The new Government gets set for its first cabinet meeting, was Black Friday a hit or miss for retailers? And the truce in Gaza gets extended in the latest NZ Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
At a swearing-in ceremony at Government House yesterday, Peters said: “You can’t defend $55 million of bribery, cannot defend $55 million of bribery. Get it very clear,” referring to the Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF).
Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis Allan this evening, Seymour, however, said he didn’t believe any notions the PIJF was akin to bribery or that it distorted media independence.
“I would make the point that $55 million over two years in a billion-dollar industry, the idea that all the journalists in New Zealand were corrupted by 2 per cent of revenue - for me, it doesn’t pass the sniff test,” he said.
Seymour did remain critical of the PIJF in principle, though, saying it was a “very silly policy” as he didn’t believe media should be taking money from a government it would be holding to account.
Winston Peters (front right) has accused the media of taking bribes, and during the new Government’s first Cabinet meeting, told reporters to "tell the public what you had to sign up to to get the money, it’s called transparency". Photo / Mark Mitchell
“We need a free and independent press, especially one that is unafraid to hold the Government accountable, and it should not be taking money from that same Government,” he said.
“[Taking money from the Government] sometimes occurs, and we’ve tried to set up RNZ and TVNZ in ways that they’re fiercely editorially independent.
“However, the PIJF required media to uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi - well, that’s something New Zealanders want to debate.
“Many people felt that was distorting [media’s] priorities. I don’t know that it did, for the simple reason that it’s a tiny amount of overall revenue and journalists generally, while they may have a view I disagree with in some cases, they’re pretty fierce about that independence.
“The whole thing [notions of bribery] isn’t quite plausible.”
The PIJF supported discrete media projects, such as episodes of The Detail podcast, and temporarily funded certain jobs within the media sector, including local democracy reporters, who covered mainly local government in regional New Zealand.
At a swearing-in ceremony at Government House yesterday, Winston Peters said, referring to the Public Interest Journalism Fund: "You can’t defend $55 million of bribery, cannot defend $55 million of bribery. Get it very clear." Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZME, the publisher of the Herald, received money from the fund for both projects and to fund roles like local democracy reporters.
Applicants to the fund were asked that when appropriate in producing funded content to support NZ identity, culture and public interest requirements, including support for the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
However, overriding this in NZME’s funding agreements - in a clause specifically requested by the company - is an acknowledgement of the absolute editorial independence of the media entity: “We acknowledge the importance of your editorial discretion as a media entity and confirm nothing in this Agreement will limit or in any way impede or influence the ability of your news reporting functions to report and comment on news stories and current events, including those involving us, as you see fit.”
When Peters’ and Seymour’s boss Christopher Luxon was asked about Peters’ comments criticising media and the fund, the Prime Minister said he hadn’t heard those comments and changed the subject to say he was excited “to get to work”.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
