalism – In a world of disinformation, we need journalism we can trust. We all get the ‘swim between the flag’ model of surf life saving, NZ on Air should be given extra funding for ‘Read between the flags’ Kiwi Journalism. This money is to ensure plurality of voice for independent media, Māori media, specific communities, news blogs and mainstream news media who become eligible if they agree to a set of Journalistic Principles. If you do agree and sign up, you are entitled to funding and must have a Kiwi Journalism flag on your site to show you are obliged to the Journalistic Principles Code of conduct.
You would have an awareness campaign to urge NZers to ‘read between the flags’ for trusted information.
Promoting Journalism in the Pacifc to counter other influences – I think one way NZ could uniquely promote its interests into the Pacific could be via Journalism. AUT run the excellent Pacific Media Centre to promote quality Journalism throughout the Pacific. What if NZ saw the promotion of quality Journalism as a craft throughout the Pacific as a strong way to counter corruption and external influence? Scholarships, Pacific News Media websites and support of local ethical journalism, these could be the pillars of promoting corruption free politics and holding those Governments to account. Promotion of Journalistic standards throughout the Pacific could counter external influences and promote NZs strategic interests.
Māori Media – Māori TV & Māori Radio need a baseline increase rather than extra budget for collaborations because the bigger players give very little back.
The NZ population has always been too small for advertiser funded journalism, it has ALWAYS needed State support, add a broken market where social media takes all the revenue while providing none of the journalism and you have a hollowed out Fourth Estate that can’t be a watchdog to anything other than their own self interest.
Current policy is simply adding more money to Corporate News to cover the news they should be covering anyway and to fund echo chambers of elite opinion so that the Spinoff Story gets posted on RNZ who then co post it on Stuff who then co post it on newshub.
It’s the same people saying the same thing to the same echo chambers.
The last election was a warning that disinformation campaigns can wreck the trust in our system, a strong public broadcaster alongside an expanded NZ on Air journalism fund paid for via taxes on the social media currently gutting traditional journalism would be a bold vision that would seek to genuinely rebuild public broadcasting.
Unfortunately the Political Right want to keep you stupid and want to leash the fourth estate if not kill it off altogether.
We currently have a Broadcasting Minister who has washed here hands of the media meltdowns and actively wants the free market to kill off Newshub and mutilate TVNZ.
Democracy dies in darkness and all Melissa Lee is doing is turning off the lights.
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.
If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.
Briefly, television in New Zealand, initially had advertisement-free days and nights. The quality was infinitely superior then to what it is now. If we’ve done it before, we can do it again. There were outstandingly good imported programmes in every genre. The whole country watched, ‘ The Avengers’ on Wednesday nights.
‘‘Fair Go’ being axed can be seen as another assault upon the freedom of speech, which is an insidious global issue. ‘ Fair Go ‘ was popular viewing, as well as an important mechanism for ordinary persons who cannot afford lawyers, to address injustices. For this reason alone, it should be kept.
There used to be a similar television programme called ‘ Target’, which performed a similar function, and was always good viewing. Importantly, both these programmes were much more socially useful than most trite, if not demeaning, contemporary reality television programmes. The trivia and total crap “ news” featured on eg Stuff, may be scribblers barrel-scraping for stories because they are muzzled, or simply because they are bottom-feeders or intellectually challenged, or both.
“Briefly, television in New Zealand, initially had advertisement-free days and nights. The quality was infinitely superior then to what it is now. If we’ve done it before, we can do it again. There were outstandingly good imported programmes in every genre. The whole country watched, ‘ The Avengers’ on Wednesday nights.”
Bear in mind they were very different times back then though – no such thing as Sky or the internet and streaming. People have a lot more entertainment options these days and will watch what they want to watch, not watch just because there’s nothing else on.
Reporting on this issue never seems to mention the licence fee. The B.B.C. is still entirely commercial free (television and radio), because the U.K. never abolished their fee — and there would probably be a voter revolt if anyone tried to load all those stations full of commercials.
There are only three good outcomes here:- a) the licence fee needs to be revived (and levied upon households with an Internet connection or T.V./radio set); b) the cable and O.T.T. television services need to be taxed (meaning Netflix/H.B.O. Max/Disney Plus etc. would be regulated for the first time ever); or c) a return to Michael Joseph Savage’s policy of an absolute broadcasting monopoly by the N.Z.B.C. (with the television division running local owned-and-operated affiliate stations, carrying every English-language broadcast network, cable channel and O.T.T./V.O.D. service).
There are many good columnists on substack who are all asking for subscriptions. However while many of us might want to peruse twenty or so opinions, few of us can afford to subscribe between $200 and $400 a month to do so. I subscribe to only one substack column and it was really a chance decision in favour of a very competent journalist who had been crucified by the New Zealand state and media. I have also given one-off financial support to other journalistic collectives but I would want to read more widely. The journalists will have to come up with a new model or they will all end up talking exclusively to a narrow and reasonably affluent group of supporters.
Can I just add that the lunchtime news was good for us Nightshift workers just waking up and wondering what just the hell just happened.
And off course rock musicians just coming down from last night’s fix and wondering what’s to eat.
Soccer Mum’s always win.
Don’t disagree @ Martyn, except that reform is going to have to be far more substantial than what you are proposing.
As I keep saying = and in a era where EVERYBODY is a media spurt and full of impractical ideas based on their own self-interest – reform is going to have to be far more substantial than you are proposing.
If MTS can be set up on what was a shoestring, and where those committed were concerned about the look of previous attempts (designer undies et al), the bullshit and jelly beans that go into what we have now need a double wash and some serious disinfectant in the rinse cycle)
And we DON’T need more EY’s and Deloittes so-called “independent advice”, and wastage on re-imaging and re-branding and other bullshit where Willie went wrong.
Actually, there’s yet another survey out that confirms that although people “consume” (ew) their media in different ways (with changing demographics, and for other reasons), they still want “Linear”; “FTA” media, free from commercial and political hegemony.
The first was a survey by Research NZ (Mani Coloured Potatoes …. hold on – Emanuel Kalifatelis), the second – do your own fucking research – I’ve got better things to do.
In short though, we have one of the most over-managed, structurally stupid PSB systems in the world.
One that’s been asset stripped of its assets and resources, and where the managerialist, egotistical managerialists thrive, and in which they actually provide “US” with SFA.