TVNZ wins early legal fight with Kamahl Santamaria as payout to former Breakfast host is revealed; Is TradeMe about to be traded? The full extent of Stripe Media’s debts emerges; Big changes for some editorial leaders at Stuff; Four top ad execs’ new outdoor adventure; New police boss could lead
Media Insider: Ex-TVNZ host’s payout – ‘I can imagine people being outraged’; Top bank owed $8.56m by failed TV firm; Is TradeMe about to be traded?
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The authority was considering whether it had jurisdiction to hear two claims by Santamaria that TVNZ had breached its duty of good faith and implied contractual obligations to provide a safe working environment.
Among Santamaria’s issues is the way that TVNZ and its newsroom had handled coverage of his departure.
The ERA, in its decision released on Thursday, sided with TVNZ, reiterating that the record of settlement was full and final and it did not have jurisdiction.
TVNZ said: “The Employment Relations Authority has found comprehensively in TVNZ’s favour on two of the three claims in front of it. The third claim is still to be considered.”
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Santamaria, who says he will appeal the authority decision, told the Herald he could imagine people would be outraged that, “TVNZ signed a deal with me which included a payment”.
He said he had been prevented from talking about the settlement earlier. He said he could not say how much TVNZ had paid him.
“I was portrayed at the time (and since) by the media as, essentially, this terrible person who did something reprehensible.
“So, with that narrative having always been in place – and in the current climate of cutbacks in the industry – I can imagine people being outraged that TVNZ signed a deal with me which included a payment.
“I know (through my request last year for personal information under the Privacy Act) that noses were already out of joint at TVNZ over the fact I’d been hired in the first place.
“But what people should think about is why TVNZ signed that deal and made that payment. Generally speaking, companies and individuals don’t make payments and gag people when the story of judgment and blame is as one-sided as it was made out to be.”
Santamaria replaced John Campbell as a Breakfast host in April 2022, after a 17-year stint at Al Jazeera.
His last appearance on screen was on May 18, 2022.
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TVNZ initially said a “family emergency” was behind his absence – a statement that was later discredited after the female colleague’s complaint of inappropriate behaviour emerged. This was followed by claims of inappropriate messages to female colleagues at Al Jazeera.
Santamaria’s resignation from TVNZ was announced on May 28, 2022.
He has said the alleged incident at TVNZ was instinctive, with no ill-intent and that it was “never alleged at the time by the complainant to be sexual and/or harassment”.
He apologised later for making his colleague feel uncomfortable.
The public has not heard the colleague’s side of the story.
The ERA said in its decision that Santamaria had accused TVNZ of breaching the record of settlement, including through the way its newsroom chased the story in the days after he came off air.
“He claimed TVNZ was legally responsible for its newsroom undermining and/or breaching the RoS,” said authority member Rachel Larmer.
However, she further said, “Mr Santamaria did not raise any issues directly with TVNZ after his employment had ended on 31 May 2022 regarding the significant media coverage that had followed the announcement of his resignation, until he lodged his SoP in November 2023, almost 18 months later.”
Santamaria’s position was that the record of settlement only resolved claims that had already arisen or which might arise concerning what had happened in his employment up to May 28, 2022, which was the date he had signed the RoS.
“From his perspective, that involved the way TVNZ had handled the original complaint and the disciplinary process against him. According to Mr Santamaria that was the particular dispute the RoS had settled, so it did not cover the new claims as those related to media coverage about his situation.”
In an affidavit, former TVNZ chief people officer Nicola Simpson said: “At no point did Mr Santamaria or his legal representative request any special approach in relation to TVNZ’s own newsroom.
“It did not occur to us that an experienced journalist working in TVNZ’s newsroom would think for a moment that TVNZ would not report on the matter in the same way as any other New Zealand media.”
The authority said, “due to the parties’ negotiations and the extensive media interest in his matter, Mr Santamaria must have been aware that there was a possibility of new issues arising due to future media attention following the announcement of his resignation”.
Further, the authority said, “TVNZ told Mr Santamaria’s counsel on 29 May 2022 that it could not control who its reporters approached for information or what they asked, and that it could not instruct them not to report on Mr Santamaria’s situation. He therefore knew TVNZ’s position on those issues before he affirmed to the mediator on 2 June 2022 that the RoS should be certified.”
Santamaria says he will appeal the authority finding, claiming a number of errors.
And on his website, he says: “While I was gagged by this agreement, TVNZ went on to immediately and repeatedly breach the terms of the agreement, and my ongoing legal rights as an employee, to formulate a narrative that was not based in fact.
“And it did this at almost every level - from its newsroom, management, and executives, right up to its chief executive and board.”
A TVNZ spokeswoman said: “Mr Santamaria’s account is not at all reflective of the Employment Relations Authority’s decision. The Employment Relations Authority has found comprehensively in TVNZ’s favour on two of the three claims in front of it. The third claim is still to be considered.
“Mr Santamaria’s has referred to seven additional claims still to be heard. We understand this to mean seven alleged breaches under the third claim. Irrespective, we reject this and we’re confident in our position.
“We’re pleased with this decision from the Employment Relations Authority. Mr Santamaria’s departure from TVNZ has already been widely reported on.”
Asked directly about the payment, she said: “Our position remains the same as it was in 2022, we do not comment on individual employment matters.”
Is TradeMe about to be traded?
Are we about to see a big shake-up in the online classifieds market? TradeMe might be about to get a taste of its own medicine – and be sold.
The Australian’s respected DataRoom column says it understands the online classified website “is moving to list on the New Zealand stock exchange in the coming year”.
TradeMe was bought from the listed market by British private equity firm Apax Partners for $2.56 billion in 2018 – the biggest private equity deal in New Zealand history.
“TradeMe is New Zealand’s largest auction website, founded in 1999 by entrepreneur Sam Morgan, who sold the operation in 2006 for $NZ700m to Fairfax Media, now part of Nine Entertainment. It was publicly listed by Fairfax as a separate entity in 2011,” reported DataRoom’s Bridget Carter (a former NZ Herald reporter).
“The website generates strong earnings from car sales and makes robust income from real estate and job ads.
“At the time it was purchased by Apax, each part of the business was run on a separate platform and experts said that Trade Me needed to upgrade its technology.”
TradeMe didn’t exactly run down The Australian’s story yesterday.
A spokeswoman told Media Insider: “It’s business as usual for us. There are no immediate plans for our owners to sell.”
That’s my emphasis on “no immediate plans” - in my experience, that is very careful public relations speak.
The spokeswoman referred us to Apax for any further comment. It did not respond to questions.
Bank owed $8.6m by failed TV firm
A deeper picture is emerging of the trail of debts left by a failed Auckland TV production company, with KiwiBank owed more than $8.5 million while hundreds of thousands of dollars are also owed to two well-known American TV stars.
While the bank might get some of its money back – if any of the company’s TV shows can be resurrected - it appears likely that the two stars will be left out of pocket.
The latest receivers’ report into Stripe Media and 10 associated companies confirms that KiwiBank – which financed shows for seven of the companies – is owed $8.658 million. Fulcrum Media Finance, which backed shows for three of the other companies, is owed $3.667m.
Among a list of unsecured creditors are American stars David Hasselhoff, the high-profile star of Baywatch and Knight Rider, and Iliza Shlesinger, a comedian and actress with several stand-up shows on Netflix.
Hasselhoff and Shlesinger travelled to New Zealand last year to film comedic travel series independent of each other for Stripe. Hasselhoff’s show also featured Kiwi comedian Rhys Darby.
According to the latest report by BDO receivers Rees Logan and Andrew McKay, unsecured creditors attached to the Hasselhoff show are owed $328,000 and unsecured creditors attached to the Schlesinger show are owed $700,000.
It is understood that much of those two sums is owed to the headline stars. It is unlikely they will see any money.
“The receivers are of the view that there are unlikely to be sufficient funds from the realisation of assets, to enable a future distribution to unsecured creditors,” says the receivers’ report.
While the two TV series (and others associated with other failed Stripe companies) have been filmed, they have been held up in post-production because of the receivership of the companies.
Secured creditors such as KiwiBank and Fulcrum will be hoping the receivers can sell the shows to a third party, such as a production company. That would enable the shows to be completed and allow a 40% screen production rebate, administered by the NZ Film Commission, to kick in. That would give creditors some return, but just how much remains to be seen.
The receivers say they have been working with interested parties to try and have the productions completed.
Auckland-based Stripe Studios was placed in receivership in March, along with 10 related companies, most of which had been established as “special purpose vehicles” for individual series and productions.
The receivers say they have continued to investigate the affairs of each of the companies leading up to the receivership.
“These investigations have identified a number of irregularities across the companies and, as a result, the receivers have issued two reports on these irregularities to the relevant authorities in accordance with their duty to report serious problems under section 60 of the Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Act 2019. As this is a sensitive matter and we do not wish to prejudice any potential outcome, the receivers are unable to provide any further comment on the matter at this time.”
As Media Insider has previously revealed, the collapse of the companies and the actions of their managing director, Alex Breingan, are now under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and MBIE’s integrity and enforcement unit.
The SFO would not comment on the status of its inquiries yesterday.
MBIE business registries national manager Bolen Ng said Breingan was still being considered for prohibition as a company director.
“To date, the receivers ... have complied with the obligations outlined in s60 of the Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Act 2019 and have advised the Registrar of Companies of serious problems identified in the course of their work,” said Ng.
Ng said the obligation to advise the registrar and any other applicable agency of alleged serious offending continued for the duration of the receivership.
“The information provided under this obligation is crucial in determining whether an entity’s failure can be directly linked to mismanagement by a director. The investigations and compliance team continues to collate information in respect of both the Stripe Group of companies and Mr Breingan.”
Reassembling Ensemble amid Stuff changes
Publishing company Stuff was proposing to close its Ensemble website and brand, and to disestablish the role of one of its founders, before agreeing to hand it back to the former owners.
It is understood Stuff had been proposing to disestablish editor Zoe Walker Ahwa’s role and close Ensemble, the fashion, beauty and culture website it bought with much fanfare in 2021.
This week, Walker Ahwa and co-founder Rebecca Wadey, announced they were taking back ownership and control of the website they founded in August 2020.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to buy the brand back from Stuff,” editor Walker Ahwa said in a press release.
“We’ll continue to nurture and grow Ensemble in the truly independent spirit with which we started it, pivoting where needed to reach our audience where they are, uplifting and agitating and (most importantly) having fun along the way.”
Behind the scenes, it sounds like there was not too much fun to be had in recent weeks, as Stuff proposed a lifestyle content future without the Ensemble brand.
Stuff did not directly respond to questions about that proposal.
“We offered Ensemble back to its founders Rebecca Wadey and Zoe Walker Ahwa after three years in Stuff ownership,” said a spokesman.
Walker Ahwa and Wadey have clearly seized their own destiny once again.
“Alongside Ensemble, Walker Ahwa has been the style editor of Stuff’s masthead magazines, and Wadey has been working in a commercial role in the Stuff Harakeke integration team,” the pair said in a press release.
“They will be leaving those positions in mid-December to concentrate on Ensemble.”
Meanwhile, as with TVNZ, NZME and MediaWorks, a number of other big changes – as well as cost cuts – are under way at Stuff.
It is combining its audio and video teams under one leader. It is understood the existing head of video Chris Reeder and head of audio Laura Heathcote have opted to leave.
A number of other audio roles are also understood to have been cut, although Stuff ignored questions about numbers. Those departing, either voluntarily or as a result of structural changes, are understood to include two roles in Christchurch and a senior operations role in Auckland.
Stuff is also losing another respected senior editorial leader, Trupti Biradar, who has resigned. She has been considered by many to be a considerable influence as Stuff’s travel editor and more recently with her involvement in their motoring, farming and Homed sections.
Stuff did not comment on Biradar but confirmed its TV Guide editorial team was being reorganised following the retirement, after 35 years with the magazine, of its “wonderful” editor Julie Eley.
RNZ reminds reporters of social media policy
RNZ has reminded its reporters of its policies to ensure they are seen to be and act as impartial when it comes to major news events.
In an email to staff this week, the public broadcaster highlighted key areas of its standards including emphasising the particular importance that staff “do not in any public forum: state how they vote or express support for any particular party; express views for or against any policy which is a matter of party political debate; advocate any particular position on an issue of controversy or debate; exhort a change in high-profile public policy”.
“We often remind kaimahi of our editorial policy during major news events and it’s a feature of our broader training programmes,” said RNZ editorial quality and training director Jane Patterson.
RNZ’s social media and editorial policies were “there to both help our people and to protect RNZ’s reputation for impartiality and objectivity”.
The staff message follows the removal from Instagram of an image of RNZ Saturday Morning co-host Mihingarangi Forbes and Hīkoi mō te Tiriti organiser Eru Kapa-Kingi at the hikoi in Auckland.
The image was posted on an Instagram page belonging to Mata Reports, a fortnightly podcast hosted on RNZ. It carried the caption “Toitū Te Tiriti”.
RNZ chief content officer Megan Whelan earlier said the independent production company behind Mata Reports had opted to remove the post. “RNZ has welcomed that decision ... the social media post did not meet editorial standards.”
Top ad execs launch tech start-up
Four of New Zealand’s best-known and respected advertising agency executives have launched a new tech business, simplifying people’s ability to advertise on digital billboards.
They say their new business, Youdooh, allows anyone with a credit card to access digital outdoor advertising.
“Youdooh makes the process of buying digital advertising on billboards, bus shelters, train stations, retail screens and many more screens around New Zealand as easy as buying ads with Meta and Google,” says former Dentsu executive Richard Pook, who has established the business alongside another former Dentsu leader, Bram Stevens.
“If you’re a business owner or advertiser with a credit card, you can now buy an outdoor ad on over 3000 screens in NZ.”
The platform is locally built, says Pook, and sets out the buying process in four simple steps, “with the ability to buy by the hour and start or stop the ad campaign at any time”.
“The concept has won the support of advertising legends Sean McCready and Matt Bale, who founded and grew media agency MBM into a business employing more than 120 staff before successfully exiting to a major international holding company.”
Bale and McCready had come on as cornerstone investors.
“It’s such an intuitive and easy-to-use product with so much potential to change how digital outdoor advertising is bought in New Zealand,” says Bale.
“We’ve all seen first-hand how rapidly the media market is evolving. It won’t be long, maybe five years, before the majority of advertising will be bought through technology platforms.”
Youdooh, which already had 300 customers signed up, was the chance to do that through a local company.
A new boss, a new media approach?
The appointment of a new police commissioner might well spark a shake-up for the police media relations team, and the way they interact with journalists.
Richard Chambers is a no-nonsense communicator – considered very media-savvy, he spoke well at his press conference on Wednesday and then backed that up with a big run of media interviews.
Interestingly, he enlisted the help of a serving detective, Beth Bates, who was previously in the police media team, to help arrange interviews, rather than any of the fulltime police media team members in Wellington.
It could well be a sign that Chambers wants to do things differently when it comes to media. A more open, upfront policy wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially for those journalists regularly encountering brick walls.
Chambers is married to a former top journalist, Kim Purdy, who he met when she was working as a reporter at the Sunday Star-Times more than two decades ago.
He’s also the son of Roger Chambers, the highly regarded criminal barrister.
“As a kid growing up, I got to meet some incredible police officers because of his role as a barrister,“ Chambers told the Herald’s Jared Savage this week.
“The thing about my dad is that he has the ability to talk to anyone. I’m talking about some pretty hardcore criminals too.
“That taught me [the importance of having the ability] to talk to anyone because they’ve all got stories. I think throughout my career, when talking about leadership, there are two things that are most important in policing. Number one, retain common sense in everything we do. Secondly, that we need to be outstanding communicators. Common sense and communication for me, if we do those two things well, are actually setting ourselves up to be the best we can be.”
One Good Text
I went back to senior NZ Herald investigative reporter Jared Savage to gauge his views on how the new commissioner will approach his media commitments.
TVNZ, NZME, DDB, PHD among big winners
Some of our biggest media companies and advertising agencies celebrated big wins at the annual IAB Awards in Auckland on Thursday night, including TVNZ for digital product or service of the year (TVNZ+) and Herald owner NZME as media publisher of the year.
The awards awards recognise the best of the digital advertising industry. Congratulations to all the winners.
Grand Awards
Digital product or service of the year: TVNZ+ Activate, TVNZ
Council member of the year: Extra Mile Achievers: Celebrating Those Who Inspire Us All, Travena Addenbrooke, Spark
Emerging talent: Ishal Eshna, NZME
Service to the industry: Kris Hadley, Together
Media publisher of the year: NZME
Media agency of the year: PHD Aotearoa
Creative agency of the year: DDB Group Aotearoa
Best in show: Movember – Ancient Influencers, Dentsu
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.
