Warner Bros. Discovery told staff today that there is no deal “at this stage” with any third parties to provide a pared-back news service. Video / Corey Fleming and Cheree Kinnear
When the news of Newshub’s impending closure was first made public in late February, the Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee was widely accused of being missing in action. Official Information Act documents provided to The Spinoff reveal the minister was approached with 24 interview requests in the days directly after the shocking news, and accepted just two - one with Newshub itself and one with The Spinoff’s Duncan Greive.
Now that the end of Newshub has been formally set down for July 5, coupled with severe job losses at TVNZ, there has been nowhere for Lee to hide. This time around, her approach seems to be making up for lost time. She’s been everywhere in the past day, from facing Parliament’s Press Gallery to appearances on RNZ and Newstalk ZB.
On reflection, however, it seems like maybe her initial instinct to hide from the cameras was the right move. Former news boss Bill Ralston told ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning that Lee has “no idea of what she’s doing” - and having spent the past day listening to Lee, he may have a point.
Here are five “highlights” from Lee’s past 24 hours facing the press.
Lee is asked by RNZ’s Jo Moir the seemingly simple question of whether there is a Cabinet paper on media support already prepared, or if it’s still in the process of being drawn up.
“There is a Cabinet paper and I won’t talk about the process,” Lee says.
Moir then asks: “The problem here is if you’re talking about something that’s gone to Cabinet, but it hasn’t gone to Cabinet, then actually it hasn’t gone to Cabinet.”
Again, Lee refuses to talk about the “process”, and Moir presses on. “Okay, so you’re comfortable for us to report that you haven’t taken anything to Cabinet other than some conversation about trends and a bit of discussion about a bill that’s going through Parliament?”
Lee replies: “You can report as you wish, you have the freedom to do that... and it may not be factually correct.”
While all this plays out, Newshub’s Jenna Lynch is visible in the background.
Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee. Photo / Mark Mitchell
‘So your ideas are secret?’
An increasingly exasperated Lisa Owen tried her very best to get Lee to provide any clear indication of a) what her plan actually is, and b) whether there is any timeframe for it. It didn’t really work out.
“How? How though, minister? When you say you are providing support for modernisation and innovation, how are you doing that?” asked Owen, with the same tone you might use on a disobedient child.
“That’s part of the Cabinet paper and I’m not prepared to talk about that...”
“So your ideas are secret, but you have got ideas?”
Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking was in fine form this morning as he attempted to convince Lee that any chance of getting big tech companies to pay for media in Aotearoa was next to impossible.
“No one’s been able to successfully make them pay yet - ‘cause they don’t care,” said Hosking. “Name me the country that has successfully dragged Meta [Facebook, Instagram owner] to the table and made them pay for news?”
“Well, hopefully New Zealand,” replied Lee.
“Bollocks. You think that a country at the bottom of the world with five million people are going to do what Canada and Australia and Europe can’t do?”
“I”m hoping that what the select committee brings back is a pathway forward.”
“That’s buzz talk Melissa, that doesn’t mean anything.”
In one last-ditch effort, Hosking asked the minister: “Do you think Mark Zuckerberg is listening to this going, ‘oh my God, there’s a report coming back from a select committee’? He doesn’t give a monkey’s.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo / Getty Images
Lee, after a pause that seemed to drag on for an eternity, responded: “As I said, it is coming back before select committee...” then trailing off as Hosking grumbled something inaudible in the background.
‘Weird and shady’
The consistent thread through all of these interviews has been Lee’s obfuscation when it comes to questions over the Cabinet process (which, in fairness to her, is typically secret).
