RNZ: Mediawatch

Are media confusing us with claims of green shoots in the economy at the same time as headlining more dire data? Also: the epic security fail at the top of the Trump regime that gave a journalist the easiest scoop he'll ever get - and the battle for control of NZME ramps up with a flurry of letters.

But first -- it’s not news that our economy;s been going backwards - and the numbers on that don’t lie.

But now some new numbers are on the way up - and that is news.

But other economic numbers in the news are still bad news.

We look at the the dire data and the claims of green shoots - and ask if the media might be mixing its messages - and confusing us all:

Mistakes happen. Everyone makes them. That’s why security protocols exist—
Security systems are only as effective as the people who use them.
But looping a senior journalist into top level chat about imminent military strikes?
easiest scoop ever

That didn't stop the MAGA-men playing a lame blame game with the media.
The bitter battle to control NZME - the company that publishes the Herald and owns NZTB - rolls on, mostly in exchanges of letters.

Also - how producers behind the scenes can keep their presenters on the mic on the straight and narrow.

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Rivals appeal to NZME shareholders as Stuff carves its chief's one share into a million. Also: MAGA-powered podcasters control the zone - and have we lost the appetite for school lunch scrutiny?

Rivals appeal to NZME shareholders as Stuff's chief turns one share into a million. Also: MAGA-powered podcasters control the zone, have we lost the appetite for school lunch scrutiny?

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Concern over a sudden change of editorial direction at NZME as a billionaire bids for control. Also: reporting Wellington’s water woes and a sudden rush of top-level resignations.

The publisher of the Herald and owner of Newstalk ZB has told its investors it’s going to set “a new tone” for New Zealand and “share stories of economic success and positive momentum.” NZME also plans to roll out AI to shape the Herald homepage.

All this will change what we see and read in the future. But NZME’s top brass now have another problem - a billionaire who’s backed alternative online outlets has bought a big chunk of the company and now James Grenon wants to control it.

Also this week: how the media handled a rash of resignations from top public jobs and Wellington’s water woes - no resignations yet but plenty of headlines.

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Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea promp big calls to bump up the budget for defence ASAP. Also - the super-heated headlines about factory-to-school lunches and we talk to the international outfit defending public broadcasters from de-funding.

Chinese warships appearing in what we like to think of as our ‘benign strategic environment’ sparked something of a media frenzy lately - culminating in commentators claiming our defence spending’s going to have to go up ASAP.

Right now the two main public media networks in the US face bids to de-fund them - even though their federal funding is tiny. They also face MAGA-driven inquiries into bias and how they stay in business.

Public broadcasters elsewhere in the world also face more political pressure on their funding and even their legitimacy these days. This week ask the boss of the outfit that represents them around the world: how do you defend against de-funding?

Also: school lunches have been in the headlines ever since the new cheaper factory-to-classroom ones appeared this year - or not, in some cases. And isolated cases of things going badly wrong have certainly been seized on by the media. Just teething troubles blown out of proportion because of politics? Or are our media rightly demanding more transparency? (more than on the cellophane lids of those boxes of burnt bolognese we’ve all seen in the news . . .)

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Surviving 2025 in the intertwined industries of media and advertising. Should our government follow Australia’s media policy - and beware of billionaires? Also: decoding Destiny and the tricky task of luring Aussie tourists.

Can the intertwined industries of media and advertising survive 2025 - and even thrive? That was the theme of a gathering in Auckland this week. One day later, the hosts of it confirmed 30 of its journalists jobs have gone.

Our government says - again - its waiting to see what Australia’s government does when it comes to media policy. Mediawatch asks an Australian media expert if that makes sense - and if should media in both places beware of the billionaires.

Also - this week our government unveiled a new slogan to tempt Aussie tourists across the Tasman. Everyone Must Go seems to have gone down well over there, if not here at a time when many Kiwis are going there for good. We look back at previous efforts to lure tourists across the Tasman.

But tricky timing here when record-number of Kiwis have decided they must go over there for good.

But some of the past efforts to attract Aussie visitors haven’t dated that well either:

AUDIO: 23 feb 2025 TRAIL 02 champagne

That;s later on in the programme

But first - what happened after Destiny Church supporters disrupted Pride events in Auckland last weekend:

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This week’s Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti harvested heaps of headlines, hours of airtime and piles of print and pixels - media copped plenty of criticism for the coverage. Also: a deep-dive podcast that needed deep pockets - and warnings of ‘news deserts’ here.

This week’s big Hīkoi harvested heaps of headlines, hours of airtime and piles of print and pixels - and media copped criticism for the coverage.

14 local papers in the north island are set to close by Christmas, prompting ex-editors and experts in media to warn that the ‘news deserts’ we’ve seen overseas could spring up here in the absence of local papers. And when local elections come round in a year some places may have nowhere to go for locals politicians to air local issues.

We ask a leading paper publisher about if local papers have a future - and what might help to sustain them.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/mediawatch/534657/plans-to-close-local-papers-spark-news-deserts-warning

We talk to Newsroom' Jonathan Milne, the brains behind deep-dive podcast Powderkeg which needed deep pockets to chase the story. How did they do it?

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Mediawatch talks to the boss of Australia’s public broadcaster the ABC - and the producer of a show putting mental health in the frame for the past 15 years.
Also: fallout from the murder trial that preoccupied the media for the past two months. * this programme discusses the issue of suicide and how it is covered by the media *

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How the epic broadcast to mark a new epoch in te ao Māori was made at Tūrangawaewae Marae, media focus on small stuff in big bucks plan for roads; 'Toast-gate' prompts a backlash and a u-turn on maternity ward snacks.

As one Māori monarch was farewelled and a new one appointed this week, it was all aired in the longest multimedia coverage of any event in this country’s history. Mediawatch looks at how this was done - and asks if the Kiingitanga’s relationship with digital-age media might change under new management.

Read all about it on rnz.co.nz here

As billions were rolled out for roads in a new national transport plan - which also rolls back the sums spent on other transport - some journalists questioned how this will work and who will bear the high costs, But other coverage followed the lead of the minister, highlighting stuff that hardly makes a dent in the billion dollar budget.

Read all about it on rnz.co.nz here

Also this week: how reported penny-pinchning cuts to post-birth snacks in maternity wards forced a backlash - and two minsters declared the move toast within hours.

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Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about how the media handled the news that Joe Biden had thrown in the towel - and the final report from the Inquiry into Abuse in State Care. Also Colin also looked at a revealing local report about a local high school - and something he got wrong about his own primary school days.

(Sorry Mr Patchett . . . )

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Mediawatch looks at how our media reacted to the shocking news of the attempt on Donald Trump's life in Pennsylvania. And shortly before that news broke, Colin Peacock a look at the week's news and media live on Sunday Morning with Hayden Donnell - including how it panned out in the first week of Stuff's ThreeNews, a change for TVNZ's Re:News, a significant change in the government's stance on affordable housing - and horoscopes in the news.

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While our government ponders policy to help news media companies cope with their crumbling business models, millions of us get our news first from Facebook, Google and even TikTok. It's the same in Australia - and this week our friends at the ABC ask if public interest journalism can survive on these online networks - or without them. And if serious news outlets slip into obscurity, what would that mean for our public life?

This is an edition of Future Tense, a weekly show from the ABC's Radio National network. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts.

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How the media copped criticism for reporting allegations of personal data misused for political purposes - and the struggle to get meaningful responses from official sources. Also: the popularity of an ultra-long local podcast contradicts assumptions about short attention spans - and how one journalist's trip to his local cafe ended up as national news.

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Long-running bid to make big tech pay for news hits a snag - so what happens next?; stories based on stats sliced from surveys; shock horror over incomplete houses.

Mediawatch looks at how an effort to help the media make much-needed money hit a snag this week.

Also - stories based on surveys which didn't tell the full story.

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Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about Duncan Garner's new live morning show - and an old name for a new 6pm TV news show. Also - a couple of awkward moments at this year's national journalism awards and an awkward confrontation between a rugby coach and a reporter; an outlet devoted to the music of the dead - and who gets struck by lightning?

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A long-running plan to reform the oversight of our media has come to a sudden halt; how public toilets suddenly became political this week.

Mediawatch this week looks at how a long-running plan to reform the oversight of our media has come to a sudden stop - and what the consequences might be.

Also: why public toilets suddenly became political this week.

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Pre-budget teasers increase exposure - and scrutiny; Green MP under pressure over conduct; bid to backstop local news; Gaza coverage attract complaints - and prizes.

Mediawatch this week looks at how pre-Budget announcements from the government are coming thick and fast - and making plenty of headlines.

Also: a plan to save a local newspaper which might just help others stay alive - and an under-fire MP was pursued all the way to the Chatham Islands.

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One opinion poll prompts intense political pushback; new report urges sweeping changes to media, law and funding - and fast; Wairoa Star closes after more than a century in print.

One opinion poll prompts intense political pushback; new report urges sweeping changes to media, law and funding - and fast; Wairoa Star closes after more than a century in print.

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New media minister rolls in after PM's surprise reshuffle; TV news and current affairs on the way down here, but highly competitive across the Tasman.

Mediawatch this week looks at the sudden appointment of a new Minister of Media and Communications - and what went wrong for the outgoing one.

Also - while our TV broadcasters are cutting back their news to the bare minimum, news is still lucrative for Australian TV networks - and it's so competitive they often end up in court.

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Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the departure of broadcasting minister Melissa Lee - and the arrival of the next one Paul Goldsmith. Also: a controversial TV interview with the Israeli ambassador - and some truly startling stuff in a Stuff illustration.

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the departure of broadcasting minister Melissa Lee - and the arrival of the next one Paul Goldsmith. Also: a controversial TV interview with the Israeli ambassador - and some truly startling stuff in a Stuff illustration.

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Stuff is taking over Newshub's 6pm TV news. A bold move for an outfit that's never been a broadcaster before. Will it work? Also: Mediawatch talks to two editors about the latest survey showing another alarming slump in New Zealanders' trust in the news.

On Mediawatch this week: Stuff is taking over Newshub's 6pm TV news. It's a bold move for an outfit that's never been a broadcaster before. How will it work?

Also: Mediawatch talks to two editors about the latest evidence of another alarming slump in New Zealanders' trust in the news.

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Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about Stuff leaping into uncharted waters by taking on Newshub at 6. Also: TVNZ going 'beyond broadcasting,' NZ Post and NZME add to predictions of print's demise; recognition for a one-man band in Southland - and Colin's mistaken identity mix-up... again.

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.

Midweek Mediawatch - Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about Stuff leaping into uncharted waters by taking on Newshub at 6. Also: TVNZ going 'beyond broadcasting,' NZ Post and NZME add to predictions of print's demise; recognition for a one-man band in Southland - and Colin's mistaken identity mix-up . . .again.

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End of TV news as we know it? TVNZ cuts back and Newshub closes down. Newshub's news boss responds; the minister plays for time; a former minister fights back

This week Mediawatch rounds up a week of unprecedented cuts to TV news - and the likely loss of hundreds of journalists' jobs as TVNZ cuts back and Newshub closes down. Newshub's news boss responds; the minister plays for time; a former minister fights back

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Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about an historic day - not in a good way. The confirmation of the closure of Newshub and more cuts confirmed at TVNZ means more than 300 journalists' jobs will go by midyear - and TV news and current affairs will shrivel. Also: the latest report on trust in the news media reveals a further decline - and listeners' questions about what it all means.

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about the confirmation of the closure of Newshub and more cuts confirmed at TVNZ. More than 300 journalists' jobs will go by midyear and TV news and current affairs will shrivel. Will another media company fill the Newshub void?

Also: the latest report on trust in the news media reveals a further decline - and listeners' questions about what it all means.

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TVNZ has confirmed Fair Go - on air for 47 years - and news shows Midday and Tonight will cease next month. The future of Sunday will be confirmed tomorrow. Meanwhile a decision on alternatives to a proposal to close Newshub in June is expected tomorrow from its owner Warner Brothers Discovery.

TVNZ has confirmed Fair Go - on air for 47 years - and news shows Midday and Tonight will cease next month. The future of Sunday will be confirmed tomorrow. Meanwhile a decision on alternatives to a proposal to close Newshub in June is expected tomorrow from its owner Warner Brothers Discovery.

After meeting with staff today, TVNZ also said in a statement it is proposing "a new team to be established as part of its News and Current Affairs function, with a specific focus on long-form consumer and current affairs for TVNZ's digital platforms."

If confirmed, TVNZ said this would be "an opportunity to continue reporting under the Fair Go brand and viewers would still be able to share their consumer concerns by writing to the Fair Go inbox.

On Facebook, Fair Go staff told followers: "We've looked at a problem - and with TVNZ - we think we've found a solution."

"While how you see our stories could change, it's important Fair Go still be there to fight for New Zealanders, so keep writing in and we'll update you when we can," the Facebook post said.

After TVNZ announced in March 68 jobs and several programmes could be axed, O'Donnell said there were "no sacred cows."

"The restructure is expected to be complete by early next month," the statement said, leaving the door open to further cuts in other areas of TVNZ production.

TVNZ's online youth-focused arm Re:News was also told its staffing was likely to be cut in half. Its staff meets with TVNZ staff this afternoon.

Sunday's staff meet management tomorrow and a final meeting to brief all TVNZ staff is expected mid-afternoon tomorrow.

Last month TVNZ news reported the Fair Go team was bidding to keep the 47-year-old show on the screen.

Staff at Newshub are expecting an to be told at 11am tomorrow if the service will close in June with the possible loss of up to 300 jobs.

It has been reported that other media companies are interested in acquiring Newshub and continuing a scaled-down news service but no details of any negotitaions have been confirmed.

Michael Wood, who has led negotiations for the journalists' union E tū, told RNZ today it would be " a challenging day at TVNZ."

TVNZ told Mediawatch last Friday TVNZ's news teams have all provided feedback on the proposals relating to their area. …

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We talk to an editor keeping an eye on where public money for public services ends up and the government's new political action plan gets the media's attention.

This week Mediawatch talks to an editor keeping an eye on where public money for public services ends up. Also: how the Government's new political action plan got the media's attention this week - and how the long-standing problem of rebuilding schools suddenly hit the headlines.

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Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the government's new chunked-out action plan, a new channel coming to the ThreeNow app - and why media companies chasing online engagement risk alienating their users.

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the government's new chunked-out action plan, a new channel coming to the ThreeNow app - and why media companies chasing online engagement risk alienating their users.

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Gabrielle review lessons for media; Dolphin drama fires up media.

Mediawatch looks at how dolphins stalled the Sail GP regatta last Sunday and fired up Sir Russell Coutts in the process. Also, politicians and the media... but were important facts drowned out by all the noise?

And a big review of the Cyclone Gabrielle response says the emergency management was not fit for purpose.

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Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about the dolphin drama that divided the nation (and the media) last weekend - and royal revelations that overshadowed a terrorist atrocity in Moscow. Also: the PM and party leaders drop hints about upcoming policy to help cash-strapped news media.

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about the dolphin drama that divided the nation (and the media) last weekend - and royal revelations that overshadowed a terrorist atrocity in Moscow. Also: the PM and party leaders drop hints about upcoming policy to help cash-strapped news media.

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Mediawatch looks at the fallout from Winston Peters' criticism of the media in his State of The Nation speech.

Mediawatch looks at the fallout from Winston Peters' criticism of the media in his State of The Nation speech - and an unlikely stand-off with an English punk band.

Also, the death of Rod Oram. The team looks at a broadcaster falling foul of discrimination and denigration rules - and when politicians say the news media must innovate to survive, what does that really mean?

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Hayden Donnell talked to Emile Donovan about Winston Peters attacking the news media in his State of the Nation speech - and the death of Rod Oram, a much-admired journalist dedicated to coverage of business and climate change. Also: how many journalists are left in New Zealand - and the rights and wrongs of airing 'hot mic' comments.

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.

Hayden Donnell talked to Emile Donovan about the fallout from Winston Peters attacking the news media in his State of the Nation speech - and the death of Rod Oram, a much-admired journalist dedicated to coverage of business and climate change. Also: how many journalists are left in New Zealand; the rights and wrongs of airing 'hot mic' comments.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Artificial intelligence tech threatens to take our eyeballs even further away from the outlets which produce news - but it's also a tool they can use to make more of it. This week Stuff - which has warned AI could wreck the business of journalism - used Chat GPT to write a stories about readers' opinions. Mediawatch asks an unimpressed editor if we all just have to get used to this now.

Artificial intelligence technology threatens to take our eyeballs even further away from the outlets which produce news - but it's also a tool they can use to make more of it. This week Stuff - which has warned AI could wreck the business of journalism - used Chat GPT to write stories about readers' opinions. Mediawatch asks an unimpressed editor if we all just have to get used to this now.

Readers browsing the country's most popular news site were beckoned by an enticing headline last week.

"Stuff poll says Christchurch NZ's best place," it began, before adding, "New Plymouth not happy about it".

The headline contained two crucial selling points for news: controversy and a metaphysical conundrum. First of all, is Christchurch truly New Zealand's best place? Could it be that Stuff reader polls are somehow wrong?

But more importantly, how is New Plymouth - a metropolitan centre not blessed with the gift of consciousness - able to express unhappiness? Does a cloud roll off Mt Taranaki and hang over the city to signal its displeasure? Do the waves crash more angrily on Fitzroy Beach?

The story didn't answer those questions, perhaps because it was written by another entity which has not been awakened to the joy, confusion, and dread of mortal existence.

A standfirst at the top of the story explains that it was assembled by a robot.

"This story was summarised from original Stuff reporting and published member comments using generative AI tool Chat GPT with oversight and editing from Stuff journalists," it said.

This may have struck some as a slightly strange thing for Stuff to publish, given its leaders have been outspoken about the threat AI poses to journalism.

Its chief executive Sinead Boucher warned about a AI-driven potential media-pocaplyse at a recent select committee hearing on the proposed Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.

"In this last year we have seen the rise of AI technology that has been hailed as a gamechanger for humanity by the tech companies that own it but which at its core has an egregious wholesale theft of our content and our intellectual property," she said. "For the news media globally this development is looking increasingly like an extinction-level event."…

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What will government do about the great TV news meltdown?; Stuff deploys AI for DIY news.

TV news and current affairs are still in the balance at two big broadcasters. Mediawatch looks at how the government has responded - and what it might be planning.

Also: how artificial intelligence is creating news at a media company which has warned the technology could ruin the business of journalism.

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Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about a manic Monday afternoon of news - cricket, Oscars, terror in the skies... and the post-Cabinet media conference. Also: the royal photo fakery frenzy; political responses to the TV newspocalypse; US politics satirised and fact-checked by TikTok; the leap-year community's struggles.

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about a manic Monday afternoon of news - cricket, Oscars, terror in the skies . . . and the post-Cabinet media conference. Also: the royal photo fakery frenzy; political responses to the TV newspocalypse; US politics satirised and fact-checked by TikTok; the leap-year community's struggles.

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TVNZ has proposed big cuts to news that could leave the country with only one daily TV news bulletin and almost no current affairs on TV within weeks.

Mediawatch looks back at another worrying week for NZ journalism with yet more cutbacks to TV news - this time at TVNZ.

TVNZ has proposed big cuts to news that could leave the country with only one daily TV news bulletin and almost no current affairs on TV within weeks. But could they have been avoided? Also: has David Seymour crossed a line with criticism of TVNZ?

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Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about job cuts looming at TVNZ as its crosstown rival Newshub faces a shut-down. Also: coverage of Chris Luxon's terrible, no-good week - and Heavy Metal Morning Report.

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about job cuts looming at TVNZ as its crosstown rival Newshub faces a shut-down. Also: coverage of Chris Luxon's terrible, no-good week - and Morning Report goes heavy metal (but Mediawatch got there first . . .)

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For years news media bosses warned the creaking business model backing journalism would fail at a major local outlet. It finally happened this week when Newshub's owners proposed scrapping it. Then TVNZ posted losses prompting warnings of more cuts to come there. Can TV broadcasters pull a crowd without news? And what might the so-far ambivalent government do?

Newshub staff leaving a meeting on Wednesday after the announcement was made.

For years news media bosses warned the creaking business model backing journalism would fail at a major local outlet. It finally happened this week when Newshub's owners proposed scrapping it. Then TVNZ posted losses prompting warnings of more cuts to come there. Can TV broadcasters pull a crowd without news? And what might the so-far ambivalent government do?

After Warner Bros Discovery top brass broke the bad news to staff on Wednesday, Newshub at 6 that night became a news event in itself.

In her report political reporter Amelia Wade reminded viewers more than 30 years of TV news and current affairs - spanning the entire period of commercial TV here - could come to an end in June.

Before TV3 launched in 1989, state-owned TVNZ had been the only game in town.

But for most of its recent history, TV3's parent company MediaWorks was owned by private equity funds and it was hamstrung with debts.

There were periodic financial emergencies too which seemed to signal the end.

In 2015 the boss Mark Weldon axed the current affairs shows Campbell Live and 3D and replaced them with ones that didn't pull in more viewers or pull up many trees with their reporting.

"Reports of our death at 6pm have been greatly exaggerated", host Hilary Barry responded to reports 3 News might be for the chop the following year.

But Weldon persuaded the owners to stump up a significant sum to launch Newshub instead.

When the huge global company Discovery bought MediaWorks loss-making TV channels in December 2020, many in the media were pleased a major media outfit was now in charge.

Using the Official Information Act, Newsroom later reported the Overseas Investment Office fast tracked Discovery's application and sought no guarantees of a commitment to local news.

The 2021 mega-merger in the US that turned it into 'Warner Bros Discovery' excited The Spinoff founder Duncan Grieve.

"Tova O'Brien breaking stories on CNN NZ at 6pm, before an evening of local reality TV souped up by global budgets and distribution - with major sports and drama rights for good measure," was one scenario.

"It could also swing the other way, with the New Zealand linear asset seen as too small and obscure," he warned…

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Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to shut down Newshub was met with mourning within the media - and also concern about what could replace it in the media ecosystem

Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to shut down Newshub was met with mourning within the media - and also concern about what could replace it in the media ecosystem.

Melissa Chan-Green opened the AM Show on Thursday by extinguishing the hopes of her viewers.

"You've likely seen the news by now that our company is proposing to shut down Newshub from June. Some people have been asking 'does that affect AM too? We're all part of the same family," she said. "So yes that does affect AM too."

Her co-host Lloyd Burr added his own eulogy, though he spiced it up with a small, and quite visceral note of hope.

"When the chips are down we get through it," he said. "John Campbell once said we're tighter than a fish's bum."

It later emerged that senior Newshub staff would be trying to save the service, presumably on a fish-bum budget.

The revelation that AM would be part of the Newshub shutdown wouldn't have been news to anyone who had been listening to Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB the previous day.

She got that fact confirmed from the horse's mouth, by Warner Bros. Discovery's Asia-Pacific president James Gibbons, and his revelation left her with one burning question on her mind.

"What are you going to do with all the equipment?" she asked.

Other potential lines of inquiry include what are you going to do about all these people who are about to lose their jobs?

And what are we all going to do about the loss of media diversity and competition?

Journalists, including Newshub's Amelia Wade, did put those sorts of questions to the broadcasting minister, Melissa Lee, who said don't worry about it, audiences have still got Sky.

"There's Sky as well. There's a whole lot of other medias about," she said.

Just one problem with all this though: Sky's news broadcast is supplied by Newshub, which doesn't make it a great alternative to content produced by Newshub.

ACT's David Seymour, a shareholding minister in TVNZ in this coalition, posited one idea for fixing the paucity of competition in broadcast news - weakening TVNZ's market position by demanding it return a larger dividend to the government.

"It may well mean they have to make a return on equity just like every other business in New Zealand is required to do," he said.

Sadly, TVNZ's dominance in free-to-air TV is far from Newshub's only problem…

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Mediawatch: TVNZ's latest losses signal likely cuts to come. But it's the slump in income for the broadcaster that dominates free-to-air TV which will worry the entire media industry.

Mediawatch: TVNZ's latest losses signal likely cuts to come. But it's the slump in income for the broadcaster that dominates free-to-air TV which will worry the entire media industry.

Jo Moore - a spin doctor for Tony Blair's UK government - earned lasting notoriety in 2001 when she emailed colleagues soon after the 9/11 attacks telling them it would be "a good day to bury bad news".

But sometimes bad news following other bad news actually amplifies it.

TVNZ's annual results revealing its latest losses are not as drastic as the ones that prompted global media giant Warner Bros. Discovery this week to propose the complete closure of Newshub to cut their losses.

But they point to the same crisis affecting all commercial media - declines in advertising revenue across the board - and TVNZ cannot absorb losses like this without cutting the services its viewers and online audiences expect.

The state-owned broadcaster had previously forecast a $15.6 million loss for this financial year, citing commercial clients' reduced spending on advertising.

In September last year TVNZ responded with planned cuts to content production, programmes and operational spending.

"There have been some really tough calls to make here, but we need to live within our means," acting chief executive Brent McAnulty told staff at the time.

Future high-cost projects were all "under review" and pay rises for executives and top-earning staff were scrapped.

Those cuts will not be reflected in results until the following financial year, but today TVNZ reported a net loss of $16.8 million for just the last six months of 2023.

Twelve months earlier, TVNZ made a profit of $4.8m and revenue of $180.3 million in the same period.

But the stand-out stat in TVNZ's interim financial results is total revenue falling 13.5 percent.

That is the sort of year-on-year decline that newspaper publishers have endured in the internet era and which have undercut their business models and prompted compounding rounds of cutbacks and job losses.

Given the fact TVNZ continued to dominate the free-to-air TV market in 2023 - and it attracted a much larger audience than its stricken main TV rival Warner Bros Discovery - that is a worry for the entire media industry.

TVNZ chief executive Jodi O'Donnell said today that TVNZ will have to cut costs further "to navigate through this uncertainty"…

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Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about the sudden and startling news of Newshub's impending demise in a 'proposal' from the global owner. Also: is it wrong for journalists to use 'big tech' tools to scrub the sound of real people from reports - or bum notes at the Superbowl?

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about the sudden and startling news of Newshub's impending demise in a 'proposal' from the global owner. Also: is it wrong for journalists to use 'big tech' tools to scrub the sound of real people from reports - or bum notes at the Superbowl?

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The PM's State of the Nation speech got the media's attention when he said welfare needs reform. He didn't mention record-level immigration but that's also been deemed unsustainable and set for a reset too. What did the media tell about these problems - and what's at stake?

The prime minister's State of the Nation speech got the media's attention when he said welfare needs reform. He didn't mention record-level immigration but that's also been deemed unsustainable and set for a reset too. What did the media tell about these problems - and what's at stake?

In his State of the Nation speech last Sunday the prime minister described Kiwis today as resourceful, reasonable and resilient - but the country as fractured, fragile and lacking lost mojo.

But the pundits mostly agreed the new prime minister found his mojo.

"Yesterday's speech was good. Better still was the presentation: Luxon sounded like a normal person," Stuff's Andrea Vance said in The Post on Monday.

That made the paper's front page under the headline 'Who de-programmed Luxon?'

The same day, BusinessDesk's Pattrick Smellie was also wondering.

"Christopher Luxon has looked for a while like a man in need of a decent speechwriter. His State of the Nation speech suggests either that one has been found - or Luxon is starting to find his voice as prime minister. Or possibly both"

Smellie also reckoned Luxon came across as a "bit of a scold" when repeatedly highlighting our "fragility" and the need for "tough love".

" was him giving the country a bit of a boot up the backside. And let's be honest, we all need that from time to time," TVNZ's Maiki Sherman told 1 News viewers last Monday.

But not everyone was feeling Luxon's boot.

Zeroing in on welfare 'blowout'

"We got a lot of talk about beneficiaries. And they were told that the free ride was over. And then in the end, there was an admission to reporters that the government has yet to explain how it would address and finance the solution to our woes," Newstalk ZB Afternoon host Andrew Dickens told listeners.

"Choosing to make it the centrepiece of the post-Cabinet press conference was more about pure political theatre. But the fact it was largely theatre does not mean it is not good politics," said New Zealand Herald political editor Claire Trevett the same day. …

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Last week the great and good of New Zealand's news media urged MPs to back a law change to make Google and Facebook pay them for their news. They say the income could be critical to the survival of journalism here. But the lobby group campaigning for better public media says there's a better way to 'send a lifeboat'.

Last week, the great and good of New Zealand's news media urged MPs to back a law change to make Google and Facebook pay them for their news. They say the income could be critical to the survival of journalism here. But the lobby group campaigning for better public media says there's a better way to 'send a lifeboat'.

Last week, the nation's news media publishers pitched up in Parliament to make a pitch to MPs to pass the legislation left behind by the Labour government that would effectively compel big tech companies who carry their news online to pay them for it.

After the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee heard them out, Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee told reporters she doesn't support the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill "in its current form" but would wait to see what the Committee recommends.

So did the prime minister on Newstalk ZB last Monday.

"I just think media companies can do their own individual deals with those tech platforms - as your umbrella organisation NZME and others have as well," he told Mike Hosking.

Google has done several individual deals since 2021 to carry local publishers' news in its own service Google News Showcase.

But the Ashburton Guardian's Daryl Holden told the committee it was "a pittance".

"We accepted the deal from a position of no strength. I'm almost embarrassed to say how much we get because it would not be enough to hire one graduate journalist," he told the Economic Development, Science and Innovation committee.

He was far from the only one to tell the Committee last week the imbalance of power in the market is such that they can't get the tech titans to negotiate a genuine value for their news.

That's the reason that the News Publishers Association went to the Commerce Commission for permission to negotiate collectively - and the former government put the Bill forward in the first place.

The prime minister was also right about the Herald's owner NZME doing a deal with Facebook owner Meta, which has been much more reluctant to negotiate with local media.

But NZME chief executive Michael Boggs told MPs last week it won't last long.

"Meta has not renewed after a year because I think they think this (Bill) isn't going to happen," he said. …

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As the biggest pop star on the planet packed out huge Australian arenas this week, the media here milked Kiwi Swifties' anger over missing out. It also aired confusing blame-game claims about why Swift gave New Zealand a swerve in the first place - and where the big gigs might be held in future.

As the biggest pop star on the planet packed out huge Australian arenas this week, the media here milked Kiwi Swifties' anger over missing out. It also aired confusing blame-game claims about why Swift gave New Zealand a swerve in the first place - and where the big gigs might be held in future.

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Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the death of Efeso Collins, big conclusions drawn from conflicting polls - and the problems with an old media adage.

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the death of Efeso Collins, big conclusions drawn from conflicting polls, and the problems with an old media adage.

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