KEY POINTS:
The Government has taken a big step towards a Ministry of Media to match the Department of Culture Media and Sport in Britain.
Helen Clark's Ministry for Culture and Heritage has established a Broadcasting Unit "to more effectively serve the interests of public broadcasting and New Zealand's transition to digital broadcasting".
The unit is to be headed by a full-time director. Former New Zealand On Air chief executive Jo Tyndall is filling in temporarily.
The job will have a three-year term, which would fit in rather nicely with the election cycle.
Until now, three separate teams worked on broadcasting policy, digital broadcasting, and monitoring broadcasting agencies which receive public funding - TVNZ, Radio NZ, the National Pacific Radio Trust, NZ On Air, and the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Culture and Heritage chief executive Martin Matthews said it was an appropriate time to strengthen effectiveness by creating a focused unit under the leadership of a director.
A distinct unit would provide a more visible, identifiable presence for the Ministry's broadcasting work, he said.
In other words, a higher profile for the state in the media.
You can argue the Government has a role in overseeing and analysing media. And with the degree that the television industry - state and private - is beholden to taxpayer handouts, they will be complying with this growing bureaucracy. There is an argument for a broadcasting unit to co-ordinate years of willy-nilly changes.
The unit may also help the department - with its cultural agenda - to compete with the Ministry for Economic Development and Treasury's Crown Company monitoring unit which focuses on ensuring TVNZ delivers a 9 per cent return on capital.
But should we celebrate a government department taking a stronger interest in the media? Politicians take an unhealthy interest in the media for obvious reasons - they can help or hinder their quest for power.
In Britain the Department of Culture Media and Sport plays a regulatory role in the media business but it does not control output to the same degree as agencies like New Zealand On Air, which will be overseen by this unit.
New Zealand On Air will have a role backing online content under proposed changes to the Broadcasting Act.
What's next, taxpayer funding for the friendly blogger?
It will be particularly interesting to see whether this new unit wants to extend the powers of the Broadcasting Standards Authority to judge what we can and cannot see on TV.
And I'll wager that the department eventually starts taking an interest in regulating media that are not owned by the state.
Christmas cheer
Smith & Caughey's elaborate shop windows may set the tone for retailers to give the CBD a more Christmasy feel. Three cheers for the Auckland retail institution, which is using a head-turning display when many retailers seem not to be bothered. Auckland Heart of the City promoter Alex Swney agreed Smith & Caughey's were stars of this yuletide displays. But he said all CBD retailers were making a push to give the city a Christmasy feel. Well, not quite Christmas - more about summer and sun and beaches.
Swney said the big problem with Christmas decorations was the light. You could not emulate the displays at stores in Britain or the United States.
Smith hangs up
Vodafone appeared to have been caught short when head of media and entertainment Stephen Smith defected to Fairfax Media. Fairfax had sent out a press release before it had co-ordinated an exit plan. At print time they had not commented. Smith is a high-powered hire. A former TVNZ assistant CEO from 2002-2005, he to a large degree ran the day-to-day business at TVNZ during the Ian Fraser era. When Fraser left, Smith applied for the top job but it went to Rick Ellis.
Smith seemed the ideal appointment for Vodafone and the media revolution du jour - getting content onto mobile phones. But heading Fairfax digital in this country is a higher profile job. He replaces Bernard Hickey who left for family reasons. Smith will report to Fairfax New Zealand chief executive Joan Withers who said he would also be a key participant in the senior management team.
Tough at top
That top team at Fairfax has been reconfigured since chief operating officer and editorial boss Peter O'Hara moved on in July from his joint role overseeing editorial and business operations.
Fairfax appointed Paul Thompson, editor of the Press in Christchurch, to the position of group executive editor to oversee editorial.
It appointed Rodger Shepherd as its new group head of publishing, overseeing newspaper and magazine businesses. Shepherd formerly headed the print company PMP, including a period it was headed by David Kirk, who is now Sydney-based chief executive of the Fairfax Group. Kirk is understood to have a very good rapport with Shepherd.
Aussie rule
Pacific Magazines New Zealand managing director Vicki Lee has stepped down from her role apparently over lack of autonomy from Australian bosses. Pacific Magazines' Sydney-based chief executive Nick Chan was in New Zealand to announce the removal of the managing director role.
He said that Lee had felt that the level of autonomy in New Zealand was less than she expected when taking the job.
Pacific Magazines is part of a joint venture owned by Kerry Stokes' Seven Network and private equity company KKR. In New Zealand it publishes New Idea, Girlfriend and That's Life.
Trade entrance
Independent online publisher Freeman Media has sold three trade titles to Action Media. Owner Matt Freeman said that after five years he was looking forward to an extended holiday in the Rotorua Lakes.
The former Telecom Mobile executive started with the Telecommunications Review and expanded into The Line and m-net. He plans to get back into the media next year.
Action Media, run by Sean Mitchell, includes the IT trade title Channel and Game Console. Mitchell formed Action Media 18 months ago with Channel after leaving his job with the American-owned IDG Communications.
The departure was marked by some controversy with the two parties IDG and Action involved in a legal dispute over the use of material from IDG database information.
In the midst of the sale of titles such as Computerworld to Fairfax and IDG withdrawing from the New Zealand market, that disagreement appears to have been resolved. Mitchell, by the way, is schooled in the world of trade magazines.
He is the son of Peter Mitchell, a leading light in the trade sector, and a principal of 3M Media.
Murdoch is watching
News agency Reuters reports an amusing incident across the Tasman. It seems when reporters at the Sydney Morning Herald inspected their new Sydney newsroom, there was an uncomfortable feeling Murdoch was watching them.
Reporters at the SMH, which Murdoch has long coveted due to its lucrative classifieds but been unable to buy because of media laws, were greeted on Wednesday with glass pillars, etched with an image. It featured Murdoch's face resting on his hand and smiling. It seems the interior designer, looking for a news image for the pillars, chose a photo of Murdoch to etch on them, not realising he was the SMH's nemesis.
A spokesman for the SMH's owner, Fairfax, said it was an unfortunate but amusing design error.
