Senior TVNZ staffer labels change proposal “all-out assault” on newsroom; Google’s threat to end “significant commercial investments” in NZ; Sunday reporter on redundancy decision days before baby’s due date; and RNZ’s possible move.
TVNZ workers were reeling this week after learning of another proposed round of cost-cutting in what one senior staffer described as “nothing but an all-out assault on the newsroom”.
The state broadcaster, as part of its efforts to hit a $30 million savings target, will axe its 1News website from early next year, according to a proposal released to staff on Monday.
It follows TVNZ slashing scores of jobs earlier in the year – and the torpedoing of popular shows Sunday and Fair Go.
The latest proposal suggests closing the 1News website from February 2025 while investing in news on TVNZ+ and adding a dedicated team for that streaming platform.
A senior staffer at TVNZ was scathing about the proposal, which they understood to also include potentially changing the leadership of some business units (news and current affairs and content/programming are examples of business units at TVNZ).
TVNZ spokeswoman Rachel Howard said the broadcaster was “seeking feedback from TVNZ on whether a number of different areas could conceivably come together”.
She stressed to Media Insider that individual roles were not affected by this part of the consultation.
The executive editor of news and current affairs, Phil O’Sullivan, would not comment when approached yesterday.
”It’s difficult to conclude that this is nothing but an all-out assault on the newsroom,” the senior 1News staffer told Media Insider.
The staffer said the 1News website was an audience generator and while it “does not generate a profit currently, it is a portal to TVNZ+ which does”.
”Some simple tweaks could improve its revenue-generating potential. Times like these call for clear-eyed strategic thinking, not desperate swings of the axe.”
The staffer said shutting 1News.co.nz would kill a big part of TVNZ’s brand and “amount to self-sabotage”.
”Every broadcaster in the world has a news website because no one turns to a streaming service for news. It would also mean 1News [would be] unable to cover live news. TVNZ has a responsibility to tell New Zealand’s stories, especially now that Sunday has been axed and Fair Go moved to online only. The savings made by axing 1News.co.nz would amount to a small fraction of the $30m. It’s simply not worth it because the damage and future costs would be far greater.”
Howard encouraged TVNZers – including the senior staffer who contacted Media Insider – to provide feedback on the proposal.
”We will not be making any decisions until after we have considered all the feedback. Feedback can include any of the concerns this individual has raised ... so they can be addressed. We encourage all TVNZers to engage fully with the process,” she said.
One of Google’s most senior global executives has written to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, threatening to end the tech giant’s “significant commercial investments” in New Zealand’s news media industry if the Government passes new legislation which would force it to negotiate new deals with media companies.
And he may have won a significant concession, with the Government advising Google it is confident it can mitigate the tech giant’s concerns about the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill creating an uncapped financial burden.
The new law would force tech giants such as Google and Meta (Facebook) to negotiate with media companies and pay for the New Zealand journalism and news content that help drive their fortunes.
In Canada, Google has been granted an exemption from a similar law by agreeing to an annual capped amount of money – C$100 million ($119m) – to be shared amongst news media companies.
A similar move may be being considered in New Zealand.
The August 29 letter to Luxon, from Google global affairs president Kent Walker, led to a meeting with Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith – and a return letter last week that the Government was confident it could work on an outcome to the benefit of all parties.
Walker had written to Luxon to express Google’s “heightened concerns” about the bill.
“We have... consistently said that the News Bill is the wrong approach to supporting journalism and believe that it will undermine the news ecosystem in New Zealand and our ability to support it,” he wrote.
“It is increasingly clear that in its present form the News Bill will result in significant changes to the services we can offer New Zealanders and a significant reduction in the valuable web traffic Google Search generates for Kiwi publishers.
“It would also require us to discontinue our significant commercial investments in New Zealand’s news industry.”
As with similar legislative proposals in other countries, he said, “the News Bill would create a level of business uncertainty and uncapped financial exposure that no company could accept”.
“When faced recently with similar situations internationally, we have worked constructively with Governments to jointly build solutions that enable significant investment in the local news ecosystem to continue while also providing operational and financial stability for digital businesses.”
Walker’s letter and Goldsmith’s response were released to the NZ Herald under the Official Information Act just before 4pm last Friday.
A few hours before the release of the letters, Google NZ country director Caroline Rainsford posted a statement, with similar threats to blow up agreements with New Zealand news publishers and cease linking to New Zealand news content if the law was passed.
Publishers say the threats amount to little more than corporate bullying.
The bill, backed by New Zealand’s media industry, was introduced by the Labour Government last year and supported, with amendments, by National and NZ First (but not Act) at the coalition Cabinet table this year. Google – whose New Zealand operation made almost $1 billion last year – has described the new bill as a “link tax”.
News Publishers Association (NPA) public affairs director Andrew Holden said the bill was not a tax.
“It creates the environment for New Zealand media companies to sit down and have a proper commercial negotiation with big tech companies about their use of our journalism. This has only become necessary because the likes of Google have distorted the market and become some of the largest and most powerful businesses in corporate history.”
Citing recent and ongoing cases against Google in America, Holden quoted United States Attorney General Merrick Garland describing one case as “a historic win for the American people”. “No company – no matter how large or influential – is above the law.”
Holden said: “The NPA agrees, and also believes that the Government of New Zealand should be able to make laws to strengthen democracy in this country without being subjected to this kind of corporate bullying.
“We trust the Government will stand firm and act in the interests of New Zealanders.”
Goldsmith appears to be taking a softly, softly approach to Google’s threats.
In his letter to Walker last week, Goldsmith thanked him for his earlier August 29 letter and meeting of September 6.
“I welcome all opportunities to discuss the proposed changes to the bill and provide greater business certainty to relevant companies. I’ve taken some time to consider your main points and appreciate the valuable discussions we’ve had to date.”
He said Google was an important part of the media industry and “New Zealand’s future-focused economy”.
“I recognise Google is working constructively to provide pathways forward that continue to put investment into the New Zealand marketplace.
“I am confident that the changes proposed to the bill will provide Google with greater business certainty and mitigate your concerns regarding uncapped financial liability. I believe that as we continue to work together, we can achieve an outcome that benefits all parties involved.”
Holden told Media Insider for Google to be granted an exemption under the bill as currently drafted, it would need to prove it was making a fair contribution to the sustainable production of New Zealand news content and the exemption was consistent with the purpose of the legislation.
The bill, he said, also required consideration of other factors and consultation with news media entities about any exemption being considered.
“What we have always said publicly and to the minister is that the intent of the legislation is to enable New Zealand media companies to sit down with big tech entities, like Google, to negotiate a fair price for the use of New Zealand journalism.
“We remain concerned that the digital platforms will be able to game the legislation to avoid negotiating fair deals with our members.”
Newsroom whispers have been running rampant this week about TVNZ and RNZ potentially becoming roomies.
If there were a dollar for each time this tip came through the wires this week, Media Insider could almost buy a Prosecco at the Brewers Co-Op – a frequent haunt of TVNZers and maybe soon RNZ staff too?
When asked about the possible move, and whether it was part of the strategy to save $30 million, a spokesperson from TVNZ said the broadcaster owns its building and is now a smaller organisation than it was in the 80s when it moved in.
“Additionally, most of our workforce opts to work flexibly now too, with days in the office and days working from home. We don’t have the same space requirements we once did,” the spokesperson said.
While there was “nothing formal” to announce, they said the possibility of RNZ’s team moving in and leasing part of the building had been discussed.
RNZ confirmed it was in discussions with TVNZ about potentially relocating its Auckland office to the TVNZ building but said it did “not have any update on timing”.
Meanwhile, at Warner Bros Discovery New Zealand, Auckland-based workers will shift to new premises in St Marys Bay next year.
A spokesperson told Media Insider: “3 Flower St has been the home of our operations since TV3 launched in 1989. However, following the closure of Newshub in July of this year, and moving our playout capabilities to a cloud-based system, Flower St no longer serves our business needs.”
The organisation will move into the same building as its sister organisation, Warner Bros International Television Production NZ, but will ensure the “arms-length” nature of the relationship is strictly adhered to.
Kristin Hall was sitting at a BBQ on the deck of her Bay of Plenty home with a friend when she learned through a rival news outlet of her own impending redundancy.
“I just burst into tears ... my husband was like, what’s going on? And I showed him and he was like, you know, ‘don’t worry, don’t worry, it hasn’t been verified’.”
That day, a week before the award-winning TVNZ Sunday reporter was due to give birth, she was “blindsided”.
“I thought I was going to be a lifer [at TVNZ], same plan with Sunday, you know, get there and spend the whole rest of my career doing amazing stories, that was the plan,” said Hall, who has been at TVNZ since she was an intern.
Hall told Media Insider that, besides pulling pints, journalism was the only thing she knew how to do.
“It’s been my only plan since I was about 15 years old, so I’m pretty determined to stay in the industry. I love TV, I just love video journalism. I think it’s so impactful, so beautiful.”
Hall was named New Zealand’s Current Affairs Broadcast Reporter of the Year at the Voyager awards last year for her investigation into emergency housing in Rotorua.
“I wanted to be able to show what was going on there in a way that didn’t bring the whole city down and make it seem like there was no hope that things could be better, because obviously it can and things have improved now,” she said.
“The risk that the people in that story took in talking to me, I found that hugely meaningful and humbling. There were people that were risking where they were living basically because they were still in emergency housing.”
While Hall is focused on raising her six-and-a-half-month-old daughter right now, she’s planning a return to journalism early next year.
“I’m a bit of a bleeding heart and it’s probably just made me more like that. From now on every interview I do, I’ll be thinking, ‘This is somebody’s child’.”
For example, she said, stories from Ukraine and Gaza carry an “extra level of devastation”.
Hall told Media Insider she’s open to giving all forms of reporting a crack when she returns.
“It was terrible what happened with Sunday but maybe it’s going to create an amazing new opportunity for me to try a completely different style of journalism. It’s scary but it’s quite exciting at the same time.”
Her advice to TVNZ workers going through uncertainty was to not take what was happening at the organisation personally.
“It’s just the climate at the moment. It’s been rough for absolutely every media organisation, not just in New Zealand, but in the whole world.
“People on the website worked so hard. And so much resource and attention was thrown at it for many, many years and I would just hope they hold on to a little bit of hope that the industry will recover.”
As Aotearoa’s news industry rattles already stretched newsrooms and other areas of their businesses for spare change, South Island community news website Crux is expanding into the Dunedin market.
Managing editor Peter Newport told Media Insider Crux was launched in Queenstown, Wānaka and Cromwell in 2018 and has grown “massively” since then.
“It felt like the right time to look at expanding. Dunedin is a place that’s trying to grow and we just think a new type of strong, energetic, hyper-local issues... type of journalism is perfect for Dunedin at this point in time.”
Newport said he sees Dunedin as the first step in a network Crux is hoping to create of 10 to 15 regional hubs covering the whole country.
“Each hub would be two journalists, one senior and one intermediate, and one salesperson, so we’ve launched [the Dunedin hub] just with one person, that’s Andrew Ashton who until recently was chief reporter for the Gisborne Herald.”
Team members past and present came together at the Herald on Sunday’s former watering hole, The Shakespeare, on Friday night to celebrate the paper’s 20-year anniversary.
These days, after a hard day’s work, staff can usually be found having a pint at The Empire, just a stone’s throw from their Graham Street headquarters, which they moved into in 2015.
We hear there were a few war stories shared during Friday’s speeches from former editors about the good old days that can’t be repeated. But yes, the infamous “eel up the bum” story did get a few mentions.
With 313,000 readers, up 8% in the past year, the paper remains the top-read Sunday newspaper in New Zealand and continues to grow its readership.
First published on October 3, 2004 with Suzanne Chetwin as editor, other editors include: Shayne Currie, Bryce Johns, Miriyana Alexander, Stuart Dye and Alanah Eriksen.
The paper soon became known for its exclusives and big interviews.
Former Act MP Deborah Coddington was the first person to make the front page lead after business boss Roger Kerr pursued her through the grounds of parliament.
A reporter witnessed much of the saga - the tension between the two at Wellington’s Backbencher bar and the MP’s tears as she fled to security.
Alongside that story was another about Peter Jackson’s Wairarapa mansion and his plans to turn the property into an “out-of-this-world wonderland”. It’s a headline that could have been written today about his plans for Wellington’s Lyall Bay.
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Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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.
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