Minister reassures media over 'plurality' in wake of hints TVNZ may want Stuff

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi says he has reassured private media firms that the Government cares about maintaining plurality in the 'delicate' media market.

That follows speculation that TVNZ could buy parts of Stuff, and an expectation the Government could put more money into public broadcasting in next month's Budget.

TVNZ chief executive Kevin Kenrick said after a select committee meeting in February that it would be 'inappropriate' for him to say if the state-owned broadcaster might be in the market for Stuff, which has been put up for sale by its Australian owner Nine.

However, Kenrick also said then that TVNZ was ready to make some 'bigger bets' and would look at anything that could assist its efforts to build up its online local news reporting presence, which he said had to be key to the broadcaster's future plans.

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Faafoi said he had talked to TVNZ about 'the future of TVNZ and how that shapes up', saying there were dozens of possible permutations.

Any merger of TVNZ and Stuff would leave MediaWorks competing against a larger rival as one of the two remaining large, national privately owned news producers.

He would not directly comment on whether the possibility of TVNZ buying Stuff was one of the options discussed.

'All I can say there is we have spoken about all of the different permutations that TVNZ might have. It would be extremely unwise for me – when there is an active consideration of Stuff in the market – to go into any detail,' he said.

TVNZ boss Kevin Kenrick put the cat among the pigeons in February after he appeared to strongly hint at an interest in Stuff.

A takeover of Stuff's online news business by TVNZ could leave NZ Herald publisher NZME and television channel three owner MediaWorks as the only remaining major national private media businesses, while also putting them in the position of competing for audiences against a stronger state-owned competitor.

Faafoi said that while supporting public broadcasting was in the Government's 'DNA', he had heard the concerns of other media firms.

'In a general sense the message I have given to them is we do care about plurality in the market and making sure there is more than one voice'.

It was a case of the Government trying to balance 'strengthening what we have, which is public broadcasting, but also being wary that out in the private market there are players that are struggling and it is in our interests to make sure … that they can continue to survive'.

New Zealand media companies had reinforced the position they were in and the importance of locally-based journalism in the wake of the Christchurch shootings 'and we would agree with that', he said.

'I can just reiterate the message we have given to media entities who have come to us and said 'things are tough, what can you do for us and what are your intentions?' that we are actively looking at those issues at the moment.'

Faafoi said he was encouraged that RNZ, NZ on Air and Stuff were investigating a model pioneered by the BBC in Britain under which the BBC and British newspapers pool some resources to provide local reporting.

It is understood other media companies including NZME and Allied Press, which owns The Otago Daily Times, are also involved in the talks.

Faafoi said he expected an update on the initiative soon.

But he said that would be only part of a solution for the media – likening it to the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) which acted as a news agency providing national and international news stories to the media for more than 130 years until its closure in 2011.

'To me there is a degree of frustration there, because I think the NZPA model was a good model and now we are having to have to a degree some intervention by the Government, via NZ on Air – which is their choice – to shore that up,' he said.