It’s estimated the country has lost about half its journalists in the last decade, and that’s putting access to reliable local news at serious threat.
The point of the TVNZ/RNZ merger – which the Government didn’t do enough to explain – was to remove back-office duplication between the two outlets and get more resources for frontline journalism across the breadth of radio, TV and online, with more local content.
Without the merger, funding will still be needed to keep the services viable and deliver that range of news, across platforms and with diverse content for the range of audiences across Aotearoa.
Jackson thinks a source of money could come from ensuring our media companies get paid fairly when their content is used by internet giants like Facebook.
Australia passed a law in 2021 requiring big tech to cut deals with media outlets for using their content or submit to government arbitration. The internet companies said they would never pay, but they have. So far, 30 deals have been made which have “enabled news businesses to, in particular, employ additional journalists and make other valuable investments to assist their operations”, according to an Australian Treasury report.
Other countries, like Canada, are now looking at similar laws.
Late last year, Jackson announced a plan for similar legislation in Aotearoa. Deals with our media outlets and the internet companies are expected to bring in $30-$50 million a year, enough to employ hundreds more journalists.
Getting in ahead of the new law, Google and Facebook have already signed deals with some media outlets, including NZME and RNZ. The new law will make sure smaller outlets don’t miss out.
If these deals help our public media outlets stay above water, or even expand their offerings, that’s got to be good. But they’re not cure-alls.
We need to maintain taxpayer funding to keep public interest journalism and media outlets viable.
In the more unhinged corners of the internet, and increasingly at political meetings, you’ll hear wild-eyed claims that the Government has bought the media through New Zealand on Air and the Public Interest Journalism Fund. It’s not true, of course.
Those funds are independent of the Government and help pay for journalists to do things that shine more light on government activities, such as reporting on council meetings, political podcasts like The Detail and Mata , upskilling Māori journalists, and investigative journalism on government programmes that just wouldn’t happen otherwise. It’s not the work that generates the most clicks and the most ad revenue, but it is important for our democracy, which is what justifies taxpayer investment to make it happen.
This election, we need to see a commitment from all political parties to maintaining government funding for public broadcasting and public interest journalism.
Unfortunately, some parties are courting the conspiracy theorist vote. Notably, National’s Melissa Lee (who received public funding when she was a journalist) is raising doubts about the independence of journalists who get NZ on Air or Public Interest Journalism Fund money to help pay for their work.
That’s not on. There’s no justification for attacking the professionalism of these kaimahi. A simple look at the work they produce shows that they are bringing important stories to light, and holding public institutions accountable, as they should be.
Politicians need to steer clear of conspiracy-mongering and focus on the reality. National needs to back Jackson’s vision and sign up to continued funding for public broadcasters, especially small local outlets the iwi radio stations, who can’t get money to operate from elsewhere, and we need to keep on paying for reporters to undertake public interest journalism.
Shane Te Pou (Ngāi Tūhoe) is a commentator, blogger and former Labour Party activist.
