Government 'not seeing the NZ stories that we want to see on radio, on TV'

Friday, 19 August 2022

The bill paving the way for the merger of TVNZ and RNZ received its first reading in Parliament on July 26.

Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson says TVNZ and RNZ have not given sufficient priority to the voices of Māori, Pasifika, Asians and young people, and he expects that to change as a result of their planned merger.

“We're not seeing the New Zealand stories that we want to see on radio, on TV,” he said.

“This is about Māori being seen in the mainstream, this is about Pasifika being seen in mainstream, Asians being seen in mainstream, young people playing a part,” he said.

Jackson said those voices were “minimal in the current TVNZ/RNZ model”.

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Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson says TVNZ and RNZ have not given enough priority to Māori, Pasifika and Asians.

“They're there, but there is not enough priority and I would like to see those groups prioritised, obviously along with Pākehā New Zealand too.

”I don’t know what the New Zealand Pākehā story is. Is it Country Calendar? I think it’s a lot more than that,” he said.

The legislation paving the way for the merger of TVNZ and RNZ has been referred to Parliament’s Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee, which is accepting written submissions from the public until September 8.

National Party broadcasting spokesperson Melissa Lee criticised the consultation process, saying there was too little information on what the new entity was supposed to do, or how it was supposed to operate, to allow for meaningful public consultations.

“The legislation dismantles the two entities and creates a new one, so it is a very simple bill,” Lee said.

“There is no information as to how the new entity will operate. We don't know what the new entity is going to be. Is it going to be a ‘TVNZ’ or an ‘RNZ” or a ‘Netflix’?”

TVNZ and RNZ are Crown Entity Companies that are legally independent from the Crown and can’t be directed by government ministers.

But the law change paving the way for the establishment of the new entity, Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media, states that it would be an Autonomous Crown Entity.

The Crown Entities Act says these must have regard to government policy when directed by their responsible minister.

National broadcasting spokesperson Melissa Lee says it's not yet clear what the new public media entity is supposed to be or how it is intended to operate.

Lee described that change as “concerning”.

“I'm worried that it will create not only the perception, but also the reality that the new entity will become a mouthpiece for the Government,” she said.

Jackson said concerns the change would bring the new entity closer to the Government were “nonsensical”.

The Government had proposed the structure because the merged entity was expected to receive about $200 million a year in public funding, which is more than TVNZ and RNZ receive, and it was going about the merger in the safest way, he said.

But the bill creating the new entity stated ministers would be “unable to direct the entity or remove board members in relation to editorial matters”.

A Stuff reader poll suggests about twice as many people may oppose the merger as support it.

But Jackson expected people would come around to the merger, once they overcame any initial conservatism.

“It doesn't worry me. I think we've got a bit of work to do and once we start showing how this entity can work, I think that might change,” he said of the reader poll.

Jackson defended the lack of an open public submissions process on the media merger earlier on in the policy process, saying everyone who the merger affected had been consulted in targeted consultations, and the Government could not have consulted with “every Tom, Dick and Harry” up to this point.

But the select committee process would give people “opportunity plus” to have their say, he said.

A TVNZ spokesperson defended its track record covering Māori and Pasifika issues, but said it knew there was much more it could do and it was working internally and with funding bodies and production partners to expand its offering.

It was proud of its dedicated Māori language content, and it embraced the everyday use of te reo Māori in its broader local content on TV1, TV2, Duke, TVNZ+, he said.

Its commitment had seen it grow “the largest slate of Māori and Pasifika content ever” with more than 30 titles across all genres including tamariki and rangatahi content such as Fresh and Ōhinga and “premium factual” content such as Origins, National Treasures, The Casketeers and documentaries, he said.

Those titles also included a raft of scripted content including Good Grief, Panthers, Duckrockers and a new anthology series in development, he said.

An RNZ spokesperson said it was working in areas identified as shortcomings by Jackson and the proposed public media entity “creates further opportunity to do more for New Zealanders we do not engage strongly with”.

Examples of its current work included RNZ Pacific, its new rangatahi platform Tahi, the commitment of 50% of its commissioning budget to Māori stories and the development of new shows including Māpuna, Party People and the Māori language podcast Whakamāori, she said.

The select committee is not due to report back on the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media Bill until January 26, after hearing oral submissions.

Sources suggested that left little time to pass the legislation before the new entity was planned to come into existence on March 1.

Jackson admitted the Government had got “a little off track” with its debates in Parliament but said it could add sitting days to the parliamentary calendar next year if necessary.

“That’s a precedent that’s used by all governments [but] at the moment, everything is on track,” he said.