TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo montage / Andrew Louis
Exclusive: Maiki Sherman speaks out on poll coverage criticism; Rupert Murdoch’s NZ move; TVNZ chair’s dual roles in spotlight; Business magazines sold in new deal - print editions make way for digital strategy; Newshub sport presenter bids farewell.
TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman says she is surprised about the level of criticism aimed at her coverage of this week’s 1News-Verian political poll but says she is also listening to feedback - and prepared to tweak her presentation style.
At the same time, she says she does not want to “lose my own flair and what I bring to this role”.
In presenting her first political poll on Monday, as the recently-minted TVNZ political editor, Sherman has faced criticism and vitriol over her tone and language.
The poll was certainly newsworthy and a poor result for the coalition government, with National, Act and NZ First all losing support - and falling behind the collective party vote support of Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori - after just six months in power.
But various politicians, commentators and viewers have taken issue with how TVNZ presented the story in its 6pm bulletin.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described it as “a little frothy and sensationalist”, while former Labour MP Stuart Nash described the presentation style as “absolutely shocking”.
TVNZ is dealing with about 50 formal complaints, while 83 per cent of more than 14,000 respondents in an online NZ Herald poll said they found the bulletin’s coverage over the top.
Some viewers accused TVNZ of bias - citing what they believed to be a gleeful tone - while others couldn’t understand some of the language and political analysis when we’re still more than two years away from the next election.
Sherman introduced her 6pm report with the words: “Political turbulence ahead - buckle up, brace for impact.”
Among various adjectives, metaphors and analyses, she variously described a “nightmare” poll for the coalition that would “absolutely rock the entire Parliament”.
National, Act and NZ First were all down and Sherman described how - “bang!” - Winston Peters’ party, on 4 per cent, would be out of Parliament “in what could be mayday for the coalition”.
“It’s been a big and interesting week,” Sherman told Media Insider from the Parliamentary press gallery yesterday.
She was aware there had been a lot of feedback but had not been able to fully engage with it all because of a hectic workload.
“Every day has been super busy and I’ve been dealing with a lot of things other than that issue which, honestly, I didn’t quite understand. I appreciate the feedback but I was surprised at the level of enthusiasm and criticism that people had towards the way that I presented the poll.”
Sherman says she is always listening to her viewers.
“Because I care so deeply about doing a good job and taking the entire audience along with me and securing their trust, I am always open to feedback.
“I’ll be open to tweaking the way that I may present a poll, but not completely. I don’t want to lose my own style and my own flair and what I bring to this role.
“While I’ll take feedback on, genuinely, I’ll be the decider of where it lands at the end of the day.”
Sherman - a mother of six who has previously been described as ‘TV’s busiest woman’ - was announced as TVNZ political editor on March 25.
She had been deputy political editor before that and her first poll has been something of a baptism of fire.
The feedback this week, she says, has been at a new level. “It’s been interesting for me, to be honest, to experience this. And I guess it’ll be something that I’ll need to figure out how to manage, going forward.”
Sherman, who has also worked for Whakaata Māori and Newshub, said people would make up their own minds about her coverage.
“This has always been the style that I’ve had in my journalism. I’ve worked for Newshub before, so I know that style.
“I worked under Patrick Gower [at Newshub] and then I’ve worked [at TVNZ] under Jessica Mutch McKay who was the consummate professional and very slick, so I’m hoping that I can take what I learned from both those political editors and mould it into a style that I can deliver for our audience.
“It may look slightly different to what people are used to. But nonetheless, the integrity and the quality of the analysis and coverage that I bring is absolutely there.”
I love, firstly, that Sherman fronted up to speak to Media Insider and spoke honestly about her approach.
There is little doubt the poll results were newsworthy but, by the same token, Monday’s bulletin was very full on, in my view.
It will be interesting to see how Sherman and her TVNZ news bosses respond in the way future polls are presented - the state broadcaster’s political coverage has always been more conservative in style and tone compared with Newshub.
“They [TVNZ bosses] have just given me absolute backing and support,” says Sherman. “And they know the journalism and the analysis that I bring to this position.”
At the end of the day, she likes that people have responded.
“Believe it or not, I’m really actually happy with the level of attention and coverage that our poll has gotten because it was an important poll. And it means that people are engaged with politics and people are engaged with the media and we need that more now more than ever.”
A month after a visit to New Zealand by one of Rupert Murdoch’s most powerful executives, his Australian television company is today announcing the launch of a New Zealand news programme.
Murdoch’s Sky News Australia premieres a new weekly New Zealand news programme - NZ Edition - from tomorrow.
The 15-minute show, hosted by Sky News Australia’s Wellington-based correspondent Jack Nyhof, will feature a 1-1 interview with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for its first episode.
Luxon discusses New Zealand’s foreign policy and place in the world, its relationships with Australia and China, plus the Government’s plan for cost-of-living relief.
The new show follows the visit by Sky News Australia chief executive Paul Whittaker to New Zealand in April. He met with Luxon, amid speculation the Murdoch-owned channel might see more opportunities in New Zealand, with the demise of Newshub and cutbacks at TVNZ.
Nyhof described New Zealand as an “incredible” country “with stories that impact and interest both Kiwi and Australian audiences alike”.
“NZ Edition will be a weekly deep dive on the political, economic and social issues that are shaping life in New Zealand – including cost-of-living, crime and Māori policies. Sky News has a long history of reporting on and from New Zealand, and I’m excited to continue that legacy here from our Wellington bureau and across the country.”
The show will be broadcast from the Sky News Australia studio in Parliament, each Saturday at 5.45pm, with top New Zealand headlines and a preview of key political issues for the week ahead.
Sky News Australia can be watched on Sky TV (channel 85).
Sky TV also announced last week it was also introducing BBC First to its channel line-up from October, alongside BBC News, BBC UKTV, BBC Earth and CBeebies.
When Alastair Carruthers assumed the role of TVNZ chair less than a year ago, he thought - perhaps somewhat hopefully - that he would be out of the spotlight.
“The chair shouldn’t be in the news,” Carruthers told Media Insider, a few days before his TVNZ induction. “This might be the only time you get me. Well, unless there’s a crisis in which case, governance does need to get involved.”
Fast forward just 10 months and TVNZ has been barely out of the news, most notably around the severe cutbacks that have seen some of its most popular shows axed (In that same interview, in July last year, Carruthers even listed the now-doomed Sunday as one of his favourite TV shows).
Carruthers, who has featured more recently in a Listener profile, was also involved in a confidential meeting in February with TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell, Warner Bros Discovery New Zealand boss Glen Kyne and RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson to discuss a shared news service.
Warner Bros Discovery - which called the meeting in a bid to try to save costs for the broadcasters - was left exasperated when Carruthers and the TVNZ board rejected the idea within days.
Within the month, both organisations announced massive cutbacks - in the case of WBD, it axed its entire Newshub newsroom. Almost 400 jobs at both organisations are disappearing.
Aside from all of that, there have also been some concerns within the screen industry about Carruthers’ dual roles as chair of TVNZ and chair of the New Zealand Film Commission.
As audience habits converge and discussions over funding and industry structural issues become more pointed, those concerns are not going away.
An experienced producer told me recently that he couldn’t understand how two big roles in the media industry could be held by one person. The New Zealand talent pool was big enough to have two different people in the roles, he said. “We’re not Huntly.”
An even more experienced screen producer, John Barnett, tells Media Insider today he can’t fathom how Carruthers can hold both roles.
He says he has no personal beef with Carruthers and there is, he says, absolutely no suggestion that he has any personal interest or receives any personal gain from decisions made by either of the entities.
That’s a point that has been reinforced by TVNZ, NZFC and Carruthers himself over the past year.
But, says Barnett, issues arise in “conflict of roles”.
“The issue ... is whether the interests of the two organisations conflict,” says Barnett.
He cites the auditor general’s code: “If you have a conflict of roles, you need to consider whether it is appropriate for you to participate in the decision-making process ‘on both sides of the table’. Are you able to fulfil your obligations to both entities at the same time?”
Whereas once the NZFC and TVNZ might have been swimming in their own lanes in the media industry, potential overlaps are now starting to emerge.
Take, for example, Shortland Street, a show produced by South Pacific Pictures, the company that Barnett founded in 1988.
Right now, there is momentum building for TVNZ’s endangered flagship soap - it costs the state broadcaster more than $20 million a year to produce - to become eligible for the NZFC-administered domestic screen production rebate.
“Shortland Street might be affordable to TVNZ if it could access the screen production rebate,” said Barnett. “But that rebate is administered by the NZFC.
“So, the chair of both organisations cannot be involved in discussions with senior management at either entity as to an approach to resolve this, actually for the betterment of both entities.”
Some might say this was entirely a management issue, said Barnett, “but I’m unaware of any comparable broadcaster or platform where the chair has no input or comment on the channel’s longest-running flagship show”.
The reality of wearing the two hats, said Barnett, was “that the chair of TVNZ runs an organisation which wants to acquire programming (content) at the lowest possible price, but the chair of the NZFC wants to ensure that any show it has supported is sold at the highest possible price to any customer - including TVNZ”.
The NZFC has established a very specific conflict of interest management plan for Carruthers - a point that Barnett picks up on.
NZFC legal advisers devised the comprehensive plan, he said, which looked to ensure that the chair was not involved in any discussions or decisions that might create issues.
“But the number of exclusions in that plan raises questions as to whether anyone can fulfil the obligations of the simultaneous chair of the two roles. Because over 50 per cent of all NZFC funding decisions fall into this area, which means the chair can’t possibly fulfil his role.”
TVNZ says, to date, there have been no issues that have triggered TVNZ’s own conflict protocols. This would be assessed and “managed as required” going forward, said a TVNZ spokeswoman.
“Interaction with NZFC is infrequent and doesn’t normally involve the TVNZ board or executive,” she said.
She said the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and Treasury had overseen a “comprehensive conflict management plan” with the NZFC - “without Alastair’s involvement” - which was shared with TVNZ and noted.
“TVNZ’s audit and risk chair had separate discussions with MCH and The Treasury, along with the NZ Film Commission to discuss potential intersects and conflicts. Alastair’s role as chair of NZ Film Commission is documented on the TVNZ directors interest register, which is tabled at each monthly board meeting.”
She said any changes to the screen production rebate - which might see Shortland Street eligible for funding - were a policy matter for the Government “and not within the authority of NZFC”.
“MCH sets the criteria for the rebate. NZFC carries out a technical review of applications based on the settings, which is audited and cross-referenced by industry peers As part of NZFC’s conflict management protocols, Alastair does not attend any discussions or panels that assess eligibility for the rebate and that will continue.”
Meanwhile, there are growing whispers within the industry of the NZFC and NZ on Air merging into one screen industry funding organisation, along the lines of Screen Australia.
It is understood industry heads have been discussing the idea. The Government has said there are “currently no plans” to merge the agencies but that it will continue to work closely with the industry.
Barnett believes new Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith will look at the scenario.
Any discussions with the NZFC and NZ on Air boards about a potential merger could not include Carruthers, Barnett said, because NZ on Air provided tens of millions of dollars for TVNZ programmes.
“And it is obvious that the chair of TVNZ can’t be the chair of a merged agency which includes NZOA, so he would have to step aside anyway in a new operation. But by currently continuing as NZFC chair he is leaving a ‘leaderless’ NZFC to make its case.”
Furthermore, said Barnett, advocacy for the screen industry had always been a function of NZFC chairs, “but the current chair is unable to provide this function”.
“This is a time of enormous disruption in the screen industry, in New Zealand and internationally, in both transmission of content, and production and acquisition of content. The demands on board and executive time, and knowledge, are considerable. These roles can’t be held by one person.”
Spada president Irene Gardiner believed the “general vibe” in the industry was that people had settled into the arrangement.
Carruthers was “a very professional person”. He was doing a good job and knew how to manage any conflicts.
“It was very unusual for the same person to be in both of those roles. And so we did express a couple of concerns at the time but some protocols were put in place at both ends of the equation. And I haven’t observed any issues since the protocols were put in place and we’ve gone on our way.”
While she was Media Minister, Melissa Lee said: “Potential or perceived conflicts of interest are for Mr Carruthers to manage alongside monitoring agencies and his fellow board members. I trust the appropriate processes are being followed.”
Barnett urged Goldsmith to look at the matter closely.
“The prime minister, as former CEO of Air NZ, would no doubt have had major concerns if the chair of Air NZ was simultaneously chair of Auckland Airport or a significant third party supplier. That is the position we currently have at the NZFC and TVNZ.”
This week we catch up with journalist and writer Steve Braunias, following his extraordinary Newsroom interview with the Act party’s arts spokesman Todd Stephenson.
A headline on the interview described it as “scornful”. The blurb read: “It took Act’s arts spokesman Todd Stephenson 20 minutes to think of a single New Zealand author and a single New Zealand book. The only artistic experience he could think of is that he went to see Hamilton in New York.”
Another of Newshub’s best-known faces and names is stepping away from television news.
Sports host and journalist Andrew Gourdie has announced he won’t be looking for a new role on the news, once Newshub closes and Stuff takes over production of Three’s 6pm bulletin in early July.
“I arrived at 3news in October 2005 as a 21-year-old former national air guitar finalist with a passion for sport, ready to get stuck into my dream job,” Gourdie wrote on social media this week.
“For nearly 20 years, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with some of the best journalists in New Zealand as part of an amazing news team. It’s time for a change. When the final Newshub bulletin airs on July 5th, I’ll be stepping away from 6pm news.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities and experiences this job has afforded me. It has been an enormous privilege to be welcomed into living rooms around the country to tell the stories Kiwis care about.”
He thanked his colleagues of the past 19 years, saying it had been an honour to work alongside them.
“Friendships made in the Flower Street newsroom will last a lifetime.
“Righto, that’s enough. Thanks mates.”
His decision was met with widespread love from industry colleagues, including Jason Pine, Jim Kayes, Scotty Stevenson and Paddy Gower.
Newshub at 6 host Samantha Hayes said: “You are sensational Gourdie and always will be. A brilliant sports journo and presenter - a joy to share a studio with. I count myself lucky to have worked alongside you x”
Three specialist New Zealand business magazines have been sold - they will be published in digital format in future, its new owner says.
NZBusiness, Management and ExporterToday magazines have been bought by entrepreneur and longtime contributor Richard Conway from Adrenalin Publishing.
“Following a tough few years, the magazines needed investment to ensure that they survive as digital-first publications,” Conway says.
“NZBusiness magazine helped inspire me when I started my business journey, and I believe that it still has that same relevance to other entrepreneurs. I think New Zealand needs publications that share real success stories and experiences in a positive manner.”
Conway, the CEO of Pure 360, says the titles will double down on online content.
Adrenalin Publishing publisher Cathy Parker said: “We are very pleased that the titles have found a new home that can continue their strong tradition and drive them forward in the new digital world.”
Former SCG Media editorial leader David Nothling-Demmer has been appointed managing editor, working across all three publications.
“I’m excited to join these well-respected, legacy publications as we work to reimagine them for future generations of readers. This, while maintaining the long tradition of business journalism that’s become a staple for the country’s small business community over the years. It’s about offering our readers a good mix of new and traditional channels to engage with our stories,” says Nothling-Demmer.
He confirmed the publications would be published digitally, quarterly.
“The cost of postage is the main factor here. But I do love print and think there is still value in it, so would like to get back to print in some form in the medium term.”
Leanne Moss and Annie Gray will continue as commercial business manager and editor of Management magazine, respectively. The longtime editor of NZBusiness magazine, Glenn Baker, has semi-retired and will continue to contribute to the publications in a writing capacity.
“I am proud to be the current custodian of these titles and feel it is a real coup for us to have secured someone of David’s calibre and experience to run them,” said Conway.
Another big week in the media world...
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
'I can imagine people being outraged that TVNZ signed a deal with me.'